The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-08-06
BY Robert Welles Richie.

lI0nQOn aug. p mere 10 no PIT
ioedent in English law; a court OF COM
potent jurisdiction is non-existent at
his moment, no formal charge has
been lodged. Yet Mr.. Lloyd-George
has announced before hat
Kaiser Wilhelm II. that was will be
summoned before a court sitting in
| England as plain Wilhelm Hohenzol-
llern to answer for the crime of violat-
ing the laws of humanity.
At his writing, of all the nebulous
and Hypothetical schemes adduced by
the arnistice and the tagging peace of
Versailles which followed it, this trial
lof the ex kaiser appears to hold the
palm. When the allied council at
Paris seeks to translate from the realm
iof sentiment to the world Of fact the
vaguely defined cry of vengeance
against William of HohenZollern. i'm
mediately n thousand and one ele-
Ements of confusion arise to render the
accomplishment OF this ambition a
matter OF painful and cropping diff
tculty.
One recording this fact may lay
himself omen to the charge of sym
patty for the fallen old man who o
chops trees the ive~long day at Amer
ongen, in Holland, instead of holding
the sceptre over a mastered world
Nevertheless circumstances speak for
themselves and IT is the purpose OF
this article To set forth, as fully as
may he. Just what are the facts, the
speculations and the prognostications
of the legal and lay mind alike In
Britian concerning this projected
summoning of William fi~ohenzollerr
and a multitude of his associates &c
an international bar created by inter
allied fat here in London.
In the first place this proposed
court will be one OF limited jurisdic'
ton, according to Lloyd-George'
statement. BY the insistence of tht
American members sitting on the al
lied council, power to impose IN
death sentence has been remove
from the purview Of the internationa
high court. In other words, ii is al
; rif counsel for the defense in "A capita
case before a New York suprem'
court should successfully move in
struction from the judge of the jur,
that in it's deliberations 1t should dis
regard murder in the first degree.
BY this limitation Of authority tn
judicial body designated to try VIII
helm must rule out as Irrelevant ant
immaterial any and all testimon!
tending to prove that. the prisonei
had guilty knowledge of or was II
any way a criminal party to III
sinking of the Lusitania, say, or TIL
alleged shooting of innocent Belgian
at Lou Sain or the deaths of Edit
Cave or Captain Fryatt. NJ murde'
] count RAY appear in the indictmen
brought against him by the inter
] allied prosecution; for conviction or
a single count of wilful and deliber
ate murder would necessarily entai
the death sentence and that is barred
in the first instance
yrL,. tGn, mill ha tho GnaCiSI
> charge against Wilhelm? The answe
at the time Of writing is, Nom
. Knows Violating the laws of hu
: manityr There exists nc Gods of tn
laws Of humanity; even the Vaguei'
, so-ca1led international law is no
codifed: it is mere theory subscribed
10 by no ration or group of nations
Violating treaties Treaties are mad
between nations and the penalty 10
violating such has been hitherto JUS
plain war or theats of war: no cour
ever existed which could claim juris
diction over violation of treaty con
tract,
Therefore II behooves the inter
allied council by its own fiat to de
clare thai violating the laws o
humanity or violating treaties-th
exact charge is not yet ahsolutel,
clear-shall constitute a high Grim
before the world Wnicn snali ne pun
ishable by some retribution short o
death. Also it becomes necessary TO
the interallied council to provide fol
the creation Of a special court, havins
no precedent in Roman or Englisf
law, to weigh the evidence adduce'
and, if the guilt OF William Hohen
zollern is proven to assess the pen
atty. .
Counsel for the prisoner may wei
attack the validity of this court. a!
the Universal service correspondent
has been advised by barristers jeal
Gus of the ancient integrity OF Ems
lish law. on numerous grounds; thu
chief OF these would be that the in
ternational high cour derived it,
jurisdiction solely from the military
success of n group Of nations and was
In fact. a tribunal of strictly military
character disguised under the forms
OF civil Jurisprudence. Abstract jus
tice could not be found therein, these
legal rights argue because as a court
of enemies imposing its win through
military trinmphs, this tribunal
would be inherently biased. Natur.
ally. there can be no appeal from tbs
decision Of this court. II objections
Of Wilhelm's council AGAINST the prn-