(Excerpt from Opening Argument and Reply for the United St...)
Excerpt from Opening Argument and Reply for the United States First, this litigation consists in a conflict between states which can not be determined except upon principles of inter national law and international treaties. It was so decided in the Pious Fund Case. Therefore, I shall not enter into any discussion of principles of municipal law. Second, the question of the costs and the expenses incurred by the allies can not be considered. That question has been settled by the parties in their negotiations, and has not been submitted to the tribunal in any form. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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William Lawrence Penfield was born on April 2, 1846 in Dover, Lenawee County, Michigan, United States. He was the fourth of eight children of William and Lucinda (Felton) Penfield, of Connecticut and Vermont families respectively, who had migrated westward in 1835. His boyhood was spent on his father's farm. Aaccording to the catalogues of the University of Michigan, his middle name was Lorenzo. Later, Penfield used the form Lawrence.
William Lawrence Penfield attended neighboring schools and earned his way to a course in Adrian College, whence he entered the University of Michigan, graduating with honors in the class of 1870. A classmate was William R. Day, who later became secretary of state and was instrumental in having him called to Washington.
After his graduation, William Lawrence Penfield taught Latin and German at Adrian College for two years, during which time he studied law and was admitted to the bar. In 1873 he settled in Auburn, Indiana, forming a law partnership with H. H. Moody. Penfield practised law in Auburn for over twenty years, building up a statewide reputation for skill and rectitude. He discharged various public functions, official and unofficial, such as those of city attorney, member of the Republican State Committee, presidential elector and electoral messenger, and delegate (in 1892) to the Republican National Convention.
In 1894 William Lawrence Penfield was elected judge of the 35th judicial circuit of Indiana, by the largest majority ever given in that circuit. Called by President McKinley in 1897 to the solicitorship of the Department of State, he was plunged at once into delicate and important public questions. Within a year came the war with Spain; in 1900 the Boxer troubles in China broke; in 1904 came the war between Russia and Japan; and in the same year, the prostration of governmental authority in Santo Domingo. The brunt of the political and legal problems arising out of these difficulties fell upon Penfield's shoulders. He was the trusted adviser of Presidents McKinley and Roosevelt and Secretaries Sherman, Day, Hay, and Root. To the promotion of international arbitration he made significant contributions.
William Lawrence Penfield represented the United States in 1902 at the first arbitration before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, in the celebrated "Pious Fund" claim against Mexico, winning for the United States an award of over one and a half million dollars. The same year, he represented the United States in the so-called "Preferential Claims" arbitration, arising from the blockade of Venezuelan ports by Great Britain, Germany, and Italy to enforce long-standing grievances against Castro. It is said that he drafted in one evening the complete protocol of this arbitration, which was accepted by all the Powers. In all, he prepared and argued for the United States before international arbitral tribunals fifteen important cases, including, besides those already mentioned, arbitrations with Santo Domingo, Peru, Haiti, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Salvador, and Mexico.
In 1904 William lawrence Penfield was an unsuccessful candidate for nomination for the governorship of Indiana. In 1905 he was appointed special commissioner to Brazil. Late in that year he retired from the Department of State, entering into law partnership in Washington with his son. He was retained in important international cases, and in this period was also appointed professor of international law and of the foreign relations of the United States in the postgraduate course of the Law School of Georgetown University. He died in Washington on May 9, 1909.
William Lawrence Penfield was the author of several notable magazine articles, including: "International Piracy in Time of War" (North American Review, July 1898), "British Purchases of War Supplies in the United States" (Ibid. , May 1902), "The 'Pious Fund' Arbitration" (Ibid. , December 1902), "The Anglo-German Intervention in Venezuela" (Ibid. , July 1903), "The First Session of the Hague Tribunal" (Independent, Nov. 27, 1902), "The Venezuelan Case at The Hague" (Ibid. , October 29, 1903), "The Hague Tribunal" (Ibid. , December 17, 1903), and "International Arbitration" (American Journal of International Law, April 1907).
Penfield's opinions and arguments as solicitor of the Department of State have to a considerable extent become source materials and precedents in international law.
(Excerpt from Opening Argument and Reply for the United St...)
On June 28, 1875 William Lawrence Penfield was married to Luna Walter. They had four children.
