Evening star., 1925-10-03
PACT AGAINST WAR
FUTILE, ROOT TELLS
WORLD CONGRESS
International Thought Turns
From Hysteria to Court
Plan, He Holds.
CRITICS OF TRIBUNAL
UNREASONABLE, HE SAYS
Expect Acorn to Become Oak Over
Night, He Declares, Before In
terparliamentary Body.
Mere agreements between nations

Mere agreements between nations
not to have controversies and quar-
rels are futile, for international dis
agreements are certain to come, Eli
hu Root warned the Interparliamen-
tary Union conference here today IN
paper on codification of international
law, which was presented for Mr..
Root by Representative Theodore Bur
ton of Ohio.
Holding that wars result from a
state Of mind, and 'in these modern
times that has to be the state of
mind of n people" Mr.. Root declared
that the most effective agencies for
dealing with that condition are the
Permanent Court of international JUS
tice, the League of Nations and The
Hague Court of Arbitration.
He scored those who criticize these
groups because they have not al
ready stopped all wars"
Praises World Court.
Codification of international law.
Mr.. Root asserted, has special impor-
tance at this time because OF the
necessity of enlarging the services
rendered by the Permanent Court of
International Justice. This tribunal.
he declared, together with the other
two mentioned, promises Ito facilitate
the preservation of peace to degree
never before attained"
These three institutions for con-
ference. for judicial decision and for
arbitration, are still in their infancy
Mr.. Root said but they have made
extra ordinary development in the last
80 years, and the simple fact of their
existence is already changing the
way in which mankind thinks and
feels about the disposition of interna-
tional controversy without war"
Mr.. Root asserted. we have reach
ed point where war cannot be sue
cessfully carried on unless it gratifies
the feelings of the great body Of the
people of the country"
The conclusion" the paper con-
tinued, 'is that the most effective
method of dealing with the state of
mind which leads to war is not by
any mere negative, but by counter
affirmative, consisting Of a substitute
for decision by war in the form of de-
cision by proof and reason.
The three institutions enumerated
afford this substitute, and they af
ford it in such varied forms as to be
adaptable apparently to every con-
'ceivable situation.
Already Proved Value.
considering the extensive use of
these three institutions in the disposal
Of international controversies under
the troubled and excited conditions of
Europe during the past five years and
the beneficent results which have
been accomplished, it Is apparent that
these institutions are an evolution
from the practical necessities Of in
ternational life worked out by the
continuous effort of many most COM
petent and experienced men, ap-
preaching the subject from the points
Of view of all nations and finally COM
ing to agreement upon what is at
once practicable and useful for the
prevention of war.
"Time out of mind the world has
been negotiating for the prevention OF
war, and each negotiation, successful
or unsuccessful, begins just where all
the others have begun. Every case In
last case began, but where the
the last case begun, but where the
last case ended. The Judgment of the
court may be binding only upon the
the courts decision will be continually
building up body of agreement which
narrows the field of controversy be-
tween nations and prevents future
controversies. The court is an fnStru-
rnent of international progress toward
the government of the world by law.
Not Born Full Grown.
Most serious, in considering this
subject, is the mistake OF those who
expect human institutions to be born
full grown, who condemn The Hague
Court of Arbitration and the Perma-
nent Court Of International Justice.
and the League of Nations within its
own membership, and all the interna-
tional conferences of the postwar Pc
riod. because they have not already
stopped all wars. These people
would have the clock begin by striking
10. Immediately after planting an
acorn they would dig it up and throw
it away because it Is not already an
oak They fail to understand that all
progress Is the result
never of compulsion, but always OF a
process, and that the process has to
go on in the minds and feelings OF
many widely different nations, and
therefore it must be slow.
although you cannot change hu-
man nature, you can change stand
ards of conduct, but always gradually,
never violently. The first important
question is how many steps can all
these nations, differing in interests
and circumstances and traditions and
modes of thought and feeling, be
brought to agree upon now. That is
the first thing to ascertain, and when
1t Is ascertained, although it may be
possible to get immediate agreement
upon only one step, the. part of wis
dom Is to get that step agreed upon
and put it into effect.
World Thought Changing.
ALREADY the world is becoming
familiar with the idea Of judicial de-
cision upon international questions,
and already the world is beginning
to think that way. Already in many
countries sensible people are coming
to realize that here is a reasonable
alternative to the proposals of the
demagogue and the follies of hysteria.
Plainly, it is important now to en-
large the scope of the courts juris
diction by enlarging the law which
the court is authorized to apply"
The Root paper contained an ex-
haustive review of various attempts
to codify international law, and par
ticularly to those initiated by the
Union, through the
American Institute of International
Law and by the League of Nations
Continued on Page 5. Column 81
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