Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-06-14
u. S. Not to Take Part in
Prosecution Of Former Hun
Emperor, Commission Says
Body Appointed To Fix Responsibility Of Authors Of
War, Accuses Germans of 80 Different Listed
Crimes Dissenting View Of Japan and U. S. Elk
pected To Prevent Kaiser Trial.

| q. Destruction Of fishing boats
and relief ships. ~
%. Deliberate bombardmenk ] Of
hospitals.
"a. Attack on and destruction Of
hospital ships.
Is. Breach of other rules relat-
| ing to the Red Cross.
7 rs. Use of de1eterious and as
phyxiating gases.
Use Expanding Bullets.
~. Use Of explosive and expand
ing bullets and other inhuman ap,
plisnces.
%. Directions to give no quar-
ter.
| %. Ill treatment of prisoners q
war.
80. Employment Of prisoners OF
warNon unauthorized works.
x. 81. Misuse of flags of truce.
81. Poisoning of wells.
In amplifcation Of their stand
against the trial of the kaiser Messrs
Lansing and Scott set forth the fol-
lowing views:
"The American representatives
admitted from the moral point OF
view the head of state, be he
termed emperor, king or chief ex-
ecutive, is responsible to MANKIND,
but from the legal point of view
they expressed themselves as un-
ablk to see how any member of the
commission could claim that the
head of state exercising sovereign
rights is responsible to any but
those who have cohfded those
rights to him by consent expressed
or implied. u
Not Influenced by Argument.
"The majority Of the commission,
however, was not Influenced by the
legal argument. They appeared to
te fixed in their determination to
try and punish by judicial process
the 'ex-kaiser' of Germany. That
there might be no doubt about their
meaning they insisted that the juris-
diction of the high tribunal whose
constitution they recommended
should include the heads of states
and they therefore inserted a pro-
vision to this effect in express
words in the clause dealing with the
jurisdiction of the tribunal.
TN view of their objection to the
uncertain law to be applied, varying
according to the conception of the
members of the high court as to the
laws and principles of humanity, and
in view also of their objections to
the extent of the proposed jurisdic-
ton of that tribunal, ME American
representatives were constrained
to decline to be a party to its crea-
ton. Necessarily they declined to
proffer on behalf of the commits
sion that the United States take
part in the proceedings before the
tribunal or to have the United
States represented in the prosecut-
ing commission charged with the
duty of selecting the cases for
trial before the tribunal and of d.
recting and conducting prosecu-
tons before it" =,
American adherence to the views
of Mr.. Lansing and Mr.. Scott means
that we will take no part in the trial
Of the former kaiser and the same,
it is believed, will be true of Japan.
The American representatives ex-
press regret at their inability to
agree with the other members of
the commission and conclude their
objections with this statement:
They (the Anericans) submit
their views, rejected by the COM
mission to the conference, in full
confidence that it is only through
the administration of law, enacted
and known before it is vi1ated that
justice may ultimately prevail in
ternationally as it actually does be-
tween individuals Of all civilized
nations"