The' Optional Clause On Monday the House of Commons agreed
without a division to the Government's motion for the ratification of the Optional Clause. This was after an amendment moved by Sir Austen Chamberlain had been rejected by 278 votes to 193 We have written so often on the Optional Clause (which pledges members of the League to accept the jurisdiction of the World Court in all legal disputes except those which are specifically withheld by the signatory), that we need not follow the debate closely. Fundamentally the controversy was; as it always is, between those who believe that the time has come to accept a universal rule of law and those who think that the risk is too great. When Mr. Henderson recently signed the Optional Clause for Great Britain he made certain reservations, but the subjects which he withheld from the Court were all subjects which can be better dealt with by other means. For example, it would be absurd to submit to the. Court disputes between parts of the British Empire.
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