Nappanee High School - Napanet Yearbook (Nappanee, IN)

Page 29 text:

should he composed of the best judges and the most competent and experienced lawyers of the different countries. This Court should give as impartial and impersonal judgments as those which the Suprme Court of the I'nited States give to the questions with which it deals; and should base its decisions on the statements and facts from the records before it. If such a Court were established. I believe that there is but little doubt but that nations would be more ready to submit their disputes to arbitration. Of course, only such questions and disputes as the nations themselves are not able to settle by diplomacy, should be submitted to such a court. Another thing that must be accomplished in order to insure the success of Inter- national Arbitration is that Arbitration must be made obligatory; or there are many eases especially those in which boundaries are in- volved, where nations really prefer to fight than to surrender any of their claims. At the present time. The Hague Confer- ence does not have the power to make arbi- tration obligatory; but it excepts nothing from the scope of arbitration, thus leaving to the different countries the choice as to whether or not they will employ it. Many treaties have been concluded for the pur- pose of rendering arbitration obligatory, but about the only obligation which they impose is the arbitration of differences of a legal nature or relating to the interpretation ot treaties. And so far, cases in which a na- tion’s ‘Honor, independence or vital inter- ests' have been concerned, have not, as a rule, been considered as questions which a nation might honorably submit to arbitra- tion; although both the I’nited States and Great Britain have often submitted such eases to arbitration, particularly the case ot The Alabama Claims which was successfully settled by arbitration at Geneva While Secretary of State. Mr. Bryan drew up a treaty which was signed by several countries. It provided that at least one year should elapse between the time, when a dispute arose between two nations, and the declaration of hostilities by one or the other of these nations, in this time the controver- sy was to be investigated by an international court, which should, if possible, suggest some peaceable way to settling it. During this time neither nation was to be enlarging either its army or navy unless endangered by a third party. As yet, this treaty has not passed the Senate. In the past twenty-five years, some diffi- cult and serious questions have been settled by arbitration, as in February, 1895, the case of Argentine and Brazil in regard to the title of Missions, was settled through tin efforts of the President of the I’nited States; and in 189:1, the Paris Tribunal ren- dered judgment between the I’nited States and Great Britain on the Bering Sea con- troversy. Judging, however, from the past two years, the outlook for a time when international disputes will be settled by arbitration, is not very bright. Few notable cases have been up before the Hague Conference: probabL the most notable is that of Portugal on one side, and France, Great Britain and Spain on the other. War has been almost continu- ous in the Balkan peninsula for the last three years: first, the allied powers against Tur- key, and then the same powers fighting among themselves. Mexico has long been in a state of revolution, and the present European war makes the time when disputes will be settled by arbitration and not by the sword, seem far away. It seems that one of the greatest factors for the bringing about of a time of Interna- tional Arbitration, is public opinion. If a world wide sentiment is created in favor of Arbitration, we would soon see disputes set- tled by it. for an enlightened public opinion is coming to have more and more force over a nations lawmakers. U The Movies Alice Noli» One of the most important questions now before the American people, from the tiniest “kiddie” to the wisest man, is that concern- ing moving pictures. It is of importance because of the part it plays in the life of the individual. It is of importance in its relation to art, science and education. Let us consider for a short time its history and development. In 1889, Thomas A. Edison invented a ee u- era for producing motion pictures which he called the “Kinetograph . It was not how- ever, until 1894 that the first picture play was given under the management of Alex

Page 28 text:

International Arbitration is often consid- ered as suggestive of the time when nations will cease war with one another and when peace will reign supreme; or as the means of bringing a state of world peace into ex- istence. Arbitration may he a way of secur- ing peace, judicial settlement may be a bet- ter means of abolishing war, hut probably the use of both would be the most effective. If we consider the International Court, created by The Hague Conference as a court of arbitration and if we suppose that it thor- oughly meets the needs of arbitration, the question comes up whether or not arbitra- tion as understood and practiced, is the ul- timate goal for which we should work, or whether it is but a step to judicial settle- ment. •lames B. Scott of the John Hopkins ITiiversity and a I’nited States delegate to the second Hague Conference says that in fact, if not in theory, these two systems dif- fer, not merely in form but in substance; that certain classes of disputes should lie and can only be decided by judicial process and that certain questions can be better settled by arbitration than by courts of justice. He defines International Arbitration as the settlement of differences between states by judges of their choice and on the basis of respect for law. Judicial decision, on the contrary, is the decision of differences by judges, not necessarily chosen by the parties in controversy, and by application of prin- ciples of law. and not on the basis of respect for law. According to Act XX, of tin Hague Con- ference, the object of arbitration “Is the settlement of differences which it has not been possible to settle by diplomacy.” That is to say. arbitration springs out of diplo- macy, or takes up the settlement of a dis- pute, after diplomacy has failed. It, there- fore. as a rule, has the spirit of a compromise, which plays so leading a part in diplomacy, in it: and may not in the end give either na- tion concerned satisfaction, or may even be partial to one nation. Because of this fact, the establishment of an international court. composed of judges and lawyers from the d 'rren' countries whose opinions would not be biassed, and whose decisions would bo final, has often been suggested as a means for increasing the effectiveness of Interna- tional Arbitration, and the bringing about of a lasting peace to the world. .Mr. Elihu Root, who as Secretary of State, instructed the American delegates to the Second Hague Conference to propose such a court, did so in the following short speech : “The method in which arbitration can be made more effective, so that nations may be more ready to have recourse to it voluntar- ily, and to enter into treaties by which they bind themselves to submit to it, is indicated by observation of the weakness of the sys- tem now apparent. There can be no doubt that the principle objection to arbitration rests not upon the unwillingness of nations to submit their controversies to impartial arbitration, but upon the apprehension that the arbitration to which they submit may not lie impartial. It has been a very general practice for arbitrators to act, not as judges deciding questions of fact and law upon the record before them, under a sense of judicial re- sponsibility; but as negotiators effecting set- tlements of questions brought before them in accordance with the traditions and usages and subject to all the consideration and in- fluences which affect diplomatic agents. The two methods are radically different, proceed upon different standards of honorable obli- gation and frequently lead to widely differ- ing results. It very frequently happens that a nation which would be very willing to submit its differences to an impartial judicial determination is unwilling to subject them to this kind of diplomatic process.” From Mr. Root’s message, then, it is plain to he seen that one of the essential require- ments necessary in order that International Arbitration may reach its greatest point of effectiveness and accomplish the greatest good, is the organization of. or rather the creation of, an International Court; which

Page 30 text:

ander Black. The idea was a result of hi.? experience in showing pictures in an illus- trated talk. lie seized the idea to choose characters “to illustrate a consecutive story”. lie thought that by taking a group of pictures “with the same setting, lantern slides might he made to register perfectly enough to give the effect of slow movement in the figures.” Previous to this time, it had been accomplished with short series and Ed- ison had been successful in enlarging the idea with much longer series in his kincto- graph. He had difficulty in persuading others, however, that such a thing might be done. The mechanical experts felt that the result would be too jerky to give an effect of real- ity. Moreover, it was believed that a dis- play of more than a few minutes would he too great a strain on the eyes. Others feared that the result would be “stilted and ab- surd.” However, Mr. Black did not give up an 1 as a result the picture play “Miss Jerry” was given before such an audience as, Wil- liam Dean Ilowells, Frank Stockton, Mar- garet Deland, Kdward Everett Hale and other distinguished writers. This play was quite a success and many believed that this showed, to some extent, what could be ac- complished, when Mr. Fdison’s kinetograph idea had been developed to its highest point of efficiency. But it was more than sixteen years later before full length plays in full motion began to be exhibited. The two brothers Lumierc of Lyons, in- troduced the “Cinematograph” in 1895. This was constructed on much the same prin- ciple as Edison’s kinetograph. While these discoveries were being made in America, the people of Great Britain were not idle. They were able to represent a galloping horse in 1818. Fifty-two years later, Mr. Friese-Greene had accomplished quite a great deal along this line. One of his first pictures showed a girl moving her eyes from side to side and one woman would not believe the reality of the pictures until she went up to the sheet on which the pic- tures were being thrown and touched the eyes. But the invention of the Cinematograph was not yet. There is always a forerunner to any great inventicn. For instance, “there had been reaping-machines before McCor- mick and telegraphs before Morse.” The in- vention of the celluloid roll film made the Cinematograph possible. Friese-Greene pro- duced a picture which greatlv resembled a film of today. Although it was only twen- ty feet long, it was a great success at that time. To quote Mr. Friese-Greene himself, “The Americans and Germans, particularly the Germans seized upon my invention, and working on it for all they were worth, soon left me with little but the satisfaction of knowing I had discovered something which marked an epoch.” As a result, we have the motion pictures of today; but we must remember that, as yet, it has only passed Horn its first crude stage. Today, there are comparatively few pco- l le not in eaqv reach of some motion picture theatre. That it is wielding an immense in- fluence is shown by several letters published recently by one of our leading magazines. These letters stated definitely some good that the motion picture theatre had done for a town—for an individual. One person states that the “movies” had been the means of causing her town to vote “dry.” Anoth- er speaks of a an inveterate drunkard who was raised to a position of respectful citizen- ship by their influence, and another mentions the “movies’' as a common basis on which to help and meet people, as they appeal to all—the “young, the old, the lame, the deaf and the dumb”—the blind alone cannot en- joy them. Moving pictures make otherwise dull facts interesting. Art, science, literature, history are given to us in a form easy to understand. There is nothing better for the man. woman or child who does not possess the means of travel. The wonders of the world are placed in his reach if he but cares to take advantage given him. Take such men as Lyman II. Howe, with his splendid educational pic- tures. Such men are doing untold good in our country year after year. “The ‘Movie’ is the poor man’s motor car, his trip to Europe, his grand opera.” Acccrdng to Billy Sunday, the moving picture shows are cleaning up the theatres. He has nothing to say against the theatre as an institution, but he does say that a big part of the great influence of the theatre is “rotten” influence. As a result, people who are beginning to tire of such conditions “arc leaving the theatre for the ‘movies.’ ” Mr. Sunday says further that he is in favor of the ‘movies’ when they are the right kind.” Today moving pictures are found in ev- ery civilized country upon the globe and ev- en in some half civilized countries. In Jap- pall they are known as the “Cinemato- graph” and in the Malay peninsula and In- dia by the shorter term “Cinema”. Many of the films in these countries por- tray scenes of American life. A native of one of these countries asked a tourist about the cowboys of America. He thought there were many of them in America and that