The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-07-31
PREDICTS LEAGUE
WITHIN A YEAR
Z
Lawrence Says the United
States Will Join Regard, e
less of Politics
ROOT A LEADER
IN FORMING COURT
International Court Of Justice TO FoI-
low Lines of United States Supreme
Court - Will Make League of Ma
lions 4 Going Concern.

lions a Going Concern.
Bv DAVID LAWRENCE.
Especial B.spatch to The Reformer
Copyright 1920
WASHINGTON, July 31.-Both the
Republican and democratic candidates
for the presidency may talk as they
like concerning the league of nations
as an issue in the present campaign but
evidences are multiplying that the Uni
ted States viii within year be a mem
her of 'sthe = league of nations as pro-
vided for by the treaty of Versailles.
Senator Harding may keep his posi-
ton ambiguous in order to keep the
votes of the Hiram Johnson following
and Governor Cox may talk about res
ervations in order not to ALLEVIATE the
people who didn't like Mr. Wilson s
| insistence on an unqualified treaty but
the presence of Elihu Root and DIR.
james Brown Scott in the meetings now.
taking place abroad to form a court
of international justice is looked upon
both in Washington by international
lawyers and abroad by diplomats and
statesmen as the forerunner of Repub
llican policy in the event that Mr.. Hard
| ing is elected.
| Documents which have just come TO
the writer from official sources abroad
describe in great detail the part that
Messrs Root and Scott are taking in
the meetings Of the advisory commits
sion of jurists who were appointed by
the council of the league of nations to
establish a permanent court of interna-
tional justice.
''That the United States.'' says one
| of these documents, though not q
member of the league of nations should
| have a dominating influence in the for
nation of the permanent court of in
! ternational Justice which is to be the
| cornerstone Of the league, is the great
anomaly of the meetings being held
| at the Hague. 1t is both unexpected
and unusual that nation which has so
1 seriously damaged the idea of the
league of nations should nevertheless
! see its own viewpoint and experience
i largely predominant in one of the most
/ vital fields Of activity of the league.
/ ''The reason is not far to seek 1t
/ lies in the personality of two men, Elihu
/ Root, former secretary of state, and
1 James Brown Scott, former solicitor of
/ the state department and now head of
i the Carnegie endowment for inter-
i national peace at stWashingtum INTO
4 their tact and Judgment is due much
1 Of the direction which the whole com
1 mittep is taking "a well "a the fact
Il that the court which eventually evolves
from the deliberations here will be a
Il court wholly in line with American
i ideals and experience.
II "'These two men hold in the minds
i of European iurists unique position,
i it cannot be too strongly emphasized
that they do not represent the United
States government in any sense for
they have been appointed directly by
the council of the league of nations on
| the basis of their very high standing
| among the leading iurists of the world.
i They are therefore on the same foot
ing as the other members of the commit
tee, namely eminent iurists summoned
by an international organization to per-
feet plans for world court.
i I" Nevertheless their position as
Americans adds significance to their
i presence for the statesmen of Europe
are only too willing to recognize the
/ bigness of spirit and viewpoint which
Il allowed Mr.. Root especially, with his
well known political alignments in the
| United States to accept an appointment
/ by an organization (the league of ma
| tions) to which his own country and
even his own political party has ex-
pressed such vehement opposition OF
course, the fact that he has been will
ing to serve is taken. whether rightly
or wrongly, az an indication that this
| foremost of American statesmen accepts
at least the broad lines of the exist
| ing league of nations.
/ T'The committee had not been sit
/ ting week before it was possible to
| forecast that the court would follow ex-
actly the lines of the supreme court of
| the United States. This result flowed
not only from the logic of the situation
but also from the presentation of the
analogy of America Is court by Mr.. Root
1t is possible that the same results
would have been reached without the
presence of Mr.. Root but it cannot be
| doubted that they were greatly expe-
| dited =
IT is a curious commentary on the
situation that only by the failure of
the Lodge reservations in the last con-
gress was it possible for Mr.. Root to
go abroad for one of these reservations
forbade any American from accepting
any position under the league of nations
without the consent of the senate and
made the provision for recess appoint
ments in the event that the senate was
not in session.
Perhaps the most interesting excerpt
from documents discussing the meet
ings now taking place in the council
Of the league and its subcommittee
is the following:
The league of nations is building
strongly, but not at all spectacularlv. Il
A wholly new method of International
cooperation is going to come out of