Evening star., 1935-01-29
ROBINSON PLEADS
FOR WORLD COURT
Democrat Leader RidicuIes
"Gag Rule" Charge in
Forum Talk.
Continued From Eighth page.>

tContthueo FTom GlSnCu faee.l
constantly recurring questions be-
tween US and other nations than is
now available by arbitration"
II party platforms are to be re-
garded as binding, then every Senator
except the Senator from Minnesota,
Mr.. ShipStead, is under political
mandate to vote for adherence. You
will observe that in the Republican
plank there is no reference to reser-
vationS. The language expresses pride
in the attitude of Presidents Harding,
Coolidge and Hoover, and afflrms that
membership in the Court offers us
safer. more judicial and expeditions
instrument than Is otherwise pro-
vided.
We are asked by the opposition to
state reasons for joining the Court.
There are many which appear to rest
in good judgment and sound policy.
All civilized governments. through the
kellogg-Briand pact, are committed
to the employment of only pacific
means for the settlement Of their
disputes How can any one who seri-
ously believes in the outlawry of war
stand in the way of the maintenance
of judicial tribunals, whether the
jurisdiction be narrowly limited or
comprehensive? There are many
factors which make for rupture be-
tween nations-long established rival
ries. national jealousies, racial
pre1udiceS, and misunderstanding
Throughout the centuries force has
been the only effective method of
composing these as well as more acute
causes OF conflicts among nations. For
the most part suggesting nothing as
q practical substitute, the adversaries
OF the Court proclaim in one breath
that 1t is too feeble to accomplish
much good, and in the next that 1t
Is so powerful it may lead to the
destruction of our civilization.
Value Has Been Demonstrated.
Did you know that the World Court
Is the outgrowth Of opinion originating
In the United States, expressed as
early as the time of President Will
liam Mckinley, vitalized in the procla-
nations of Theodore Roosevelt, and
given concrete form by the labors of
woodrow Wilson? Did you know that
the World Court is the only interna-
tional tribunal to which peace minded
peoples may take their questions for
legal adjustment? The value of arbi-
tration has been demonstrated. Its
agencies have been useful and will
continue to be. Whatever the League
of Nations may have done to create
the World Court, it does not control
and will not control the action or the
decisions of the Court. The League of
Nations may not be adapted to the
settlement Of controversies in which
America is interested, but in spite of
the fact that it has not always been
successful its services have been nota-
BILE and advantageous in numerous in
stances in preserving peace. The re-
cent outcome in the Saar and the
avoidance of war when the King of
Yugoslavia was aSSaSSinated are nota-
BILE instances. The League of Nations
rendered mankind an outstanding
service when it promoted the estab-
iShment of the World Court. In join
ing that Court We neither join in nor
give intention of joining the League of
Nations. Only the most strained con-
struction and contention gives rise to
such assertions.
But it is said We can now have the
services of the Court without paying
any part of its expenses or sharing
any degree of its responsibility Yes,
through the liberality of the nations
creating the Court we are permitted
to use it, but think we would not do
so while denying assistance or support
on the ground that it is unworthy of
our confidence. A sense of self-reSpect
would make our Government reluctant
to submit case to the Court, and the
present President will not do so should
the Senate refuse adherence.
Should Not Be Eff0rtless.
Surely those desirous of avoiding
war recognize the necessity for peace
agencies. Certainly they cannot main
tain the contention that humanity
must go staggering into the future,
facing the fear of future wars, and
bearing the crushing burdens OF past
conflicts without doing something to
help nations find a substitute for vio-
lence. What though the effort may
not at first be successful? What if it
shall not always prove possible to COM
pose the causes of war? Must the
movement toward international peace
be stopped and turned backward?
Must the prayers that daily ascend to
heaven from affairs in every land be
silenced in the cynical ShoutingS of
those who say, your prayers will not
be answered; your hopes are doomed
to disappointment your children must
be born throughout the generations to
come to heritage of blood and sacri-
.fice?" / know that the lessons Of his
tory are hard to learn. know, too,
that the tendencies Of civilization
sometimes prove irresistible. realize
that mankind may dwell for q long
time in the dread and danger Of armed
conflicts, and know what awful con-
fiicts menace the present and the fu-
turel Such agencies of destruction as
the scientists of the past generation
never dreamed of! Agencies delving
beneath the surface of the seas, soar
ing like black-winged vultures above
and beyond the range Of vision, seiZing
in their deadly grip the health, the
property, the very lives of whole popu-
lations. We may be powerless, but we
should not be effortless. The crosses
that mark the resting places of the
valiant who sleep where they fell In
the world conflict-the millions of
white and black crosses make mute
but powerful appeal to those who have
not forgotten and who must not for
get that the sacrifice was in vain un-
less the statesmen of the world per-
form their duty with courage compar-
able to that of the men who fought
on land and sea and in the air dur
ing the dreadful years when the star
of hope gave the only light that IL
lumined the bottomless chasms of de-
spair.
MANS FORMER WIVES
ININ ENDNEc IM NnIIDr