The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-07-10


uity, would Be prompt % demand the
Judgment Of such . court and would b
iYrevocahiy pledged to abide the results.
Such . proceeding would be hostile. not
conciiiatory. II could not Be attributed to
weakness, msekness, pafsfm0ny or fear.
IL would enlist passion and vanity. ~ we'll
a. nobIer motives. TO preserve peace. Il
would be like other law suits, though ON .
cransier scale aud before . more august
tribunal. A complaint would be drawn.
issues would be framed and the cause
would be tried by two nations before the
nations OF the earth sitting as legally
constituted jury Of their peers
regular tribunal. such as . board Of arbi-
traitors selected by his opponent and HIM
self. almost always feels that he has been
ont 1,ed in the selection and has teen
preiuA sed from the first. and. as every law
We. knows. the result is usually compsi-
Gated and bitter litigation. Does the OBJ
jecsion apply with less force where tens Of
millions Of people are concerned and
where party politics and = sensational
press are sure TO misrepresent?
A permanent court. organized without
reference to any particular controversy,
would meet the difficulty Of agreeing upon
arbitrators, would insure. a. tar rs human
foresight could. non-political decisions,
and. which would be quite Is important.
political. In importance, dignity and
power the Office OF justice would be one
Of the highest in the world. an office to
which the chief iusticeship of the United
States or the lord chanceilorship OF Great
Britain might be regarded as mere step
piBg-stone, and each nation would natu-
raily take great interest and pride in APP
pointing its abiest and most incorruptibie
exponent of International Law.
The Judges should be appointed for life
or until they should be O. or 20 years Of
age. They should not be permitted to
hold any other Office or TO be candidates
for any. As no nation could claim the
honor Of naming the chief justice OF
the world, he should De elected by the JUS
tees from among themselves. The court
should ultimately have from i've to nine
members at least. and could not work to
advantage with over twenty or thirty. Its
compositlop. therefore, TO make il the
worlds cour. and at the same time keep it
from becoming unvieidy. would require
some concession alike from great nations
aud from small ones. Among the nations
that are civilized enough to cooperate in
such an undertaking, no more than thir-
teen have q population OF Is, 1000
III each Of these were entitled to one
Justice and ayailed itself of the privilege
there would be . fair working number,
and il the smaller states, vastly more
numerous. were allowed TO unite for the
choice OF justices on the basis OF the aver
age population of the great powers, or
even on = 100000 basis, it is not prob
able that enough of them would do so to
lnconycniently increase the number.
These small states would have most to
gain from a court able to protect them.
for, although tiny principaiity like
Monaco, with only 700 Inhabitants.
might never furnish . justice. yet, in as
setting its rights and obtaining redress of
its wrongs, 1t would stand on an equality
with the German empire.
Before such Q court the difficulty of
agreeing upon issues aud methods OF pro-
cedure would be met by rules Of law with
which litigant nations would have to COM
ply or be defaulted like ordinary suitors.
All Engiish-speaking peoples have subs
Iantiaily the same system of Jurisprudence,
the English common law. They also have
substantially the same equity ~ stem. large
ly derived from the Roman law. Broadly
speaking, the Latin nations are governed
by the Code Napoleon and BY common
Law, derived in part from the Roman law
and in part Of later growth. The same
general principles Of justice more or less
peryade all legal systems and arc recog-
nized throughout the civilized world.
With these principles experimenting in
ternational Law as at present developed,
and with liberal powers to establish rules
of procedure and practice, it seems to me
that the result might be an international
system Of Jurisprudence g harmonious
and complete in regard to the few subjects
within its province a. any that now ex-
lists within the narrower limits OF . civil
lied state.
No doubt the court could be aided by
legislation, and the treaties from which it
derived its existence might also provide
for q congress of nations to be held at
stated periods, say every tive years. THE
parliament Of man, the federation OF the
world" as one general government, be-
longs to the far distant future. The time
is not yet at hand when q single congress
can pass general laws for the civilized ma
tons, or when single supreme court can
interpret and enforce them. The court
and congress suggested would not contem-
plate anything OF the kind: If they did,
they would fail IN everything from at
tempting too much. They would have
nothing TO do with the form of government
or with the internal affairs Of any nation.
Their power would bear no analogy to the
numerous and varied powers Of our ma
tional congress and supreme court over the
several states, and, while it would be I'M
precedentedly great. the tension would be
relieved by the fact that the lines in which
it could be exercised would be unprece-
dentedly narrow. Each nation would be
regarded as a unit, an individual, abso-
iutely independent Of and superior to both
court and congress, except when one i'm
dividual trespassed on the rights Of an
other
battered or overawed rs IL il were Q mere
board of arbitration consisting of one or
three crowned heads. 1t would be omni-
potent for the enforcement OF its DEGREES.
Its decision would be the solemn verdict
of the world, the moral effect OF which
would be irresistible. Behind it would
also be irresistible physical force. There
are men in this country who are more
powerful than any feudal baron ever was.
richer than any king; yet not one of them
would think Of forcibiy resisting the judg-
ment of a justice of the peace. for behind
the petty magistrate is the sheriff. behind
HIM the posse cemisdtas, behind it the state
militia. and behind it the military re-
sources of 10000 900 Of people. Few lay
men have any idea OF the power even of q
justice OF the peace to summarily punish
for contempt. An International court
would certainly he invested with powers
correspondingiy great.
Suppose that the leading nations, or
tina, only four or five of them, should Gre
ate such court and that one of them
should put itself IN contempt. Suppose
that the United States should annex the
little republic of San Domingo by force
anu against its will. suppose that San
Domingo should bring its action At law
against the United States and recover
judgment. Suppose-and this IS the most
violent supposition oi all-that the United
States. intent on suicide. should not heed
the order If the court Suppose that the
court should Issue requis;tlons on the czar
o, Russ for 2,ooo.ns men as fast as they
coaid be enlisted. armed and equipped;
on the emperor of Germany for AS many
more; on the president of the French re-