El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-06-20

/ national Law, an organization repre-
I senting many of the leading jurists and
/ philantnropists of this and other ma
! tions are giving consideration to mat
| tiers pertaining 20 the next Ha que peace
/ conference to be held probably in the
! summer OF 1915. As the first Hague
conference was called largely through
! the influence of Americans and as the
/ recommendation that a third confer
ence be held was made at the second
conference by Joseph H. Choate, who
represented the American delegation
under the direction of Mr.. Root, who
was then the secretary of state, 1t
seems fitting that this matter should
receive first attention and considera-
ton in this country.
Mr.. ChOate's recommendation did not
specify that any power should be
charged with the duty and responsible
ity Of calling a third conference, but as
7 the second conference was proposed by
| president Roosevelt, it is conceded that
the influence Of the American nation
viii be fully equal TO that of any other.
So it naturally follows that suggestions
as to the matters TO be considered at
the third conference might properly
come from America and that the one
organization devoted TO the study OF
| the legal status of all of the civilized
nations in the world should give con-
Making II Permanent.
The matter OF most Importance in the
eyes of the majority of those interest
ed in the Hague conference is a perma-
nent plan of organization and the es-
adjustment of regular periods for new
conferences. There should be a fixed
method for appOrtiOning the delegates
from the different nations and the du-
ties and privileges OF these delegates
should be definitely fixed, while 4 reg
n
ent meetings of the conference should
be arranged by an agreement of all the
nations TO be represented. These mat
tiers affect all of the nations, but there
can be nothing accomplished without
some tentative plan of action and the
consideration of such a plan is now
before the American Society of Inter
national Law.
The American Society of Information
al Law is unique and original in its
scope and the beneficence Of its influ-
ence is already acknowledged through
out the world. Six years ago a num-
Der OF the most prominent men of this
nation met at the national capital for
the purpose of forming an organization
which should be devoted exclusively to
the study of the laws of the different
nations of the world in order that there
might be brought about a better IN
Outstanding Of the principles and basis
of laws and justice as understood by
each. In one sense, the object OF the
society Ml8nL De SAID 10 De the. promo
ton of universal peace upon the hISn-
est and most ethical principles. for
with q better understanding of the laws
of q nation comes a better understand
ing of the nation itself and much OF
the warfare Of both past and present
has been largely due to the fact that
the nations did not understand each
other. Because of this indirect object,
this society has from the first planned
TO cooperate actively with other or
CARNATIONS in every country having
this object directly in view
Root Is President.
The president of the society is SEN
ator Elihu Root, eNsecretary Of state
President Taft is its honorary presi-
dent. Among the vice presidents are
chief justice White, justice William r.
Day, secretary Knox, Joseph H. Choate-
Oscar :. Strauss, Andrew Carnegie and
a number of other men equally well
known. The mem bership of the sOcie-
ty includes prominent jurists, diplo-
mats and philanthrOpists together with
professors of political economy from
the leading American universities. 1t
now numbers over 1000 and is rapidly
increasing in both numbers and influ-
ence.
The society has no endowment of any
kind. Its income. aside from its an
nual dues of IS per member and the
interest upon few life memberships Of
500 each, is from voluntary contribu-
lions made by the members as the
All of the officers serve gratuitously.
Even the editor of The Journal,
which is issued quarterly, does not re-
ceive 81 of salary and the contribu-
tors who rank among the leading 1ur-
lists in the world, generously donate
their literary contributions for the
purpose of giving TO the world a better
understanding of the laws of nations.
The Journal is published as the
best means of disseminating the knOWl-
edge which the society gains through
the studies continually being made by
these experts. 1t contains editorial
comment and description of all events
bearing upon new laws, judicial declS-
ions bearing upon international laws,
list of current periodical literature
bearing upon international laws and
such other material as seems to have
an important bearing upon interna-
tional relations. In addition to The
Journal, there is issued, beginning with
last January, supplement which con-
tains the text Of every treaty, national
agreement or other important legal en-
actment of international interest, to-
gether with a chronicle Of internal
tional events and similar matters not
readily accessible to the average stu
dent The value of The Journal. even
before the issuance Of the supplement,
appealed so strongly to Mr.. Root that
he promptly named it The Golden
Book Of International Law by which
title it is well known to the members
VI Nl4t SOGAelN WHO IeCcANt II res uldTlE
as a part of their membership priv
llegeS.
All Speeches Published.
Besides publishing The Journal and
the supplement, the society each year
publishes the proceedings of the an
nual meetings with the full texts of all
the speeches and discussions. This vol
ume is in itself a valuable addition to
the literature upon international law,
since all of the discussions are upon
important and timely subjects. They
are presented always by the men best
qualified to speak upon them, so are
important to all persons Interested in
any of the questions of diplomacy or
foreign relations. They give to the stu
dents of political economy reliable in
formation which could not easily be
obtained elsewhere. The need of an
organization devoted to the study of
International law was felt by all of the
leading universities before the incep-
ton of this society and its publications
are recognized as being of incalculable
value
While the society was organized pri- ]
marily for Americans. it has already
eNfandaa IA hi -,