Evening star., 1945-08-12
Terming Planning of War
A Crime Sets Precedent
Four.Power Commission of Jurists, Pioneering in
New Field of international Law Finds New
Basis for Fixing Guilt
By Joseph II. Baird

A new tenet of internationl law
which promises to be as revolutionary
in the field of justice among nations
as the atomic bomb is in that of war
fare and science has been firmly estab-
lished in the four-power charter made
public this week to govern the trial of
European war criminals. 1t is that the
planning of aggressive warfare is in it
self major crime against society.
Adoption of this principle by the
United States, Great Britain Russia and
France and the virtual certainty that
it will result in the severe punishment
possibly death-of some of the Axis
war leaders give new significance to
the almost-forgotten Kellogg Pact on
which Henry L. Stimson, when Secre-
tary of State in the early 193Os, based
major part of his Far Eastern diplo-
macy.
In those days, and later, many per-
sons scoffed at Mr. Stimson as an inn
practical word-monger. Today, as Nazi
German leaders stand in the shadow of
an international court with vast au-
thority to punish, his warnings to Japan
do not appear as vapid as they did
once
In the Pact of Paris casually known
here as the Kellogg Pact because it was
originated by former Secretary of State
Frank B. Kellogg and Foreign Minister
Aristide BRAND of France virtually all
the nations of the world in 1927 agreed
to renounce war as an instrument of
national policy" Because the agree
ment provided no teeth" for it's en-
forcement and was simply an affirma-
ton of principles, it became popular to
scoft at it, particularly after Japan ig-
nored Mr.. Stimson's invocation of it at
the time the Nipponese war lords in
vaded Manchuria
Crimes Against Peace.
In the list of war crimes drawn up by
the four power commission of jurists,
the first category is defined as follows:
"(A Crimes against peace: Namely.
planning, preparation, initiation or
waglng Of war of aggression, or war
in violation of international treaties,
agreements or assurances, or participa-
ton in common plan to conspiracy
for the accomplishment of any of the
foregoing"
In letter to President Truman out
lining the legal bases on which the
rules OF law and procedure we're drafted
Justice Robert H. jackson of the Su-
preme Court, the American representa-
tive on the commission, specifically
mentioned the Kellogg Pact as a part
of the bedrock of international law
which justified the bringing of Grim
inal action against those plotting ag-
gressive wars.
unless this pact altered the legal
status OF wars of aggression" he wrote
"it has no meaning at all and comes
close to being an act of deception"
War an Illegal Act.
Justice jackson then quoted Mr.. Stim-
son as having said when he was Secre-
tary of State:
War between nations was renounced
by the signatories of the BRAND kellogg
Treaty. This means that it has become
illegal throughout practically the en-
tire world. 1t is no longer to be the
source and subject of rights. y 1t is
an illegal thing"
While the rules drawn up in the fo1r
power agreement were specifically de-
signed to govern only the trial of Euro
pean war criminals, there seems little
doubt-particularly now that Russia has
declared war on Japan-that they also
will furnish basis for the trial of JAP
anese war criminals. These latter may
learn that the warnings issued by Mr.
Stimson in 1881 and 1882 against viola
tions of the Kellogg Pact were not as
empty and meaningless as they seemed
to Tokyo at that time.
1t may@b be the good fortune of Mr.
Stimson-now Secretary of War-to see
within his lifetime the principles of
moral responsibility for war which he
defended so vigorously. firmly embedded
in applied international law and used
as basis of punishment for those who
ignored them.
Cites Other Authorities.
Justice jackson, however, did not rest
his case for the individual responsibility
for aggressive war solely on the Kellogg
Pact. He referred to Grotius, the father
of international law, as making a dis
tinction between "the just and unjust
war-the war of defense and the war of
aggression" He quoted the Geneva