Evening star., 1946-08-11

oRCEN a. 4
Early In the fall Washingtonian
will pack his bags and leave for The
Hague to sit as Judge on the Interna-
tional Court of Justice--the world court
which has been set up as vital part
of the United Nations organization and
the jurisdiction of which the Senate
just recently voted to accept.
He is Green H. Hackworth, who, with
Mrs. Hackworth, lives at STA Morrison
street NV. For 80 years he has been
with the legal Office of the State De-
partment. From 1925 until his election
as judge of the court he was head of
that Office as legal adviser of the de-
partment, holding that position longer
than any other person in the history
of the department.
He has known and worked with every
Secretary of State, from Robert Lansing,
who succeeded William Jennings Bryan
in President Wilson'S time, to Secretary
Byrnes Into the legal department
which he headed went the increasingly
important problems of international
law arising during the precarious
peace of the 1930s. Then, when war
came in 1889, there were the legal
phases of the problems of our neu-
trality The attack on Pearl Harbor
meant still different problems.
Sound Opinions.
Frequently in those years lights
burned late In State Department Of
fees. And during those years phrase
began to be used which was heard
more and more as problems multiplied
and as appreciation grew of the sound
ness of the opinions that came from
the departments legal Office. That
phrase was, Get a memorandum from
Hackworth'
Judge Hackworth is not widely
known outside the State Department.
But If the foreign Offices of the various
nations of the world would be asked
to draw up lists of the worlds experts
in international law it is likely that
all of the lists would include Judge
Hackworth's name.
Judge Hackworth was elected men,
ber of the court last February 6, when
the United Nations Security Council
and General Assembly, voting sep
arately but concurrently, balloted on
the nominees. Nominations are made
by a nations members on the Perma-
nent Court of Arbitration at The Hague,
which is not so much court as
panel from which arbitrators are drawn.
Two former Secretaries of State under
whom Judge Hackworth had worked,
Henry L. Stimson and Cordell Hull,
participated in the nomination of Judge
Hackworth.
Fifteen judges were chosen for the
new court Last April 3 they met at
The Hague and organized. They elected
as president DR.. Jose Gustavo Guerrero
of El Salvador, whose distinguished
record includes the presidency of the
10th Assembly of the League of Nations
in 1929 and the presidency of the Per-
manent Court of International Justice,
the court which existed under the
League of Nations and which is super
CCuCu Wy tliC PACoSAiO SoNip'
On April 1S, with the international
jurists in their black robes and white
bibs, the new court was inaugurated
formally with ceremonies in the Peace
Palace at The Hague, In May the court
adjourned until fall, but the date of its
assembling again has not been set.
Ordinarily the court will be in vacation
from July Is to September Is.
OF the IA other members Of the court,
Judge Hackworth had known all but one
before the organization of the body in
April He had met them or worked with
them at international conferences at
various places In the world. A second
member of the new court had been on
the old court. DR.. Charles de Visscher
of Belgium. Several had been members
of the Permanent Court of Arbitration
as Judge Hackworth had been. One
member, Dr. Hsu Mo of China, attended
George Washington University and
served here in the Chinese Legation in
the early l920s.
Long Step Ahead.
IL is acceptance OF the Jurlsdlctlon OF
this court which tha Senate voted, 60
to 2, as one of its last acts before ad-
journment, The vote marked a long
distance in thinking from the time ad-
herence to the old court was rejected
after acrimonious debate.
We became members of the new court
with ratification of the United Nations
Charter, but acceptance of compulsory
jurisdiction was optional. The Senate
accepted compulsory jurisdiction with a
proviso insuring the right of this Gov
ernment to determine when an issue Is
domestic rather than international, and