The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1945-04-07

organization which is charged
with finding the remedies and do
ing the graphing.
No people has had more expert
ence than we have with making
and operating written constitu-
tions. We have learned from it, I
believe, that the best constitutions
are those which confine themselves
to the framework of government
and a grant Of powers, and do
not presume 10 legislate or fix pol
icy on particular subjects.
Whenever we have departed
from this conception Of what Is
the province of a constitution, as
for example in the prohibition
amendment, or in the state con.
situations which contain detailed
provisions on innumerable sub.
jects, we have regretted it.
An organic law determines who
shall deal with issues that win
arise in the future and what are
his powers. 1t should not attempt
to tell him what he must decide
about these issues. To argue that
the Sa n Francisco conference
should try to find remedies for
conditions which meance tn e
peace of the world is tantamount
to saying that that particular
meeting in San Francisco can and
should now do the hardest part of
the work which the international
organization is intended to do.
This is, I submit, a deep fallacy
which can only raise false expec-
tations.
The San Francisco conference
will have done much if 1t creates
International organs of consulta-
ton and compacts to agree to de-
eide on common action. If 1t at
tempts to do more than that, 1t
will be attempting to incorporate
contemporary opinions in to a
charter that is meant to endure.
Then 1t will be saying that the
delegates at San Francisco are bet
ter able to decide what will be
good for mankind than the dele
gates who will in the years to come
attend the general assembly and
the security council that they are
creating. l do not believe the San
Francisco conference will have
that much prophetic wisdom
available in the six or eight weeks
after April "a.
Mr.. WelIes is an ardent spokes-
man of those who hold that the
way to promote international NOR
atty is to promulgate internation-
al codes of morals to which all
governments are then invited, on
penalty Of being branded immor-
al, to subscribe. I do not believe
that this is the best way to pro-
mote international morality. 1t in.
flates the moral currency and,
therefore, impairs it's value, its
dignity, and its authority. A mod
est pledge which can be and will
be carried out does more to pro-
mote morality than grandiose uni
versal pledges that governments
cannot observe literally, or will not
observe faithfully.
We are writing 4 contract
which, we hope, can be and will
be carried out. We are drafting
articles of association for over for
Fly nations who do not have COM
mon culture, common religion,
or a common understanding of
general ideas. If we can get them
to agree TO meet, to confer in AIN
orderly and regular way, and to
act together in certain matters, we
shall have the first beginnings of
an ordered world. But if we try
to write into these articles of as
ISOLATION the moral code which
we, in the United States, believe
to be universally right, we shall
quickly discover that governments
and peoples, who think quite as
well of themselves as we do of our
selves, do not regard our ideas as
universal, or interpret them uni
versally as We do.
The general acceptance Of a
universal code of international
morality is the end we are seek
ing to attain. II is not the basis
from which we start. II it Wers,
if there were a universal code of
international morals which all peo-
pie understand and accept, we
should not now be founding an In
ternational organization. It would
long since have been established.
The reason for establishing the
organization is to create institu-
tons within which the nations with
their diverse moral codes may by
continual contact evolve a COM
mon. code.
Copyright, 1915, New York Tr-
bune Inc.
-V-
TrAy rnnNK lnrl