BY LAW, NOT BY WAR
CECIL URGES JUDICIAL SETTLEMENT LORDS REJECT PROPOSAL (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) (United Service) LONDON, Thursday. In the House of Lords last evening Viscount Cecil moved: “That in the opinion of the House the time has arrived when the Government should sign the optional clause of the covenant of the League of Nations, which provides for the judicial settlement of international disputes.” The Lord Chancellor, Lord Hailsham (formerly Sir Douglas Hogg), said the Government could not accept the motion. It was not a question of the desirability or arbitration or the acceptance of the International Court at The Hague. It was a question whether it was expedient in the interests of Britain and the Empire to sign the clause now. In the event of a dispute between Britain and a Dominion, or Dominions, it would be most undesirable to go to the Court. The feeling of the Imperial Conference of 1926 was opposed to that course, and it was decided not to take any action without further discussion. The Dominions at present were considering a new arbitration treaty with the United States. Both the Dominions and Britain thought the American treaty ought to be concluded before they signed the optional clause in the covenant. “NOT LOSE OUR HEADS” Britain had more often resorted to the arbitration of the Hague Court than any other country. International law was being amplified and codified in the hope that the time would arrive when the Empire would be able to accept the Court’s compulsory jurisdiction, with or without reservations. The Marquess of Reading said the fact that 60 nations had agreed to the Kellogg Pact was the strongest argument in favour of the motion. The Marquess of Salisbury, Lord Privy Seal, said the Government had repeatedly affirmed the principle of arbitration as an alternative to war. But they should not be too precipitate and lose their heads.
Lord Cecil insisted upon a division, and his motion was negatived by 26 votes to 19.
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Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 653, 3 May 1929, Page 9
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334BY LAW, NOT BY WAR Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 653, 3 May 1929, Page 9
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