Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-12-13
NIPS HONDURAN OUTBREAK
Two Republics Charged With Incit-
ing Revolution in Third.
NICARAGUAALs HAS INTEREST
Great Tribunal Sensibly Takes Bull
by the Horns and Acts
Voluntarily.
By WILL IAN +. CURTIS.


The first disputs between nations ever
| submitted to a permanent standing court
will be decided December IS 1t will mark
an epoch in the history. of international
/ law. 1t will be an entirely new departure
| in interna t:onal intercourse. like Secretary
Roots recent arrangement with Baron
+, Takahira. the Japanese ambassador.
| Both the court of nations in Central
America and the japanese correspondence
establish precedents that will IN
Coubtedy be followed elsewh r., and i:
| is entirely probabe tEat the Central
American experiment will he the begin
| ring of permanen. courts of justice for
International litigation.
Many tribunals have been formed to
settle disputes between nations. The ar
btratiOn of International differences is
now almost universal, but the judges In
such cases are selected by the litigants
after the ofeEsa and to serve in that
particular case only. An equal number
Is usually selected from each of the dis
putants, and the odd member from some
neutral nation who thus becomes UNI
pire, fo- each of the o.her judges invaria
bly, decides in favor of his own nation
right or wrong, and thus throws the re-
sponsibiiity of justice upon the odd man.
This has occurred in almost every arbi-
tratiOn in recent years, with the excep-
ton of the Alaska boundary arbitration
in London, when the B itish commission
ed voted with those from the United
States and made the decision unanimous
United States Not a Party.
The idea of a permanent international
court has been proposed and discussed
repeatedly for years. 1t was one of the
most animated fnnicS ar fhp thrpyn n
American conferences, but the United
States government did not favor it, be-
cause in American affairs we are always
the plaintiff nation. No other American
republic ever brings a claim against us,
but we are continually being compelled
to present claims for damages against
other American nations because of dam
ages suffered by our citizens within their
territory. Such permanent court would
be composed of representatives of nine
team Latin nations and one Anglo-SaXon.
A yea ago a peace conference met liz
Washington, composed of delegates from
the five Central American republics,
which concluded a treaty of peace and
eight conventions and protocols intended
to improve their relations Among these
conventions was one for the establish
ment of a permanent court of justice, to
be- composed of five justices appointed by
the legislative power of the five repuE-
lies, to sit at Catargo, Costa Rica. where
Mr.. Carnegie, who has taken a great in
terest in the movement, viii erect
courthouse at est OF 100000.
Central American Nations in It.
Each of the five Central American re-
publics pledged itself to submit to this
court "all controversies or questions
which might arise among them of what
soever rature and no matter what their
origin may be in case the respective de-
partments of foreign affairs should not
have been abb to reach an understand
ing"
The court is competent to determine
its own jurisdictions; it has authority to
take cogniZaEce of questions which indi
viduals Of one Central American country
may raise against another, no matter
whether their own governments support
them or not; 1t Is also authorized 10 take
cognizance of questions between Central
American governments and foreign gov
ernments. The decisions Of the court are
to be communicated to all five govern
ments, which solemnly bound themselves
by treaty to submit to it's judSm snts and
obey them.
Promptly after the adjournment of the
conference this treaty was ratified by the
five governments, which appointed the
following eminent jurists to compose the
court.
Costa Rica, Jose Astua Aguilar.
VI
Salvador, Salvador Galiegos.
Honduras, Alberto A Ucles.
Nicaragua. Jose MadriZ.
Judge Aguilar was chosen president and
Judge Bocanegra vice president of the
court.
First Case to Be Tried.
Almost Immediately after it's Inaugural
ton the court was called upon to hear
and decide a dispute between Honduras
and Nicaragua on the one side and Sal
vador and Guatemala on the other. Then.
for the first time in the history of the
world, permanent court sat in Judgment
upon the acts Of nations, as ordinary
courts sit upon the acts of individuals 1t
is the first constituted judicial body of in
ternatiOnaf Jurisdiction and is a great
step forward in the settlement of inter-
national differences by compulsory arbi-
tration.
A similar court was proposed at The
Hague for al the nations of the world
but the greater nations would not consent
to it, because the delegates from each
country claimed equal rank and an equal
voice, regardless of their power or popu-
latiOn. Santo Domingo insisted upon hay-
ing the same voice in the determine ton
of questions to come before the proposed
court as Great Britain or Germany and
naturally. the great powers of Europe
would not consent to such an arrange
1
adoption and it remained for Central
America to try the experiment.
Troublesome Political Refugees.
One of the most prolific sources of trou-
BILE between the Central American repub-
lies is the 'pOlitico emigrado" or polit-
ical refugee. who has fed from his own
country to escape the penalty of conspir-
acy; who has failed in an attempt to or
ganize d revolution for the overthrow of
his government. or who has been guilty
of other dffenSes against the law The
'.politico emigrados' are usually discon-
tented politicians defeated candidates for
office. former officials who have been dis
| missed, embezzlers and other offenders;
people with personal grievances against
the authorities. and al sorts of fugitives
| from justice. as well as innocent persons
| who have been unjustly accused and have
been compelled to leave their homes to
| avoid punishment they think they do not
| deserve. These people usually live along
the border in the adjoining country. and
often abuse its hospitality by conspiring
| against the government TO which they
| owe allegiance.
There are large colonies of 'politico emil
! grades in each of the American repub les.
anna is a favorite refuge for them. There
/ lenses. and very often these exiles are
given a cordial welcome and are even APP
| pointed to lucrative offices In the coun-
! Try in which they have taken refuge. Fur
| >aermore, it has been said at various
I ~ MI Of ono h u