"It is important that you should keep in mind and, as occasion serves, impress upon your colleagues, that such a conference is not an agency for compulsion or a tribunal for adjudication; it is not designed to compel States to make treaties or to observe treaties; it should not sit in judgment upon the conduct of any State, or undertake to redress alleged wrongs, or to settle controverted questions of right. A successful attempt to give such a character to the Conference would necessarily be fatal to the Conference itself, for few if any of the States represented in it would be willing to submit their sovereignty to the supervision which would be exercised by a body thus arrogating to itself supreme and indefinite powers. The true function of such a conference is to deal with matters of common interest which are not really subjects of controversy, but upon which comparison of views and friendly discussion may smooth away differences of detail, develop substantial agreement and lead to coöperation along common lines for the attainment of objects which all really desire. It follows from this view of the functions of the Conference that it is not expected to accomplish any striking or spectacular final results; but is to deal with many matters which, not being subjects of controversy, attract little public attention, yet which, taken together, are of great importance for the development of friendly intercourse among nations; and it is to make such progress as may now be possible toward the acceptance of ideals, the full realization of which may be postponed to a distant future. All progress toward the complete reign of justice and peace among nations is accomplished by long and patient effort and by many successive steps; and it is confidently hoped that this Conference will mark some substantial advancement by all the American States in this process of developing Christian civilization. Not the least of the benefits anticipated from the Conference will be the establishment of agreeable personal relations, the removal of misconceptions and prejudices, and the habit of temperate and kindly discussion among the representatives of so many Republics." The following account of the Conference and its action is derived from the subsequent official report of the Delegates of the United States:—