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 A CHALLENGE to 
 the CHURCHES 
 
 The PERMANENT COURT of INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE 
 
 URING the next few months the American people must de- 
 cide whether or not the United States shall follow the pro- 
 posal of the President and the Secretary of State, and associate 
 itself definitely with the Permanent Court of International 
 Justice established at the Hague. 
 
 The issue which the World Court presents is not a new one. 
 It embodies the age-long conflict between law and force . In earliest times 
 each man, an absolute sovereign, remained a law unto himself. Disputes 
 were settled by an immediate appeal to force. But gradually this changed, 
 for the people could not stand the havoc of hate and conflict and destruction 
 which such a system involved. Within the family, then the tribe, then the 
 state, arbiters arose. No longer were individuals allowed to settle at will 
 with their opponents in the ancient primitive way. Slowly a system of laws 
 took shape governing the decisions of these judges. The very progress of 
 mankind can be marked by law’s slow conquest over force. 
 
 But nations, the last of the absolute sov- 
 ereigns, resisted this change and even up to 
 yesterday asserted the right to be a law unto 
 themselves. As a result came the World War. 
 Today around the earth the people know that 
 if nations are to survive they too must subject 
 their individual wills to established processes 
 of law, their individual interest to the welfare 
 of all mankind. All that the Christian Church 
 itself has built up in the hearts and minds of 
 
 LAW OR 
 
 the people through centuries of effort hangs 
 in the balance. For war in the future, aided 
 by the powers of science, simply means self- 
 destruction. This appeal to the sword can only 
 be abolished by one means, — the means already 
 found effective within the state — by building 
 up an appeal to law instead. That is exactly 
 the purpose of the Permanent Court of Inter- 
 national Justice. In it we see a great advance 
 in the long struggle of man to civilize himself. 
 
 FORGE 
 
 The Christian forces of this land for many 
 years have advocated the settlement of inter- 
 national disputes by courts of arbitration 
 
 rather than by resort to force. Indeed to them 
 belongs no small responsibility for the leader- 
 ship taken by the United States in behalf of 
 
such a program before the World War, and 
 since 1918 denomination after denomination 
 has officially requested the leaders of our 
 Government to take such steps as will lead 
 us to active participation in the new Perman- 
 ent Court of International Justice. In May, 
 1922, the Federal Council of Churches, repre- 
 senting united Protestant feeling as it came 
 from its constituent bodies, presented to the 
 
 President a memorial urging our entrance into 
 the Court as “not only the fruition and con- 
 summation of many decades of American dis- 
 cussions, plans and desires for international 
 peace through justice based on law, but also 
 the promise of a larger and truer righteous- 
 ness and justice among the nations, a step 
 forward in the establishment of the Kingdom 
 of God among men.” 
 
 A LONG STEP TOWARDS A WARLESS WORLD 
 
 A day of great decision for our country and 
 the world has now arrived, a day long sought 
 by the Christian people of our land. There will 
 be strong forces at work opposing the action 
 recommended by the President. Some will 
 conjure up dangers to frighten doubtful minds. 
 Others may oppose it because it does not go 
 all the way in outlawing war. Although this 
 is true, the establishment of the Court is a 
 
 most important practical step in this direction. 
 Surely we should not hesitate to take the first 
 step because it is not a complete solution all 
 at once. Concerted, vigorous and continuous 
 effort in support of the Court is imperative 
 on the part of all who see in the principle of 
 the supremacy of law the only hope for the 
 nations. 
 
 (The foregoing statement ivas adopted by the Administrati<ve Committee of the 
 Federal Council of the Churches on May 12, 1923.) 
 
 SALIENT FACTS ABOUT THE COURT 
 
 The new Permanent Court of International 
 Justice should not be confused with the old 
 Hague Permanent Court of Arbitration. The 
 latter, established in 1899, is in reality not a 
 court but a panel of 135 names from which 
 nations may choose judges to arbitrate ques- 
 tions. It is not a permanently sitting court of 
 permanent judges. Because of this it cannot 
 as effectively build up a body of international 
 law. 
 
 In 1907 Secretary of State Elihu Root in- 
 structed the American delegates “to bring 
 about a development of the Hague tribunal 
 into a permanent tribunal composed of judges 
 who are judicial officers and nothing else, who 
 are paid adequate salaries, who have no other 
 occupation, and who will devote their entire 
 time to the trial and decision of international 
 cases by judicial methods and under a sense 
 of judicial responsibility.” Later Senator 
 
 Knox took up a similar plan and sought to 
 have it adopted, but the outbreak of the war 
 in 1914 caused its postponement. 
 
 At the end of the war the Covenant of the 
 League of Nations embodied in Article XIV 
 this statement: “The Council shall formulate 
 and submit to the members of the League for 
 adoption plans for the establishment of a Per- 
 manent Court of International Justice.” 
 
 The Council at once asked a number of emi- 
 nent jurists, Elihu Root being one, to draft 
 a plan. On December 13, 1920, its proposal 
 was unanimously approved, with modifications, 
 by representatives of the forty-eight states sit- 
 ting in the Assembly. A special independent 
 treaty was drawn up, wholly distinct from the 
 Covenant of the League; and as such it now 
 has been signed by forty-six states, of which 
 thirty-five have completed their formal ratifi- 
 cations. 
 
COMPOSITION OF THE COURT 
 
 The Court is composed of eleven regular 
 and four deputy judges. These are elected 
 for a term of 9 years by a majority vote of the 
 League’s Assembly and Council acting inde- 
 pendently. They are to give their full and 
 continuous time to this work. Sessions are 
 held at least once a year beginning June 15th. 
 Already the Court has rendered three opinions 
 deciding controversies concerning the activ- 
 ities of the labor organization of the League, 
 in which questions organized labor in Western 
 Europe was vitally interested. On February 
 7, 1923, it rendered a decision on a contro- 
 versy between France and Great Britain over 
 the application of nationality laws in Tunis 
 and Morocco. At the present time four im- 
 portant cases are already upon its docket for 
 the coming session. 
 
 The Court is not a “private” Court of the 
 League of Nations. By a decision of the 
 
 Council of the League on May I2, 1922, it 
 has been opened to all the world. In most 
 cases each party to a dispute must consent 
 before the Court can deal with the dispute. 
 An optional clause in the treaty establishing 
 the Court has now accepted, in most cases 
 upon condition of reciprocity, by twenty 
 states, recognizing the jurisdiction of the Court 
 as compulsory in disputes involving any ques- 
 tion of international law, of interpretation of 
 a treaty, a breach of an international obliga- 
 tion, or extent of the reparation to be made 
 for such a breach. 
 
 By Articles XIII and XVI members of the 
 League agree to accept and support decisions 
 of the Court. States not members of the 
 League are not bound in this way. For them 
 and, in the last analysis, for all nations the 
 ultimate force behind the decisions of the 
 Court must be the moral power of the united 
 public opinion of the world. 
 
 AMERICA’S OPPORTUNITY 
 
 President Harding now proposes that the 
 United States join the Court, with reserva- 
 tions providing that: 
 
 1. No legal relation to the League is in- 
 volved. 
 
 2. The United States may participate in 
 the election of the judges on an equality with 
 the other states. 
 
 3. The United States will pay its proper 
 share of the expenses of the Court, the ex- 
 penditures to be approved by Congress. 
 
 4. The statute of the Court shall not be 
 amended without the consent of the United 
 States. 
 
 WHAT TO DO 
 
 1. In the regular services of public worship 
 pastors should pray and speak for the exten- 
 sion of the sway of law over force, and for a 
 whole-hearted readiness on the part of our 
 nation to play its part in bringing this about. 
 
 2. See that Chambers of Commerce, 
 Boards of Trade, Farmers’ organizations. 
 Labor organizations. Rotary and Kiwanis 
 groups, in your comnKunity arrange open 
 forums or other meetings to discuss the prin- 
 ciples at stake in the Court and America’s 
 responsibility in its development. 
 
 3. Let every individual do his part to 
 develop the intelligent understanding of the 
 problem which is indispensable. Write to the 
 newspapers, discuss the question with friends, 
 and present the matter in public address when- 
 ever possible. 
 
 4. Write to President Harding assuring 
 him of your full support. 
 
 5. Write to your United States Senators, 
 expressing your strong desire that the Senate 
 should approve promptly the recommendation 
 of the President, 
 
International Ideals 
 
 of the Churches of Christ in America 
 
 Adopted by the Executive Committee of the FEDERAL 
 Council of the Churches, December i6, 1921, and 
 subsequently by many of its constituent bodies. 
 
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 We Believe that nations no less than individuals are sub- 
 ject to God’s immutable moral laws. 
 
 We Believe that nations achieve true welfare, greatness 
 and honor only through just dealing and unselfish 
 service. 
 
 We Believe that nations that regard themselves as Chris- 
 tians have special international obligations. 
 
 W e Believe that the spirit of Christian brotherliness can 
 remove every unjust barrier of trade, color, creed 
 and race. 
 
 W e Believe that Christian patriotism demands the prac- 
 tice of good-will between nations. 
 
 W e Believe that international policies should secure 
 equal justice for all races. 
 
 W e Believe that all nations should associate themselves 
 permanently for world peace and good-will. 
 
 We Believe in international law, and in the uni- 
 versal use of international courts of justice and 
 boards of arbitration. 
 
 We Believe in a sweeping reduction of armaments by all 
 nations. 
 
 We Believe in a warless world, and dedicate ourselves to 
 its achievement. 
 
 Issued By 
 
 The Commission on International Justice and Good will 
 OF THE Federal Council of the Churches 
 OF Christ in America 
 
 105 East 22nd Street, New York City