January 11 Monday – Sam’s notebook:

Jan. 11, 1897. To-day Sir Julian Pauncefote & Mr. Olney signed the General Arbitration Treaty. An Epoch. It is one of the 3 or 4 great events in human history—& is perhaps the greatest of them all. It is a long step toward eventual universal Peace. And apparently it has a date to itself—I believe it was not occupied by any important event [NB 41 TS 4]. Note: Sir Julian Pauncefote (1828-1902), British Ambassador to the US (1893-1902); US Secretary of State Richard Olney (1835-1917) signed a treaty allowing for arbitration between the two countries. It was ratified by Parliament at once but was not ratified by US Congress until the McKinley Adminstration.