The Washington Meeting of the American Society for the Judicial Settlement of International Disputes

Although the peace movement is still a movement of intellectuals it is no longer confined to idealists. That fact is amply illustrated by the personnel of the congress held at Washington, December 15–17, 1910, under the auspices of the American Society for Judicial Settlement of International Disputes.The various groups of practical men in close touch with affairs—legislators, statesmen, educators and business men—who addressed the congress were likewise liberally represented in the crowded and interested audiences of the congress.The explanation of this change in the personnel of the peace workers lies partly in the fact that the growing waste of armaments has projected this question into the arena of practical politics; partly in the actual results accomplished by certain existing institutions, notably those set up at The Hague; together with the manifest need of additional institutions of a simple nature which it is folly to continue without. Among the latter that which in the minds of many men will do more to make war difficult than any institution thus far existing or suggested is a true international court of justice.