FOR CHARLES B. DOLEAC, a partner at Boynton, Waldron, Doleac, Woodman & Scott in Portsmouth, the centennial celebration of the signing of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty in 1905 by delegates of the warring nations of Russia and Japan is not simply a celebration of an historic act in the Port City but a way to cast light on an important diplomatic concept that is still relevant today.

"The treaty negotiation symbolizes a unique peace process and the ability of local people to affect significant world events," explains Doleac, chair of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Anniversary Committee (PPTAC). He is also founder and president of the Japan America Society of New Hampshire and founder and moderator of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty Forum. "This celebration does not just commemorate what hap pened in 1905 but also what it could mean for 21st century diplomacy."

Shown here with an original Christopher J. Ward painting, being sold as prints as a fundraiser for a Portsmouth Peace Treaty memorial, are Portsmouth attorneys and anniversary committee members: Charles B. Doleac; Thomas R. Watson; Terrie L. Harman (seated center right); Jennifer A. Lemire, Watson’s law partner who is not on the committee; and vice president of the Japan America Society of New Hampshire, Sawako T. Gardner (seated center left).

The celebration, which will take place citywide from July 1-Sept. 5, 2005, will feature treaty-related reenactments, lectures, parades, musical performances, exhibits, artistic displays, and other commemorative events. The committee also plans to erect a permanent memorial, collect and preserve treaty memorabilia, and develop scholarly research on the history of the treaty and its meaning for the development of multi-track diplomacy and negotiation theory.

The committee, which includes several lawyers from around the state, also recognizes the role of a local judge in bringing the delegates to this idyllic seaside resort town.

"A major reason that this event happened here is because a lawyer stepped forward," says Thomas R. Watson, partner of Watson & Lemire in Portsmouth, committee member, and Strawbery Banke board of trustees chair. Watson is referring to the role of Calvin Page, a Portsmouth judge who is credited by historians as the man who covered the expenses of the delegates who stayed at the Hotel Wentworth, now Wentworth-by-the-Sea Hotel, for 30 days during the negotiations.

How It All Began

The Russo-Japanese War began in 1904 over who would control Manchuria and Korea after Russian troops moved into those areas that year. This caused the Japanese to attack the Russians to force them out. In 1905, the war was taking its toll on both nations in massive casualties and declining economies. At a stalemate, the two sides sought a peace treaty that would allow them to save face. At the time, the United States was neutral in its allegiances and President Theodore Roosevelt offered to provide a location for direct negotiations.

On Aug. 8, 1905 delegations from Russia and Japan arrived in Portsmouth to work out the peace accord that was eventually signed at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard on Sept. 5 of that year. The shipyard building used for the negotiations now houses a small museum dedicated to the event. Although he did not actually appear in New Hampshire because the two nations wanted no outside mediator, in 1906 Roosevelt became the first U.S. president to earn a Nobel Peace Prize for his role in bringing the two warring nations to the table.

Here Comes the Judge

Because the Legislature was not in session during the summer of 1905, the state could not appropriate funds to cover the cost of hosting the two peace delegations and Gov. John McLane turned to private citizens to assist with the expenses.

Judge Calvin Page was a trustee of the estate that managed the Hotel Wentworth after the death of its owner, beer-maker Frank Jones. "Page was one of the city’s most prominent lawyers and active as well in politics," according to Peter E. Randall in his local history book on the peace treaty, There are No Victors Here. The book states that a Frank Jones’ biographer noted, "the conference was held locally because Page offered Roosevelt the use of the Wentworth’s facilities."

Randall explains that McLane originally wanted the conference to be held at the Mount Washington Hotel in Bretton Woods and that he and the Executive Council had voted to invite the delegates there. But, the author indicates that Page’s generosity most likely changed their minds. He quotes Charles A. Hazlett’s History of Rockingham County for this account: "Judge Page, through the president and Governor McLane, invited the peace delegates to the number of nearly 100, including all their attaches, to live at the big hotel free of charge so long as the conference should last; and the delegates and all of their attendants from both nations lived there for more than 30 days at a cost to the Jones’ estate of over $25,000."

In 1951, Gov. John H. Bartlett erected a bronze plaque honoring his father-in-law’s involvement with the treaty negotiators on the side of 33 Pleasant Street, the site of the judge’s old law office. The plaque is now missing but its inscription read: "This tablet, replacing his ancient sign, is a merited memorial to Patriot Calvin Page, whose emergency cooperation with President Theodore Roosevelt and Governor John McLane made possible the Portsmouth Peace Treaty between Russia and Japan."

Wentworth, Local Citizens Star Players

The treaty negotiation was the first significant international peace conference to be held in the United States. Doleac explains that the treaty not only ended the largest land and sea war fought up to that date, but affected the balance of power in Asia for most of the 20th century. "The war ended in those 30 days when all the elements converged to create peace," says Doleac.

Doleac and others who study the Russo-Japanese War believe that the environment surrounding the delegates during the period of the negotiations had a subtle effect on their frame of mind.

"Imagine two litigants in mediation who whenever they have breaks are being cheered on by everyone around them," explains Watson. "The community of Portsmouth built an environment of good will surrounding the delegates that fostered a mediation."

The Portsmouth site was chosen over Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine, Newport, R.I., and Atlantic City, N.J. because of its seaside resort ambiance; the security and communications technology of the Naval Shipyard; its proximity to Oyster Bay, N.Y. where the president awaited telegraphed news of the proceedings; and the use of the Hotel Wentworth for accommodations at no expense to the government.

Local citizens socialized with the delegates during their off hours, inviting them to parties, baseball games, church, and site-seeing tours. Randall points out that a "festive reception," hosted by the Governor and Executive Council, was held at the Rockingham County Courthouse on August 8.

In order to acknowledge the hospitality of the local citizenry, each delegation donated $10,000 to McLane on behalf of their governments for charitable purposes. The governor invested the money in Japanese and Russian government bonds and a commission was established to oversee the investments and disburse the donations.

Unique Kind of Diplomacy

"Nothing in the world’s diplomacy of re cent years has seemed to me so unique and so instructive as the peace conference at Portsmouth. The envoys of the belligerent powers met on a remote neutral ground, and, after a month of negotiations of the most striking nature, agreed on a treaty which redounded to the honor of both parties but which neither party considered as honorable," writes historian Kan’ichi Asakawa, a member of the Russo-Japanese War Research Society, an on-line study group dedicated to the research and documentation of the war.

Portsmouth locals and New Hampshire officials were engaged in what is now called multi-track diplomacy during the Treaty of Portsmouth, explains Doleac. The term multi-track diplomacy derives from track-two diplomacy, coined by American diplomat Joseph Montville in 1981, in reference to the use of unofficial contact between negotiating parties and external, non-governmental parties. Track-one diplomacy refers to diplomatic conflict resolution through governmental channels.

"The Portsmouth Peace Treaty is a big historic gem," explains Doleac. "It was an exemplary use of multi-track diplomacy."

Two Birds with One Stone

The Japan America Society of New Hampshire started formally studying the Treaty of Portsmouth in the 1980s when there was a move by the city to demolish the historic Hotel Wentworth, which was vacant and in dilapidated condition. It is now the fully restored Wentworth-by-the-Sea Hotel.

For more than a decade, the Society, based in Portsmouth, has dedicated itself to the preservation of the history of the Portsmouth Peace Treaty and the study of multi-track diplomacy. The group hosted a series of four academically acclaimed forums, from 1994-2000, to discuss the history and legacy of the treaty. The forums were the first formal meetings between Japanese, Russian and American scholars and diplomats in Portsmouth since the treaty was signed.

Celebrating the Power of Community

Committee members are asking local residents to search their attics, barns, and garages for photos, diaries, documents, and ephemera related to the event. To find out more about lending or donating objects to the committee, contact Doleac at cdoleac@nhlawfirm.com.

The committee includes representatives of: the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard; Naval Institute; Portsmouth Ministerium; Strawbery Banke; publisher Peter E. Randall; The Russia Society; Portsmouth Athenaeum; Portsmouth School District; NH Humanities Council; Baha’i Green Acres School; Northeast Cultural Co-op; NH Theater Project; The Japan-America Society of New Hampshire; Portsmouth Public Library; City of Portsmouth; The Music Hall; Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce; The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy/Tufts University; and Dartmouth College.

Permanent Reminder of the Treaty Signing

To celebrate the treaty and the community efforts that preceded it, the PPTAC has established a Portsmouth Peace Treaty Memorial Fund for a permanent reminder of the event. The memorial will be the product of an international design competition scheduled for later this year.

To raise money for the memorial, the committee commissioned an original oil painting by well-known maritime painter and Seacoast resident Christopher J. Ward, from which 900 museum-quality prints were made and are now being sold.

The painting, which was on display during the 2004 NHBA Annual Meeting, is an artistic rendering based upon old photographs, film footage, and written accounts representing the day when Russian and Japanese delegates arrived in Portsmouth Harbor, commencing a month of negotiations that resulted in an agreement for peace.

A small number of prints will be remarqued with a small, unique painting placed directly on the border. Recipients of the prints will be credited as founders of the memorial and their names will be listed in a commemorative book to be published by the Memorial Fund.

"I have a vision of one of these prints hanging in every lawyer’s office," says Terrie Harmon, a committee member with a law practice in Portsmouth. In addition to being the contact for more information on purchasing the print or on making a memorial donation (th@tharman.net or (603) 427-1905), Harmon is the organist and interim music coordinator for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Portsmouth and PPTAC Music Committee chair.

For a calendar of celebration events go to www.portsmouthpeacetreaty.com, or for more information on participating or becoming involved with the anniversary committee, contact Charles Doleac at cdoleac@nhlawfirm.com or (603) 436-4010.

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