Radio Address - December 1930

The United States Senate in 1926 applied for membership in the World Court with five reservations. Other nation members of the court have granted these conditions and the President has passed on the protocol of accession to the Senate. No excuse now exists for the United States to remain out of the Court. Millions of American women are urging early and favorable action since they prefer courts and wise judges to battleships and destructive guns when and if a dispute arises.

The World Court is an American idea, having been first urged at the Hague Convention in 1899. The Statutes of the Court were largely written by an American statesman and among its judges sits the Hon. Frank B. Kellogg, late Secretary of State. The five last presidents of the United States have sponsored such a court and urged our membership in it. Let us join, and diminish as fast as we can, the chances of armed conflict. The world moves onward, not backward, and we should be moving with it.

The United States Senate in 1926 applied for membership in the World Court with five reservations. Other nation members of the court have granted these conditions and the President has passed on the protocol of accession to the Senate. No excuse now exists for the United States to remain out of the Court. Millions of American women are urging early and favorable action since they prefer courts and wise judges to battleships and destructive guns when and if a dispute arises.

The World Court is an American idea, having been first urged at the Hague Convention in 1899. The Statutes of the Court were largely written by an American statesman and among its judges sits the Hon. Frank B. Kellogg, late Secretary of State. The five last presidents of the United States have sponsored such a Court and urged our membership in it. Let us join and diminish, as fast as we can, the chances of armed conflict. The world moves onward, not backward, and we should be moving with it.

Catt, C. C. (1930). Carrie Chapman Catt Papers: Speech and Article File, 1892-1946; Speeches; Untitled; 1928-1944. [Manuscript/Mixed Material] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/mss154040425.