New-York tribune., 1919-03-31
Root Proposes Six
League Amendments
To Protect America

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proposed scheme undertake to do that
To answer that question one must
call to mind the conditions to which
the scheme is to be applied.
All the causes of war fall in two
distinct classes.
One class consists of controversies
about rights under the law of nations
and under treaties. In general way
these are described as justiciable or
judicial questions, They are similar to
the questions between individuals
which courts are all the time deciding.
They cover by far the greater number
OF questions upon which controversies
between nations arise
Urged by Many Presidents.
For more than half century the
American government has been urging
upon the world the settlement of ali
such questions by arbitration. Presi-
dents Grant, Arthur, Harrison, Cleve-
land, Mckinley, Roosevelt and Taft
strongly approved the establishment
OF system of arbitration in their
messages to Congress. Thirty years
ago our Congress adopted resolution
requesting the president to invite ne
gotlatlons with every other govern
ment "to the end that any differences
or disputes arising between the two
governments which cannot be adjusted
by diplomatic agency may be referred
to arbltration, and be Npeaceably ad-
justed by such means"
President Mckinley in his first in
augural declared "The adjustment of
difhculties by judicial methods rather
than force of arms has been recog-
nized as the leading feature of our
national history"
We have i1luctrotoJ +,,o I..c1 =
this method of settling disputes by
the Alabama arbitration in 1872. the
berlng ca arbitration in 1893, the
Alaska Boundary tribunal in 1908. the
North Atlantic Fisheries arbitration in
1910. '''
Many Such Treaties Made
The two great international confer
ences at The Hague in 1899 and in
1907 established permanent court of
arbitration and rules of procedure.
lhey also made great progress in
agreeing upon and codifying the rules
OF international law which this court
was to administer.
Ihere was weakness in the system
devised by The Hague conference. 1t
was that ARBITRATION of these justi-
ciable questions was not made obliga-
tory, SO that no nation could bring an
other before the court unless the de-
1endant was willing to come, and there
was no way to enforce Judgment.
But the public opinion of the world
grew. Nations began to make obligatory
treaties of arbitration with one another.
Hundreds of such treaties were made.
ne United States made some thirty
such treaties with most Of the principal
countries IN the world, agreeing alb
solutely to arbitrate questions arising
under international law and upon the
Interpretation Of treaties. A strong
opinion arose in favor Of establishing
an international court composed Of
judges who would devote their entire
time to the business of the court. The
second Hague conference adopted a
Knox was Secretary of State, he nego-
tiated treaty with the other great
powers for it's effective establishment.
1t became evident that the world was
ready for obligatory arbitration Of JUS
ticiable questions.
Action Here and in Britain
After the great war began the Amer
lean League to Enforce Peace" at the
head of which are Mr.. Taft and Mr.
Lowell, made the first plank in it's plat
form that "all justiciable questions
arising between the signatory powers
not settled by negotiation shall, sub
ject to the limitation Of treaties, be
submitted to judicial tribunal for
hearing and judgment, ETC., etc"
A similar group in Great Bitain. Of
made the first plank in it's platform
the following:
The slgnatory powers to agree to re-
/ fer TO the existing permanent court of
arbitration at The Hague, or to a court
# arbitral justice proposed at the sec
ond Hague conference, if and when
such court shall be established, or to
some other arbitral tribunal, all dis
putes between them, including those
which are of justiciablc character,
and which the powers concerned have
failed to settle by diplomatic methods" F"
And both of these groups. proposed
to provide for enforcing the judgments
of the court by economic pressure or
by force.
Questions Continually Arising
The other class of disputes which
give rise to war consists of clashes
between conflicting national policies,
as distinguished from claims of legal
right. They do not depend upon ques-
tons of law or treaty, but upon one
nation or ruler undertaking to do
something that another nation or ruler
wishes to prevent. Such questions are
part of international politics. They
are similar to the questions as to which
our courts say: This is political
question, not a judicial question, and
we have no concern in it," The ques
tion whether Russia should help Servia
when Austria invaded Serbia in July,
1914, is an illustration. Our own
Monroe Doctrine is another lliustra-
ton. That is not an assertion of any
legal right, but it is a declaration that
certain acts will be regarded as dan
gerous to the peace and safety of the
United States. and therefore unfriendly
Such questions are continually arls-
ing In Europe and the Near East, and
the way in which the European coun-
tries have been in the habit of dealing
with them has been to bring about a
conference Of the representatives Of
the different nations to discuss the
subject and find some way of recon-
cling the differences, or Of convincing
the parties to the dispute that it would
not be safe for them to break the
peace
Roosevelt Big Factor
For example, in 1905, when the Ger
man Empcror's dramatic challenge of
the. policy OF France az to Morocco
nad made war seem probable, the
Algeciras conference was brought
about largely by the influence of Pres-
dent Roosevelt, and that conference re-
suited IN preventing war. In 1912,
when the Balkan wars had brought
Europe apparently to the verge Of uni
vcrsal war, the ambassadors OF all the
great powers met in London, and the
Fnaf1lf hnt fo