The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1920-09-26
THE HAGUE PLAN AND TIE LEAGUE

while to note that the world activities max
ing in the direction of establishment and per-
fection of the League machinery are moving
steadily and it might almost seem inevitably,
toward their elimination. Jurists represent
ing the principal nations have just completed
a draft for proposed Permanent Court OF
International Justice 1t points to the reall-
zation of the ideals of the Hague Peace Con-
ference, since it provides means for the set
tlement of cases in dispute between nations
beyond and in addition to the Court of Arbi-
tration organized by the Hague conventions
of 1899 and 1907, and the special tribunals
of arbitration. A major part of the achieve
ment represented by the proposals for this
court is in the reaching of an agreement as
to how the court shall be constituted. In the
face of the natural wish of every nation to
have a friend at court in the shape of one
of its own nationals as a judge or deputy
Judge the difficulty of keeping the judges to
a workable number and at the same time
satisfying the nations of their representative
nature and acceptability, is easy to appreci-
ate. But the difficulty has been overcome.
What appears to be an impartial method Of
choosing judges to make up the court from
a list of egibles that shall be acceptably rep
resentative, has been found. The details of
the proposed organization are now ready to
go before the nations for formal acceptance.
Significantly enough, it is the League Of
Nations that is to be the medium for this
acceptance. The draft Of the court will be
presented to the Council OF the League which
meets in Brussels in October, and to the
Assembly of the League which meets in
Geneva in November In fact, it was the
existence of the League of Nations as a
going concern which opened the way for
the successful drafting of plan whereby the
Court of International Justice might be es-
tablished All that the Hague conferences
have been able to do has never been suffi-
cient to get court, of the sort now proposed,
even tentatively agreed upon. But what the
Hague conferences could not achieve has
been accomplished through the machinery
provided by that momentous agreement at
Versailles. "The Council shall formulate and
submit to the members of the League, for
adoption" says Article IA that Covenant,
plans for the establishment of permanent
court of international justice. The court
shall be competent to hear and determine
any dispute of an international character
which the parties thereto submit to it. The
court may also give an advisory opinion upon
any dispute or question referred to it by the
Council or by the Assembly" 1t is in the
fulfillment Of the requirements laid down in
this article that the plan for the Court of
International Justice has now been success
fully formulated
The United States has not been able to
take part in that formulation as member
of the League of Nations but it has been
represented, through invitation transmitted
through the state officials of Great Britain
and the United States, by one of its most
eminent jurists the Honorable Elihu Root
And Mr.. Root though a Republican, has not
participated in the deliberations that have
resulted in the draft of the new court as an
opponent Of the League Of Nations As far
back as last April Mr. Rool, at the request Of
Will H. Hays, chairman of the National Re-
publican Committee, set forth his views about
the League IN letter which was given out
for publication from the Republican Commit
tee headquarters in Washington. Thus it
may be inferred that Mr.. Roots views as to
the League were fairly well indorsed by the
Republican leaders. Mr. Root has been eager
to have some requirements on the nations to
make use of the existing Permanent Court Of
Arbitration at The Hague, and to have arbi-
tration provided for all disputes of a justici-
able character between the parties. But he
has willingly lent his effort in the drafting
of this new Court of International Justice,
while knowing that the drafting of it was
being undertaken by authority of the League
of Nations and that the court as proposed
would form, if accepted, an integral part Of
/ the League machinery. Mr.. Root has not
renounced his views as to the efficacy of the
Hague plan in all this. He has simply taken
advantage of the opportunity to carry the
Hague ideal nearer to its complete reali-
zaton.
1t is difficult to see how anybody who
favors the Hague idea as a means of doing
away with war can fail to follow Mr.. Roots
example, in effect. There is much talk in the
United States at the present time of opposi-
ton to the Wilson League, Of putting teeth
into the Hague plan. partisanship is obvi-
ously playing fast ana loose with a great
idea. But inevitably world already par
} tally organized to do away with war must
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