CONDENSATION OF AN ARTICLE BY JEREMIAH W. JENKS OF THE NEW YORK
UNIVERSITY, IN THE JUNE “REVIEW OF REVIEWS”
One of the catchwords of the great World Court Congress held in Cleveland
in May was “In time of war prepare for peace.” There can be no doubt that
the accumulating horrors of the present war are turning the minds of the
people of all countries, neutral as well as belligerent, toward peace as
never before. As the war drags on and it becomes more and more evident
that there is to be no crushing victory for either side, belligerent
and neutral nations alike are casting about for methods, other than the
absolute weakness of a vengeful or greedy rival, that should be sure
decidedly to lessen, if not absolutely to prevent, the evils of war in
the future.
Mr. John Hayes Hammond, as chairman of the one hundred distinguished
leaders of thought, business and government, has taken up the idea of an
International Court before which the governments of the world may appear
to find a solution for their international justiciable problems. It seems
eminently reasonable and probable that plans well thought out may be not
only acceptable, but welcomed at the close of the war, by a sufficient
number of states to insure a permanent establishment of such a Court,
whose decisions would settle finally all questions of a justiceable
nature.
In the great meeting at Cleveland Judge Alton B. Parker, in a significant
address lauded the patriotic endeavors of Former President Taft to
forward the movement toward the lessening of war by arbitration treaties,
and introduced Mr. Taft, whose learned and eloquent address made the
plan for a World Court appear eminently practicable through its close
analogy to the United States Supreme Court and that court’s treatment of
the questions that are justiceable.
In subsequent meetings of the World Court Congress the growth of the
judicial element in international arbitration was carefully traced. The
much-disputed question of the composition of the World Court and the best
form for the organization were fully treated, by Theodore Marburg, the
former United States minister at Brussels, and by Mr. Emerson McMillin,
of New York City, who presented a detailed plan providing for the
selection of judges by an electoral college to be chosen by the different
nations who should have an equal representation as regards their
sovereignty, but have further representation in the electoral college in
proportion to their population and the extent of their commerce.
The eloquent addresses not only stirred the enthusiasm of the great
audiences, but men of statesmanlike minds were looking forward to
practical definite results. Before the World Court Congress adjourned
steps were taken to make the Committee of One Hundred a permanent body,
and so to organize public opinion, with the aid of other associations,
of legislative bodies, and of the press, that it will prove of distinct
assistance to the administration at Washington, which has seemed ready at
any fitting moment to support the movement practically.