Paul Henri Benjamin Balluet grew up
In a modest large family, fatherless but talented.
He studied law and languages to be a diplomat
In Tunisia,and the French Foreign Affairs, and led
The French delegation to the Hague’s Peace Conference,
Where he supported the idea that arbitration
Was not just a choice, but a moral duty, and hence,
An arbitration court would need a case: litigation.
He brought the U.S. and Mexico together for that purpose,
Supporting international and cross-border European closeness.
After World War I, the Versailles treaty debated,
He supported revisions and the League of Nations created.
He rejected the notion that military might’s outlays
Should outweigh duty-based arbitration’s frays.
June Edvenson 