The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1924-03-30

Y CHAM AGE-H E IRA
, court in the world can try and sen.
tence a man for killing ten million men
by starting war, unless there Is a
law outlawing war.
The president Of the United States
has requested our entry into the league
court. favor any step which will
indicate an intention to take our part
in the work Of attaining world coop
Grafton for peace. But, my friends, dc
not be deceived as to the effectiveness.
Of such action. The league court is Q
consent court which, under the league
Of nations constitution, article IA, car
have no jurisdiction except by common
consent of the parties. II Germany
were to be tried before that court fol
making war, even if there was an in.
ternational code under which she was
subject to trial for starting the war
she could refuse to be tried. 1t ID
as If were to be tried for murder
and should say, ~ do not think ]
will come to trial. I'd rather not
That Is all the power Of the league
court which we are asked to enter
That Is to say, we have an interna,
tional code without any jurisdiction
over the parties to world controversies
unless they wish to favor the court
with their presence, and we have nc
law against war. The league court is
an improvement In form over the
Hague court, but both courts are still
arbitral and wholly lacking In juris.
diction. So the world court can Meth.
or call the offending nation before It,
nor try it, when 1t comes, because
there Is no law against international
violence nor against war.
World Court Of Justice
] consider this machinery, the es-
tablishment of a court with jurisdic-
ton, interpreting an international code
as vital to world peace. But the In
dispensible first step is the outlawry of
war, which, as have said, can be &C.
comphshed by n simple conference and
universal treaty. No court In the
world can maintain peace while war
Is legal.
War has many remote causes. The
immediate ostensible cause is always
some dispute. You cannot eliminate
war unless you substitute some other
method of handling the dispute. But
IN this process war must be made lille.
gal, crime against society, or nations
will still use war. Nations are partic.
ularly apt to use war IL their cause il
weak, but when war is made disrepu.
table, nations will hesitate to use n
and 1t will be made disreputable when.
ever 1t IL made illegal.
Moreover, no organization ever rises
higher than Its purpose. II the pur.
pose OF a world association is really 10
do away with war, 1t must 80 declare
directly, outlaw war, and cut ont Of Il,
charter everything In conflict with the
outlawing of war. No league, no asso.
citation, no world court, can ever do
away with war, unless war is made IL.
legal. Any league or association which
tries TO prevent war by making war a
doomed to failure.
AND that brings me to the PROPOSE.
ton that the courts DEGREES must not be
enforced by physical power. You can.
not eliminate force between nations by
using force. The reason for this IL that
the nations will never consent to 4
super-government. To be practical, In
order to work, any international orSani.
cation must be based upon agreement
only THAT Is treaty.; being based on
agreement, the organization will be
disrupted IL force is used, Moreover
the seeds Of hatred sown in using force
repress war are just as evil as those
sown in the war which the force was
employed to repress.
Laws are not enforced through phvsj.
cal force only. Laws are also enforced
through public opinion. The better
part of law enforcement is done through
public conscience. That is because reaI
laws, which have q moral basis. are ths
expression of the moral feeling of The
community. We have in Cleveland less
than 1900 policemen, There are a00 :.
600 people in that city. and If we
wished to organize a hesd-hunt the No.
ice would be powerless. Most of the
citizens are kept in check BY what? Not
py courts, not by constables; not by
prisons but BY our intent not to break
1ne law. This intent not to break the
law Is the moral feeling Of the COM
munity, and it results from many spir-
Itua! ana educational forces, which are
y ", BY belief in a declared law.
tne same force OF public opinion can
DC oullt up among the nations, II
cannot De built up until the moral Law
t9at war Is illegal is expressed in terms
OF Jaw: The law must be expressed
so tnat the spiritual strength of the
world, always much greater than we
admit, may rally to its backing. War
must be declared outlawed, in order
that this spiritual force which will
teach the nations not to learn war anv
more, not to want to learn war any
more, may be released and vitalized.
At present it is impotent. This spiritual
force, this desire not to war, because
war is a crime-will finally be the
most potent force toward peace. and
hence we should express the law if for
no other purpose than release to this
force.
Answers Objections
Some say a court which doesn't en-
forces its DEGREES by physical force will
be valuelees. There are three answers
to this doctrine.
/. Physical enforcement of court de-
crees against an individuarl does not
constitute war. Physical enforcement
OF court DEGREES against a nation win
always be war or the equivalent Of war.
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