Evening star., 1921-07-21
j, s. UNPREPARED
/ FOR WORLD COURT
Failure to Reply to League
Invitation Due Only to
Present Situation.
MAY ACCEPT IN FUTURE
Must Be Submitted to Senate to Be
Ratified as It Is in Ma
ture of Protocol.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

The United States government is not
Intentionally ignoring communications
from the league of nations. and has not
failed to note the invitation to this gov
eminent. to become a member OF the
world court of international justice Gre
ated by the league.
This attitude was made known today
at the Department Of State TO onset
published stories giving the IMPRESSION
that the United States was someno"
offending the league of nations py re-
fusing to deal with it's letters ana COM
munications. In the first place, the
permanent secretary of the league mas
been sending out printed circulars 70
the various governments OF the world
and it was but natural that one OF the
government bureaus filed the circulars
without regarding them in the same
light as formal communications.
Cannot Deal With League.
What the secretary of the league OF
nations hasn't evidently taken INTO con-
sideration is that while al! communlca-
tions are duly received and filed, Secre-
tary Hughes is powerleSS to deal Win
the league because of the expressed de-
sire of the President of the united
States that America stay out OF the
league and the evident concurrence OF
the Senate in that viewpoint.
Ambassador Harvey went step
rurther in his speech in London by
saying the united States wouldn't t
even deal directly or indirectly with
any committee or creature OF the
league of nations. and that's why both
the White House and Department OF
state would be embarrassed in deal
ing with the world court. for 1T would
mean a reputation of Ambassador
Harvey's expression of American 1or-
eign policy.
Thus far the executive branch OF
>the United States government has not
acted on the invitation to become a
member of the world court. That in
vitation must be submitted to the Sem
ate to be ratified. as it is in the nature
of a protocol. State Department Of
f1cials decline to say whether it will
be sent to the Senate.
Inasmuch as the Versailles treaty
hasn't been ratified. and no substitute
policy has as vet been made public,
and since President Harding and Sen
ator Lodge have said in their
speeches the league was dead it is
difficult to accept any invitation from
the league to join any of the inter-
national instrumentalities created by
1t.
Elihu Root took part in framing
the world court and has been asked
to help name judges for the court. but
the government here officially has no
connection even with that feature
of the thing, as it considers Mr.. Roots
relationship to the world court SIM
ply personal affair.
May Accept Jurisdiction.
After the court is once established
however. it will be possible for ma
tions which are not members Of the
league of nations to become identified
with the world court, accepting its
Jurisdiction for as much or as little as
is considered desirable by the indi-
vidual nation.
While it is true that the world
court was crexteF by the league of
nations and that the method of pro-
viding judges depends upon the coun-
Gil of the league. the court when once
established will operate as an indie
pendent judicial body, having no re-
lationship whatsoever to interna-
tional politics.
So some day when the Senate dis
poses of political relationships with