the immemorial institution of war by making its use a public crime as the fundamental Law of nations." would " . . . agree to take immediate action for the equipment of an international court of justice with a code of the laws of peace . . jurisdiction over all purely international disputes as defined and enumerated in the code or arising under treaties, with power to summon in a defendant nation at the petition of a complaining nation and to hear and decide the matters in controversy." and would "agree to abide by and in full good faith to carry out the decisions of such international tribunal' . . .," thus dropping the idea of other than moral sanctions for the enforcement of the outlawry of war plan.
While the outlawry of war programme as outlined above has not been realized as such, the year 1928 saw more practical progress towards the elimination of war as a factor in international relations than had ever before been made.
It is probably true that as originally contemplated the outlawry of war programme was incapable of accomplishment ; it involved a greater surrender of sovereignty than States are prepared to make.
But these points are not material at this writing. What is sig nificant is that the outlawry of war movement, including, of course, that phase of it represented by the work of Professors Shotwell and Chamberlain of Columbia university (see New York Times, May 31, 1927), has paved the way for one of the most extraordinary manifestations of the universal desire for peace that has ever been witnessed in the history of the world. On Aug. 27, 1928, there was signed in Paris a multilateral treaty for the renunciation of war which may well mark the beginning of a new era in international relations. That treaty was signed after only eight months of active negotiations, by representatives of 15 world powers. At the time of writing (April 1929) 14 of the 15 original signatory states, or all except Japan, have adhered to the treaty. Besides these 25 states have adhered, 15 have taken steps towards their adherence and 7 have signified their intention to ad here thereto, thus promising to bring the peoples of at least 62 countries of the world within the scope of its beneficent pro visions, a degree of universality without parallel in the history of peace. Moreover, the Pact was ratified by the United States, without condition, understanding or reservation, on February 17, 1929.
The statesman primarily responsible for the idea of bringing about the renunciation of war by means of an ad hoc treaty was Aristide Briand, French minister of Foreign Affairs. On June 20, 1927, Briand proposed to the United States the conclusion of a bilateral treaty the significant articles of which read as follows : "The high contracting powers solemnly declare, in the name of the French people and the people of the United States of America, that they condemn recourse to war and renounce it respectively as an instru ment of their national policy towards each other.
"The settlement or the solution of all disputes or conflicts, of what ever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise between France and the United States of America shall never be sought by either side except by pacific means." In replying to this proposal on Dec. 28, 1927, the United States suggested that instead of contenting themselves with a bilateral declaration of the nature suggested by Briand, the two Govern ments might make a more signal contribution to world peace by joining in an effort to obtain the concurrence therein of a large group of powers with a view to perfecting among all the nations of the world a mechanism for peace heretofore suggested only as between France and the United States.
The details of the 1928 negotiations which culminated in the signature of the multilateral anti-war treaty at Paris on Aug. 27, 1928 cannot be discussed at length in this article. The relevant diplomatic correspondence has been published in the press and reprinted in pamphlet form (The General Pact for the Renun ciation of War, etc., Washington, Government Printing Office, 'The Outlawry of War by C. C. Morrison. p. 62 (Chicago, 1927).
5928), and is readily available for the student. The major points of the negotiations may, however, be outlined as follows : On April 13, 1928, the correspondence previously exchanged between France and the United States in connection with the treaty was submitted for the consideration of the British. German.
Italian and Japanese Governments, together with a draft form of anti-war treaty representing the form of treaty which the United States was prepared to sign. A week later France circulated among the interested powers an alternative form of treaty, and commencing with the German note of April 27, 1928, the powers thus addressed rapidly communicated to France and the United States their views on this important project. Favourable replies having been received from all four Governments, the United States, on June 23, 1928, addressed a new note to the British, French, German, Italian and Japanese Governments transmitting a new draft treaty text slightly modified to meet certain points raised in the course of the negotiations. Identical communica tions were also sent to the five British Dominions and India, and to Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Poland. This procedure met the point raised by the British Government that the new treaty from its very nature was one in which that Government could not un dertake to participate otherwise than jointly and simultaneously with the Dominion Governments and the Government of India, and by providing for the inclusion of all parties to the Treaties of Locarno it settled the question whether there was any incon sistency between the new treaty and the Locarno Treaty, thus meeting the observations of the French Government as to the necessity of extending the number of original signatories.