The committee recommends that the subject of the subsequent decision be intrusted to the respective governments.
Such is the text of the military commission’s report; and so the matter was simply set aside. The execution of the proposal offers difficulties, “consequently” it cannot be accepted! This “consequently,” however, is not satisfactory. The motive adduced for setting aside a project of such wide scope is not sufficient. There is more to be said about it than that it is difficult to carry out. It must also be clear whether it is not desirable, beneficent, nay, more, essential. And if this conclusion is reached, then if it is to be rejected, there must be a better reason than its difficulty; its impossibility must be shown.
But the matter before us cannot be impossible in principle; certainly not in the form just presented. And it must not be rejected, but rather postponed for future realization. This was the feeling of a large part of the Conference; and two other delegates—the Swede Baron Bildt and the Frenchman Léon Bourgeois—give expression to this feeling in fiery extempore speeches.
From Baron Bildt’s speech (“It is not enough”):
... Now, at the conclusion of our labors, we shall realize that we have faced one of the most important problems of the century, and that we have accomplished very little. We have no right to cherish illusions. If the transactions of the Conference come to public knowledge, then, in spite of all that has been done for arbitration, the Red Cross, and the rest, a loud cry will be raised, “It is not enough!”
And the majority of us, in our own consciences, will justify that outcry, “It is not enough!” To be sure, our consciences will tell us, for our consolation, that we have done our duty, because we have been faithful to the instructions that have been given us. But I venture to say that our duty is not yet completed, and that we still have something left to do. That is, to investigate with the greatest frankness and truth and to report to our governments what defects are to be found in the preparation or execution of the great work, and with steadfastness, with obstinacy, to seek the means to do better and to do more. Now let these means be found in new conferences, in direct negotiations, or simply in the policy of a good example. This is the duty which is left for us to fulfill.
This speech made a sensation. The applause had not died down when the head of the French delegation took the floor.
From Léon Bourgeois’s speech (“Our task is higher”):
I have listened with great delight to Baron Bildt’s eloquent words. They correspond not only to my personal feelings and those of my colleagues of the French delegation,[[41]] but also, I am sure, to the unanimous feelings of the Conference. I join in the appeal which Baron Bildt has made. I believe that (to express his ideas still more explicitly) our commission has something further to do.
I have carefully read the text of the conclusion reached by the technical committee. This text shows the difficulties which at the present moment attend the limitation of armament. This investigation was also the mandate of the committee. But our commission is under obligation to regard the problem before us from a universal and higher standpoint.