place, as the members would not be expected to make direct appeals to the people of the aggressor nation, but simply to communicate their advice to the head of its government. (9) As to the other features, see under "Judicial Court, Non-Justiciable Cases, Conciliation," etc. The above objections apply to the Bryce plan, save that it contains some undeveloped suggestions as to the enforcement of decrees and the compulsion of nations that had not become parties to the convention, the proposal of The World's Court League, and others as far as they follow that of The League to Enforce Peace. Mediation, Conciliation, Inquiry Mediation and Conciliation are admirable neighborly offices and should be encouraged between nations as well as between individuals. Various attempts are being made to establish conventions under which nations will be obliged, before opening hostilities, to allow others to intercede before them for a given period of time. The advocates of these plans do not pretend that the latter will operate as positive stops to strifes, but are expedients to be tried prior to hostilities. Should they prove ineffective, war would probably follow, as it is not their endeavor to effect immediate disarmament. The Dogger Bank Commission was organized under this plan, but it surely cannot be maintained that it affords a test of it, as Russia, already in the throes of a great war and with her European fleet on its way around the world to succor her Oriental fleet, was not in the position to use force back of her remonstrances against the greatest naval power and at the latter's very threshold, but was obliged to accept such terms as she could negotiate. It might be that when questions were not of great importance, nations would conform to such a provision by no other persuasion; but, from the moment that the period would begin to run, which of itself would fix a date for the opening of hostilities, could it be imagined that the people of either nation-the great masses of the people that form public opinion-would not begin to occupy themselves to the utmost with the preparations of war? And should no settlement be effected by the expiration of the period, could either nation endure the embarrassment which its failure to strike would occasion? Of course, were arbitration compulsory, there would be no need of mediation and conciliation, as distinct institutions to be accorded a given period of time before the opening of hostilities. The So-called Bryan Treaties The treaties for the submission to Commissions, for investigation and report, in cases where the nations do not have recourse to arbitration, and bind themselves not to have resort to force before the report is handed in, is subject to the same objections as the conciliation plan above stated. The United States Supreme Court as a Model The Supreme Court of the United States is cited as the model upon which the International Court should be formed. This Court, however, is not without its weak points: Foremost, perhaps, is that resulting from the plan of territorial representation. There are nine justices and the United States are divided into nine circuits, to each of which a justice is assigned. As a result, it has become the practice to appoint one justice from each circuit. This not only deprives the country of the choice in ability from the entire nation, but, when a vacancy occurs, the nomination being more or less a local affair, the opportunity is greater for the use of all kinds of pressure to advance the causes of popular favorites. The opportunity to strengthen the hand of the president and the party in power at the time, by fortifying their political tenets, is seldom overlooked: for instance, the nominee must be a strong federalist, protectionist, or, at the present time, perhaps, a champion of human rights, rather than of property rights. Analogous difficulties would arise in the selection of a permanent member for an International Court. It has no power to enforce a judgment against a State. When a persuasive member has started the Court on a wrong course, it may continue upon it for years, before it is finally righted; as has been the case in regard to the application of the anti-monopoly (Sherman) law to all combinations in restraint of trade even though not "unreasonable." Almost invariably when questions of a political nature, or even of sectional interest, have arisen, the lack of unanimity in the Court has shown that their training as jurists has little or nothing to do with the conclusions at which they arrive, if it is to be assumed that there is but one legal way that is right, which the advocates of a Judicial Court apparently do. FURTHER CONVENTIONS The Land There are a number of world problems that confront the nations, the settlement of which might be effected at the close of the war in such a manner as to allay future strifes that appear otherwise to be inevitable. The best way to consider them is doubtless to approach them at the present time as general abstract principles. Mankind originated in spots and does not increase in like ratios, so that every now and then places have been over-populated and a spreading out from those centers has necessarily followed. This took place in the way of migrations before means of conveyance were developed and one after another from the centers of origin can be traced. These waves were often overwhelming; seldom went beyond the limits of earlier settlers; and, consequently, subsided upon the latter and crushed them mercilessly if they could not amalgamate or push them further into the wilderness. Now that the most favorable parts of the earth have been appropriated, and we have reached a higher state of intelligence, other devices should be provided. To attempt to restrain a population when it has become very dense, to a limited territory, and especially when its people have reached a high degree of efficiency, is as unscientific as to ignite explosives in chambers that allow of no expansion and expect the latter not to burst. In the abstract, the following principles are recognized: (1) one man has as much right to live as another; (2) as a given territory is only capable of maintaining a given number of beings, as long as there is vacant land that is needed for the sustenance of man, he cannot be arbitrarily deprived of it; and (3) when groups of men, large enough to be treated as a nation, are sufficiently advanced in civilization to establish order and govern themselves, they should be allowed their independence. Such is doubtless the sentiment today in America regarding the Philippines and Alaska. Could general disarmament be introduced and their rights as independent nations be assured it would be doubly strong. These principles might be sufficiently established for the present by the following provisions in a convention: Nations The following countries shall be recognized by the adherents to the Disarmament and Arbitration Convention to be independent states entitled to equal recognition in the Society of Nations (naming them) and such other self-governing states as shall hereafter be formed, provided they shall have a population of, at least, inhabitants and a territorial extent, of, at least, Colonial Territory square All detached territory governed by a mother country shall be considered colonial territory. Colonial territory shall be open to immigration from any country, unlimited as to numbers, but restricted as to health and morals, and the immigrants shall be allowed to become citizens under easy conditions. No such body of people, having a population and territory sufficient to become an independent state, |