Hello AP Forum Folk,
Here is a link showing the New York State Bar Association's address to Nicholas thanking him for initiating the opening of the Hague. I just recently read another book calling Nicholas' July 1914 plea to use The Hague for negotiations "weak." So it is interesting that this prestigious US group of lawyers approved of the negotiation model to avoid armed conflict, at least in 1899.
http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924007360716#page/n15/mode/2upThe title is:
Address of congratulation and commendation of the New York State Bar Association to His Imperial Majesty, Nicholas II, Emperor of all the Russias, on the occasion of the Peace Congress at the Hague and recommending the creation of an international court
(openlibrary.org)