Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-10
TAX BILL TO DRIVE
COURT ISSUE FROM
SENATE CALENDAR

SGNAlE CAlEWUHn
Continued from First Page)
scented at another conference called
by the league to frame convention
for the restriction of the growth and
the regulation Of the traffic In opium,
which opened at Geneva on Move mber
II. 1924, our delegates being S. G.
Porter, chairman of the committee
on foreign affairs in the House Of
Representatives,; the Ri. Rev.
harles II. Brent, Bishop of Western
New York; DIR. Rupert Blue of the
'ublic Health Service; Mrs. Hamilton
Wright and Mr.. Edward L. Neville.
finding themselves in disagreement
With the dominant sentiment Of the
difference, they withdrew and did not
gn the convention 1t framed.
Our participation in these impor
,ant conferences has about it a lain
ful suggestion of compuls.on. n re-
luctant yielding to the enlightened
opinion of our own people md Of the
world rather than IN eager assocfa-
ton in movements in which this ma
! ion should he a leader. Another con
ference staged by TIE League during
| the past year laid the foundation Tor
the progressive coGiiic;ltioil of interna
yiOnal law, an enterprise for The pro
motion of peace universally corn-
mended and nowhere more generously
than in the United States Whether
an invitation was extended TO ouI
Government to participate, [ am un-
able to say, but II is not open To doubt
that. If the slightest intimation had
been given that 1t would be welcomed
il would have been forthcoming, see
ing that the Council again called upon
the American bar for aid, requesting
George w. Wickersham to act IS
member of the committee of 5uriStS to
which the preliminary work was In
trusted.
Sees Attitude Changed.
Three times now the Government
of the United States has officially ac
cepted invitations u join the League
in attempting TO launch world re
forms, and twice ii has associated
itself openly with that organization tc
that end, action that speaks eloquent
ly OF the change in attitude OF the
State Department since il refused or
omitted to acknowledge the receipt of
letters from the secretary of the
League lest by doing so its existence
should be acknowledged, or even
since that department was accuS
toned to send representatives TO fol
and commissions in an advisory or
consultative capacity.
Having outgrOWn such childiShneSS
some would still have us withhold our
support of an International Court of
Justice. eagerly looked for and ardent
ly advocated by American jurists and
statesmen, for no other or better rea-
son than that it is associated with
the League to which IL owes its orr
ii i
ment in opposition 10 the pending
resolution is an appeal to what is
believed to be a settled hatred of the
League or fear lest It's value as a polit-
ical asset be depressed. No valid OBJ
lection has been raised or can be
raised to the method by which the
judges of the court are Selected-that
is, no alternative plan more likely to
secure men of ability or character,
men of courage and independence has
been proposed, no pretense is made
that a wider jurisdiction could be
given the court, however desirable 1t
NAV be to clothe ii with compulsory
power, either in respect to the insti-
tuition of proceedings or the enforce
ment of it's judgments; no restriction
in its Jurisdiction Is proposed except
in respect to advisory opinions, pro-
cedure that experience has fully vim
dictated, whatever misgiyings may
have been felt when the statute or
the court was first promulgated; no
reason has been advanced why the
Judges are not as free from influences
likely to swerve them from the path
of Justice as would be the judges OF
any world court chosen under any
other plan that might be proposed
and that would be accepted by nations
in sufficient number to put 1t into
effect.
Says One Road Is Open.
The United States of America
ought to adhere to the protocol OF
signature for the Permanent Court of
International Justice or cease to pre-
tend that it has any desire even to
substitute law for force in the solu-
ton of international controversies, or
that 1t looks to the determination OF
any such except through war.
Senator Williams. in his questions,
sought to develop the fact that the
world court is in reality the league
court, as it's opponents have con-
tended He also discussed the point
raised by Senators Lenroot Of Wis
consin and Willis of Ohio that the Re
publicans of the Senate should be
guided by their party platform and
support the court proposal. In this
connection, Senator Williams said:
Il have recently read again plank
of the national platform OF the Re
publican party adopted at Cleveland
on the 18th of June, 1924. 1t reads
as follows:
| I've indorse the Permanent Court
! OF International Justice and favor the
| adherence of the United States to this
! tribunal as recommended by President
( Coolidge. This Government has def
n1tely refused membership in the
+; league of Nations and to assume any
! obligations under the covenant OF the
/ League. On this We stand.
! Denies Step Political.
! THE two sentences in this plank of
| our party platform were believed to
! be consistent and in harmony with
! each other by the Republicans OF the
! country. We were not seeking the
votes of the pro-lea guers in the first
sentence and the votes of the anti