A COURT OF NATIONS.
I.-ORGANISATION AND POWERS.

1. The Court shall be composed of as many members as the Congress of Nations shall previously agree upon, say two from each of the Powers represented at the Congress.

2. The power of this Court shall be merely advisory. It shall act as a High Court of Admiralty, but without its enforcing powers. There shall be no sheriff or posse to enforce its commands. It shall take cognisance only of such cases as shall be referred to it by the free and mutual consent of both parties concerned, like a Chamber of Commerce; and shall have no more power to enforce its decisions than an Ecclesiastical Court in this country (U.S.A.).

II. MEMBERS AND MEETINGS.

3. The members of this Court shall be appointed by the Governments represented in the Congress of Nations, and shall hold their places according to the tenure previously agreed upon in the Congress notably during good behavour.

4. Whether they should be paid by the Governments sending them, or by the nations represented in the Congress conjointly, according to the ratio of their population or wealth, may be agreed on in the Congress.

5. The Court should organise itself by choosing a president and vice-presidents from among its members, and they should appoint the necessary clerks, secretaries, reporters, etc.

6. The Court should hear counsel on both sides of the questions to be judged.

7. Its members might meet once a year for the transaction of business, and adjourn till such time, and to such place, as they think proper.

8. Their meeting should never be in a country which had a case on trial.

9. These persons should enjoy the same privileges and immunities as ambassadors.

III.-AWARDS.

10. Their verdicts, like those of other great Courts, should be decided by a majority, and need not be, like the decrees of the Congress, unanimous.

II. The majority should appoint one of their number to make out their verdict, giving a statement of facts from the testimony presented to the Court, and the reasoning on those facts by which they come to a conclusion.

IV. METHODS AND FUNCTIONS.

12. All cases submitted to the Court should be judged by the true interpretation of existing Treaties, and by the Laws enacted by the Congress and ratified by the nations represented; and where these Treaties and Laws fail of establishing the point at issue, they should judge the cause by the principles of equity and justice.

13. In cases of disputed boundary, the Court should have the power to send surveyors, appointed by themselves, but at the expense of the parties, to survey the boundaries, collect facts on the spot, and report to the Court.

14. This Court should not only decide on all cases brought before it by any two or more independent, contending nations, but it should be authorised to offer its MEDIATION where war actually exists, or in any difficulty arising between any two or more nations which would endanger the Peace of the world.

Its members should act as conservators of the Peace of Christendom, and watch over the welfare of mankind, both of the nations of the Confederacy and the world at large.

Often nations go to war on a point of honour, and having begun to threaten [each other], think they cannot recede without disgrace; at the same time, they would be glad to catch at such an excuse for moderation. And often, when nations are nearly exhausted by a protracted war, they would be glad to

make Peace, but they fear to make the first advances, lest it should be imputed to weakness. In such cases they would welcome a mediator.

In cases where ambassadors would neither be sent nor accepted, the members of this Court might go as heralds of Peace.

15. Should the Court be applied to to settle any internal disputes between contending factions, such as the right of succession to the throne, it would be its duty to hear the parties, and give its opinion according to the laws and usages of the country asking its advice, but it should never officiously [officially] offer an ex parte verdict though it might propose [suggest] terms of reconciliation.

16. It should be the duty of a Court of Nations, from time to time, to suggest topics for the consideration of the Congress, as new or unsettled principles, favourable to the Peace and welfare of nations, would present themselves to the Court, in the adjudication of cases.

17. There are many other cases, besides those above mentioned, in which such a Court would either prevent war or end it.

A nation would not be justified, in the opinion of the world, in going to war, when there was an able and impartial umpire to judge its case; and many a dispute would be quashed at the outset if it were known that the world would require an impartial investigation of it by able judges.

NOTE. In the same essay occurs the statement: "The London Peace Society" [which was always in accord with its sister society in America,] "has always been friendly to the plan of a Court or Congress of Nations, as appears by the following extract from the Herald of Peace, which is their organ:"The Court of Nations [i.e. a permanent Court of Arbitration] is the end of the operations of the Peace Societies. . . . . . The Herald of Peace for July, 1839, contains a Petition to Parliament on the subject of a Congress of Nations, which was presented on the 12th of April preceding, by Edward Baines, Esq., Member for Leeds, and in the House of Lords by I know not whom. mention this event in this place for the purpose of preserving the connection. '

I

THE POLITICAL TRIBUNAL.

By I. M. DE LA CODRE.

1867.

I take for granted, then, that in every kingdom, and every country in Europe, the majority of the citizens ardently desire the maintenance of Peace; public opinion declares this-it calls for the institution of a High Court of Arbitration, having the mission and the power to decide all questions which may arise between different States, whether as regards territory, dignity, commerce, or any other subject; and as it declares its decision in the name of equity, in the name of the Creator and Father of all men, and in the general interest of all, it would in principle become an institution.

In looking forward to this event, we sketch a plan which might be consulted in establishing such a beneficent plan of arbitration.

ART. I.-A high court of supreme jurisdiction is founded for the settlement of international disputes, present and future, between all the states of Europe.

It shall bear the title-The Political Tribunal.

The Political Tribunal will pronounce judgment definitively and absolutely.

ART. II. It shall be composed of from fifty to sixty members, who shall be designated Judges of the Peace.

Each European State, or each federative association, shall nominate one judge of the Peace for every ten million souls of which it shall be composed, without fraction; any state containing thirty-six million souls shall nominate three judges.

These nominations shall be made in each country according to its custom in making its most important elections.

LE TRIBUNAL POLITIQUE.

PAR I. M. DE LA CODRE.

Paris, 1867.

Je suppose donc que, dans chaque royaume, dans chaque pays de l'Europe, la majorité des citoyens veut avec fermeté le maintien de la paix; l'opinion publique se prononce, elle demande l'institution d'un haut arbitrage ayant la mission et le pouvoir de statuer sur toutes les prétentions que susciteraient entre les divers Etats des questions de territoire, de dignité, de commerce ou autres, et comme elle formule sa demande au nom de l'équité, au nom du Créateur, père de tous les hommes, au nom de l'intérêt général, elle obtient en principe l'institution.

Dans la prévision de cet événement, esquissons le plan qui pourrait être conseillé pour établir ce bienfaisant arbitrage.

ART. Ier. Un tribunal de haute et suprême juridiction est institué pour la règlementation des affaires litigieuses internationales, présentes ou futures, entre tous les Etats de l'Europe.

Il prendra le nom de Tribunal Politique. Le Tribunal politique jugera souverainement et définitivement.

ART. II. Il sera composé de 50 à 60 membres, désignés par le seul titre de Juges de la paix.

Chaque Etat européen, ou chaque association fédérative, nommera un juge de la paix, par chaque quantité de dix millions d'âmes qu'il comprendra, sans fraction; un Etat comprenant 36 millions d'âmes nommera trois juges. Ces nominations seront faites dans chaque pays, suivant les formes usitées pour les élections les plus importantes.