THE WORK OF THE WORLD COURT CONGRESS
CONDENSATION OF AN ARTICLE BY JEREMIAH W. JENKS OF THE NEW YORK UNIVERSITY, IN THE JUNE “REVIEW OF REVIEWS”
One of the catchwords of the great World Court Congress held in Cleveland in May was “In time of war prepare for peace.” There can be no doubt that the accumulating horrors of the present war are turning the minds of the people of all countries, neutral as well as belligerent, toward peace as never before. As the war drags on and it becomes more and more evident that there is to be no crushing victory for either side, belligerent and neutral nations alike are casting about for methods, other than the absolute weakness of a vengeful or greedy rival, that should be sure decidedly to lessen, if not absolutely to prevent, the evils of war in the future.
Mr. John Hayes Hammond, as chairman of the one hundred distinguished leaders of thought, business and government, has taken up the idea of an International Court before which the governments of the world may appear to find a solution for their international justiciable problems. It seems eminently reasonable and probable that plans well thought out may be not only acceptable, but welcomed at the close of the war, by a sufficient number of states to insure a permanent establishment of such a Court, whose decisions would settle finally all questions of a justiceable nature.
In the great meeting at Cleveland Judge Alton B. Parker, in a significant address lauded the patriotic endeavors of Former President Taft to forward the movement toward the lessening of war by arbitration treaties, and introduced Mr. Taft, whose learned and eloquent address made the plan for a World Court appear eminently practicable through its close analogy to the United States Supreme Court and that court’s treatment of the questions that are justiceable.
In subsequent meetings of the World Court Congress the growth of the judicial element in international arbitration was carefully traced. The much-disputed question of the composition of the World Court and the best form for the organization were fully treated, by Theodore Marburg, the former United States minister at Brussels, and by Mr. Emerson McMillin, of New York City, who presented a detailed plan providing for the selection of judges by an electoral college to be chosen by the different nations who should have an equal representation as regards their sovereignty, but have further representation in the electoral college in proportion to their population and the extent of their commerce.
The eloquent addresses not only stirred the enthusiasm of the great audiences, but men of statesmanlike minds were looking forward to practical definite results. Before the World Court Congress adjourned steps were taken to make the Committee of One Hundred a permanent body, and so to organize public opinion, with the aid of other associations, of legislative bodies, and of the press, that it will prove of distinct assistance to the administration at Washington, which has seemed ready at any fitting moment to support the movement practically.