A PRACTICAL INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM
in the same year. Another, case in which the United States was involved was concerning the right of preference claimed by blockading powers; a case made notable by the fact that all the countries in dispute, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Venezuela, Belgium, Spain, France, Mexico, Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway, committed themselves to the jurisdiction of The Hague Permanent Court. This set a precedent which augurs well for the future pacific settlement of international disputes. As James Brown Scott has said:
"Our own experience has shown us that differences of nationality are not insuperable difficulties; that the existence of states possessing local self-governments offers no serious impediment to the judicial settlement of controversies which would produce war between equal and sovereign nations; that a Supreme Court is necessary for the interpretation of an instrument to which the 46 states composing the American Union are parties, and we believe that an International Court, created by the 46 nations of the world recognizing and applying international law, is as necessary for the interpretation of international conventions and the settlement of judicial questions as a Supreme Court is to the 46 states composing the American Union. We believe, further, that this court can be created by the nations; that it will be created by the nations if and when they recognize the importance of its existence and the services it may render to international justice."
VII
But an adequate international law and an international court,—even these are not enough to secure world order at the present stage of the development of international relations. In our own local governments the existence of law and the decisions of courts are not enough to keep the peace. If John Smith wishes, he can openly defy
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