Evening star., 1925-12-08
By MANLEY o. HUDSON.
remis Professor OF International Law.
Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School.
Senator Borahs statement of No
vember 80, 1925, again declares his de-
termination to do everything possible
to divorce the World Court from the
League of Nations. This expression
Is such a quotable one, and IL has
been repeated so often, that il may
mislead some people: and the pro-
posal which 1t involves calls for a
close examination.
There are now three ways in which
the court and the league are related:
% the judges are elected by the
council and the assembly of the
league; G) the budget of the court
forms a part of the budget Of the
league: and (3) the court may give
advisory opinions on the request OF
the coun III or assembly. / shall as
sumo that the enforcement to which
Senator Borah pledged himself would
involve the breaking up of each OF
these three connections. Apart from
his sworn opposition to the league
which Re derives from an alleged
mandate now five years old, 1t may
be useful to inquire why the divorce
ment is to be attempted, whether 1t
is possible, and what Il would mean.
% Election of the Judges.-The
deadlock of whole generation of
effort was broken in 1920 when Mr.
Root proposed that the difficulties OF
agreeing on method of electing the
Judges he escaped by utilizing the
council and assembly of the League
of Nations for this purpose. His
proposal was adopted and 1ncorpo-
rated into the status OF the court
which AS states now have signed.
Two elections have been held, one in
1921 and one in 1923, and both went
off successfully. All the other ma.
tions are satisfied with this method.
Presiden, Harding and President
Coolidge and Secretary Hughes pro-
posed that the United States accept
it, and have the privilege Of sending
an American to vote with those two
bodies in the election.
Holds Change Impracticable.
But Senator Borah is so excited by
the thought Of an American going to
Geneva that he proposes that we ask
the other 48 nations to And some new
method of choosing the judges. In
other words, he wants us to throw
the fat back into the fire where 1t
was from 1899 to 1920. Now if Sena'
tor Borah were in touch with opinion
in other countries ]. think he would
see that this would be wholly unac-
ceptable to them. No practical reason
can be offered to them why such q
radical thing should be proposed,
whereas every practical reason Is
against q renewal Of the old struggle
between the political dogma of state
equality and the political fact Of the
hegemony Of the great powers.
In this respect Senator Borah's pro-
posal Is impracticable. unnecessary
most undesirable and calculated to up
set the great gain already made In
the establishment OF the court. II the
United States were to adopt 1t. IT
would quite certainly be rejected by
other nations.
(2) Budget Of the court.-The money
necessary to pay the bills Of the World
Court Is now collected from 55 ma
tions, all members Of the League OF
Nations. These nations maintain the
court. They do not have separate
machinery at The Hague for appor
tioning the expense and getting In
the contributions. Both Of those are
delicate and difficult tasks. AS a sat
isfactory machinery for apportion
ment and collection existed at Geneva
in the financial section Of the League
Of Nations, it seemed the sensible and
economical thing to utilize this ma
chinery for the court. 1t has now been
working very smoothly for four years.
President Harding and President
Coolidge and Secretary Hughes pro.
pose that we acquiesce in this ar
rangement and that we agree to con.
tribute our share to the courts ex'
penses. But two things are notable.
Our own Congress Is to say how much
we shall contribute; and If we de-
sire our check can be sent directly to
the courts registrar at The Hague
without even passing through the
leagues agencies at Geneva.
Doubts Explanation Possible.
This is what Senator Borah finds
that q. small group Of irreconctiables
who svcted 100000 strong" in 1890
have determined We cannot do. But
what explanation will he otter to the
other 4SS countries? They like the
present arransGme they find 1t sim