Nation: New Blow at Connolly

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One irritating stumbling block in American foreign policy is the 19-year-old Connally Reservation. Offered in Congress by Texas' late Democratic Senator Tom Connally, that legalism reserves for the U.S. the right to refuse jurisdiction of the World Court in cases involving U.S. interests. Supporters of the reservation argue that it is a safeguard of U.S. sovereignty. But opponents, including many international jurists, contend that it emasculates the World Court by depriving it of real judicial power. The American Bar Association has condemned the reservation from the beginning. Yet, so controversial is the question that in 1960 the A.B.A. reaffirmed its opposition only by a narrow 114-to-107 margin.

Last week the reservation came under fire from another organization—and a surprising one at that: the normally conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce. By a vote of 174 to 82, the Chamber, at a meeting in Washington, called for repeal of the Connally Reservation. Said the Chamber: "Nations should settle their disputes by peaceful means, depending on law with justice rather than force, including acceptance of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice without the so-called 'Connally Reservation.' "

In the view of Convention Delegate William A. Haugsted of El Monte, Calif., who led a spirited floor fight against the resolution: "The Chamber is veering away from the principles it has long believed in. The world is not ready for this yet." But Christian Science Monitor Editor in Chief Erwin Canham, who is a past president of the Chamber, expressed the majority's overriding view. American businessmen, he explained, have a greater stake than ever before in world trade, and are increasingly coming around to the idea that "progress in the direction of a world law system is sound."