ITEMS OF INTEREST December 28, 1907 Issue

ITEMS OF INTEREST

The delegates to the Central American Peace Conference, which met at Washington to formulate a treaty for the maintenance of peace between the five Central American republics, have agreed upon a treaty, which will be submitted to their various governments for ratification. The treaty provides that the high contracting parties agree to establish the Central American Court of Justice, to which they bind themselves to submit all controversies or questions which might arise between them, of whatever nature or origin, if the respective Foreign Departments cannot settle them. The court will also have jurisdiction over such questions as individuals of one Central American country may raise against any of the contracting governments on account of the violation of treaties, conventions, and other cases of international character, no matter whether such individual government supports his case or not. The court also has jurisdiction over such cases as may be voluntarily submitted by any two of the said governments. It will also have jurisdiction over such questions as any one of the Central American governments may agree with any foreign government to submit to it.

Sixteen first-class battleships, under command of Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans, sailed on the 16th from Hampton Roads for the Pacific Ocean, a fourteen-thousand mile cruise. The fleet passed out in single column, the big Government-built Connecticut, flagship of Admiral Evans, leading the way. The vessels were four hundred yards apart, and from the Connecticut to the Kentucky, which brought up the rear, the line reached a distance of nearly four miles. The ships which comprise this "Peace Armada" are the Connecticut, Alabama, Kentucky, Kearsarge, Louisiana, Kansas, Vermont, Virginia, Georgia, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Illinois, Ohio, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri. In addition to these are the cruisers Washington and Tennessee and six torpedo boat destroyers, which started some time ago. The fleet was due at Trinidad on Christmas eve.

In past years many communications have been received by the Post Office Department requesting delivery of so-called "Santa Claus letters" to philanthropic societies and others in various parts of the country, but the requests have always been denied on the ground that letters of importance would be classed with the "Santa Claus letters" through error; that it would be exposing to private parties confidential correspondence; that the letters might contain valuable enclosures and that such a practice would not be in keeping with the principle of the sanctity of the mails. Now, however, Post-master General Meyer has issued an order allowing mail addressed to Santa Claus to be delivered to any responsible societies who will undertake to act as agents of Santa Claus in the matter.

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