Commissioner of the peace

“ Scarcely ever any Minister executed a commission for making a peace, without ruining his own reputation, in a free government. No Minister that ever existed, had a [449] more difficult and dangerous peace to make than I have. ”

“ The desires of the commission of which I am chairman, as well as my own personal feelings, are in full agreement with the ends so nobly pursued by the Peace League. All right-thinking men, whose souls are elevated above the conflicts arising from the passions and interests of colonial politics, are to-day at one in recognizing the necessity of settling controversies between nations by the only means worthy of reasonable and free beings. Our commission has been, and will continue to be, inspired by these ideas, and if these noble endeavors fail, it will not be our fault. ”

“ January 29th.—Clear, and moderating.
To-day at 10 a.m. three commissioners start for Washington on a mission of peace, which may be possibly attained. They are Vice-President Stephens, Senator R. M. T. Hunter, and James A. Campbell, Assistant Secretary of War, and formerly a judge on the bench of the Supreme Court of the United States, all of them heartily sick of war, and languishing for peace. If they cannot devise a mode of putting an end to the war, none can. Of course they have the instructions of the President, with his ultimata, etc., but they will strive earnestly for peace. ”

“ If a commissioner is sent to reduce a mutinous army or a large warlike tribe in rebellion, or to define a frontier in the face of an armed claimant, he must in such cases be no mere lay-figure, whose uniform tells what country he belongs to, but he must be a man of audacity and resource, able to act for himself without telegraphing for orders, and he must be backed by sufficient military force on the spot. ”

“ Underlines that in post-conflict situations on the agenda of the Security Council with which it is actively seized, in particular when there is a United Nations-mandated peacekeeping mission on the ground or under way and given the primary responsibility of the Council for the maintenance of international peace and security in accordance with the Charter, the main purpose of the Commission will be to provide advice to the Council at its request ”

“ The creation of a world federation commission would guarantee to our own people as well as to the peoples of the world that the United States is in earnest and ready to take the lead in the only practical and promising method of obtaining international peace. ”

“ Congress did not provide for the removal of commissioners for the causes for which justices of the peace might be removed, and if this were to be ruled otherwise by construction the effect would be to hold the commissioners in office for life unless some of those specially enumerated causes became applicable to them. ”

“ Just and Lebas came here to hold council with the Generals over to-morrow's battle, I noticed your hesitancy in giving, as customary, the military salute."
"Yes, I felt extreme repugnance toward saluting a commissioner of the Convention to the armies, because these people are in no way military. If some day I become a general, I shall never consent to submit my plans of campaign to a Representative of the people. No authority should precede that of a general in his army. That authority should be single, absolute, obeyed without discussion; he should be responsible to none for his acts. ”

“ More serious are the suggestions that the Peace Secretariat is going beyond its mandate, along with comparisons with the activities of the Peace Secretariat in the past. Such comparisons ignore the fact that institutions need to change with the times. ”

“ The Supreme Council treats only of the internal management of the nation, and is technically called the Council of Peace. As soon as war is declared, the Council of Peace falls into abeyance, and its place is taken by the Council of War. This is headed by the Toqui of War, who, as long as the war lasts, has unlimited power, except over life. He appoints the officers, settles the number of warriors required, orders a conscription to be set in operation in each district, and lays upon each cacique the duty of levying a certain number of men, and raising a certain amount of supplies. ”

“ As for the Security Council, in order to better fulfill its mandate of maintaining international peace and security, the Council needs to be reformed to ensure more representativeness, accountability, and efficiency. ”

“ The members of both bodies will presumably be appointed by the governments, [351] who will certainly not renounce their sovereignty in a matter that concerns them so closely. Such a system may be wise and conducive to the highest aims, but it can hardly be termed democratic. The military Powers who command twelve million soldiers will possess a majority in the Council. [352] The Secretariat alone will be permanent, and will naturally be appointed by the Great Powers.
Instead of abolishing war, the Conference described its abolition as beyond the power of man to compass. ”

“ It would seem that the first letter of congress must have convinced the British commissioners that no hope could be indulged of restoring peace on any other terms than the independence of the United States. Congress must have been equally certain that the commissioners were not empowered to acknowledge that independence, or to direct the fleets and armies of Great Britain to be withdrawn. ”

“ The Follow-up Commission, recognizing the need to bring the mandate of the foundation into line with the structure created by the Peace Agreements, put forward a proposal designed to overcome existing differences and establish as early as possible a mechanism for ensuring the implementation of all the Clarification Commission’s recommendations. ”

“ However, with the aim of establishing targeted sectoral partnerships on urgent topics, the Commission to Follow-up the Implementation of the Peace Agreements, which is composed of representatives of civil society and one member of Congress, submitted priority agendas for the three branches of government. ”

“ It is therefore proper that they should be given to politicians. It may be remarked, however, that almost every other government of note, the constitutional as well as the absolute, prefer for the war department a general and for the navy department an admiral. But the office of the commissioner of public works is in no sense a political office. On the contrary, politics should be kept away from it as far as possible. ”

“ A large force of volunteer officers must be kept up in a time of peace,—which is contrary to the jurisprudence of all highly civilized nations,—or the volunteer officers must be mustered out, and thus leave an important arm of the war department without the necessary administrative government. ”

“ For the sake of our people, we must take what we can get in order to help them, even though the three millions is so trifling and the terms before us so disappointing. The Commission delegated by us did what they could, and all the members have our perfect confidence. Our people are longing for peace, and if they know that we did our best, they will be satisfied.
I want to add further that I am of the same opinion as Advocates Hertzog and Smuts with reference to the difficulty of some of the Delegates, that they have a definite instruction, and must vote accordingly. ”

“ If the new have the same intentions, and desire a general peace, they may easily discharge Mr Laurens from those engagements, which make his acting in the commission improper, and except Mr Jefferson, who remains in America, and is not expected here, we the Commissioners of Congress can easily be got together ready to meet yours, at such place as shall be agreed to by the powers at war, in order to form the treaty. ”

“ But it is now endless to criticise, as all acts that suppose your future government of the Colonies can be no longer significant.
In the act for appointing Commissioners, instead of full powers to agree upon terms of peace and friendship, with a promise of ratifying such treaty as they shall make in pursuance of those powers, it is declared, that their agreements shall have no force nor effect, nor be carried into execution till approved of by Parliament; so that every thing of importance will be uncertain. ”

“ No man with a particle of self-respect would undertake the defence of his country upon the condition that he should conduct it upon a plan as to which he had never been consulted, and which, at the time of his appointment, it was too late to modify. Accordingly, if the scheme of the Commission had been adopted, it would have been necessary to entrust the command in war to the officer who during peace had been chief of the staff. But this officer being in peace out of all personal relation with the army could not have the moral authority which is indispensable for its command. ”

“ The various details were to be studied by commissions of fifteen, two members each for the great powers and five members representing all the other powers together, which were to report to the central commission. The Supreme War Council at Versailles, under Marshal Foch, was to continue to meet during the Peace Conference to deal26 with the enforcement of the armistices and with military problems concerning the enemy powers and the regions whose status the Peace Conference was to settle. ”

“ Sadly however, given the desperate attempts of so many forces to destroy confidence in the peace process, and the government’s pluralistic policies, it has also proved important for the Peace Secretariat to defend current policies. Given the excellent staff that has been built up over the years at the Secretariat, it has a longer institutional memory of a wider range of issues than many institutions and this leads to its services being required by many other official bodies. It therefore has access to much information, which it processes on behalf of others. ”

“ Now Know You that We, in the interest of public order and harmony, hereby appoint General Prayuth Chan-ocha as the Leader of the National Council for Peace and Order to take charge of public administration henceforth. ”

“ Adams kept his Diary with much more even than his wonted faithfulness, and it undoubtedly presents the most vivid picture in existence of the labors of treaty-making diplomatists. The eight were certainly an odd assemblage of peacemakers. The ill-blood and wranglings between the opposing Commissions were bad enough, yet hardly equalled the intestine dissensions between the American Commissioners themselves. That the spirit of peace should ever have emanated from such an universal embroilment is almost sufficiently surprising to be regarded as a miracle. ”

“ These nine men who form the commission shall swear on the holy relics that they will faithfully act as judges for rich and poor alike.
(10) If a war or quarrel arises between the lords and the cities who are in this peace, it shall be reported to the president and members of the commission. And both parties shall submit to the decision which the commission, or a majority of it, shall render in the case. If anyone refuses to submit to their decision, all the members of this league of peace shall aid the commission in enforcing it. ”

“ But to-day, in arranging to make war or to make peace, it is the Cabinet— the two or three in the inner Chamber—who take all responsibility upon themselves. As often as not their decision is largely influenced by party questions—and the questions do not depend on the morality of the war, whether the reason for it is a just one or no. ”

“ The Secretary of War may direct such issues of provisions, clothing, and fuel as he may deem needful for the immediate and temporary shelter and supply of destitute and suffering refugees and freedmen, and their wives and children, under such rules and regulations as he may direct. ... The President may, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, appoint an assistant commissioner for each of the States declared to be in insurrection, not exceeding ten. ... Any military officer may be detailed and assigned to duty under this act without increase of pay or allowances. ”

“ If the League is not ready for this test, it is certainly not ready to become a super-state. The super-state can wait, but justice and peace are matters of today.
The Saar Commission, the Governing Commission for the occupied territory, the new Central Rhine Commission, all are manifestations of international interest in the Franco-German frontier, and efforts to relieve the strain in this area of high national tension. ”

“ From the 1st to the 14th of August the Commissioners were detained at the place of their first landing, in the daily expectation of receiving an invitation to join the council at the Rapids. They had information from thence several times, and on the 8th were informed that all the nations were disposed for peace, excepting the Shawanese, Wyandots, Miamis, and Delawares. The Six Nations, and the Seven Nations of Canada, exerted themselves strongly to bring about a pacification. ”

“ The war power, from which the commission derives its existence, is not limited to victories in the field, but carries with it the inherent power to guard against the immediate renewal of the conflict, and to remedy, at least in ways Congress has recognized, the evils which the military operations have produced. ”

“ In order that the people may not suffer from the long continuance in place of any justice of the peace who shall fail in discharging the important duties of his office with ability and fidelity, all commissions of justice of the peace shall become void at the expiration of five years from their respective dates, and upon the expiration of any Commission, the same may if necessary be renewed or another person appointed as shall most conduce to the well being of the state. ”