The permanent Court of International Justice estab- lished by the
League of Nations has been sitting during the last week to consider the question whether the French Government may conscribe foreign residents in the French Protectorates who, according to the law of their own countries, are not of French nationality. The point itself is of considerable importance and of extreme complexity since the legal codes of the various countries- both differ and overlap on the question of national status. But the occasion is even more important because it marks a new stage in the development of a true tribunal of international justice. For the first time the Court is juridically deciding, not arbitrating, between two Powers. If only a 'satisfactory settlement can be arrived at a valuable precedent will have been set for the use of the Court in those constant vexing international questions which in the aggregate result in national animosities, which in their turn result in war.
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