Evening star., 1920-10-22
WORLD COURT Plan
FRAMED At HAGUE
REvEALEDByR ROOT
Step Taken Toward Deter
mining What Disagreements
Are JustifiabIe.

NEW YORK, October 22.-Elihu
Root. in an address before the bar as
sociation of the city Of New York. last
night explained for the first time some
of the accom- ishments of the Inter-
national commission of which he 10 a
member toward perfecting plans for
permanent court of international JUS
tice.
Mr.. Root laid emphasis on the for
ward step taken at the conference at
The Hague this year. when basis
was laid for determining what inter-
national disagreements are truly jus
ticiable, and means provided for In
surfing that such cases should come
before an international court with
jurisdiction to settle them according
to principles OF law.
The term "justiciable." as applied to
certain International difficulties, had
been used only in vague sense in
the treaties for arbitration negotiated
by President Taft. Mr.. Root said. and
it was one of the most serious prob
lens of the commission on which he
sat to define the term as applied to
international law.
Old System Explained.
The older system of The Hague tri-
bunal, he explained, functioned rather
along lines of diplomacy than of strict
Justice, and there was a tendency to
compromise rather than adjudicate
disputes in accordance with principles
OF law and Justice. This. Mr.. Root
sad. was another feature which pres
ent plans eliminate in favor of a more
strictly judicial procedure.
ne said the plan provides that the
International court shall decide cases
strictly according to law" letting the
consequences take care Of themselves.
Na.lons with disputes to settle may.
under the league of nations, either con-
sent. through representatives in the as
sembly. to submitting differences to the
court OF arbitration, or lacking such
consent, the question automatically goes
to the council for settlement.
Arbitration by the court. he said, is to
be obligatory ION all question Of strict
legal right" This provision, he added,
was inserted in the plan in the exact
words Of the recommendation of the Bar
Association, submitted to him before
leaving for The Hague. The plan pro-
vides that the court shall have juris-
diction also in all cases of ''interpreta-
ton of treaties or in considering the ad-
vantage and effects of obligations over
which the dispute in question arose.
Also Agreed.
1t was also agreed. Mr.. Root declared,
that countries which were parties to dis
putes should be represented on the court
itself, no country to have more than
one representative. however. This, he
9oios was dSAcCO " ot1 Tie pIluClplo IIldL
the greatest obstacle to justice between
nations was the failure of the nations
involved to understand each other.
He explained that the court consisted
Of eleven judges and four alternate
judges including chief judge. These
judges are elected by the assembly Of
the league of nations from an eligible
list recommended to it by the several
countries. 1t was provided that these
recommendations should be made on be-
half Of the different countries, by the
present delegates to The Hague tri-
bunal
When the assembly of the league Of
nations meets next month at Geneva"
Mr.. Root concluded, there may be 50
much opposition to the obligatory arbi-
tration features Of our plan that they
will strike them OUT
This, he said, he hoped would not be
done as these constitute "a step for
ward"
Every advance shocks somebody" he
said. ITO attempt to go too far, too
fast or all at once, almost always leads
to failure