The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1896-01-23

cedure. BY virtue of our official dis
tinction as officers of the court there de-
wolves upon the public duties of the great
est Importance. Never during the IL
years of our existence has our meeting
been held at period SO interesting and
at the same time so fraught with dan
gers.
ours is n lawyers government. 1t
was the agitation by the patriotic mem
bers of the profession which brought on
the revolutionary war. 1t was the con
servative wisdom of the lawyers which
framed the constitution of the United
States. Twenty of our "a presidents
have been lawyers, as were "a Of the 81
signers of the declaration Of indepen-
dence and 80 of the 50 members Of the
convention which framed the constitu-
ton Of the United States. a large ma
jority of the members of both branches
of congress are members of the PROBES
sion. The checks and safeguards
against revolutionary action which dis
tnguish the institutions of the United
States from those Of all other democra-
cies are the fruits of the wisdom and
foresight of great minds trained to the
law.
"Now is the time for the profession to
perform n great work in promoting IN
ternational arbitration. The present dis-
pute between the English-speaking races,
which is agitating the world, calls Tor
both practical wisdom and legal acumcn
for its solution. There is no dissent in
this country from the Monroe doctrine as
promulgated by President Monroe ana
interpreted by jefferson, Madison, Web
ster and Calhoun.
"Yet anyone who studies the Monroe
doctrine will see how. in each individual
case. except where there is n ilagarant
81. h..
Mexico, the Interpretation Of it should be
the subject of judicial consideration. The
presidents message to congress presents
n novel view of the principle. If there is
n DISPUTE as to n boundary line between
n South American republic and Europe
an power, no matter how insignificant
the territory involved or how distinctly 1t
affects the independence of the country
or how remotely ii may interest us, we
must demand that the two governments
arbitrate the line and If they refuse we
must find out as best we can what the
line Is and enforce it by war. If, how
ever, pending our inquiry, the two parties
agree, we have no further rights or duties.
This seems to surrender the doctrine. III
Venezuela or Brill chooses 10 sell n per-
ton of its lands u slight extension OF the
principle compels us to assume pro-
tectorate over all these republics. Their
enterprises and Industries and almost en-
tirely owned or controlled and carried on
by Americans, English, German, French
and Italians. The governments are In a.
most perpetual revolution and the mill
tary dictator of the country confiscates
property right and left. This would in
volve claims for substantial damages; we
would be in measure bound to assume
the quarrel and be involved in frequent
wars with the powers of Europe. oo
according to the census of $3.50 we
have 100000 fighting men: The ex-
pense Of the civil, war has shown that
from them could be drafted, mobllized
and instructed in three months, 3,OOO,OOO
of soldiers >,
"This great reservoir of force for all
purposes-this mighty engine of war and
most beneiicent power for peace ON the
face of the globe, can extend the right
hand of fellowship to warning brethren
across the Atlantic and promulgate with
honor and dignity n scheme for an inter
national tribunal and lead in the move
ment II is possible for Great Britain
and the United States, out of this present
difficulty, TO enyolve tribunal of interna-
tional law and justice which shall be in
perpetual session, whose members shall
be selected with such care, whose dignity
shall receive such recognition aud whose
reputation shall he so great that each
nation can submit to it any question in
DISPUTE and bow to its dicisiOn with
safety and bonor.
"The closing of the Nineteenth, the
most benefcent and progressive of CEN
turtles, would be made glorious by giving
TO the Twentieth this rich lesson and
guide the growth of it's humanities and
the preservation and pcrpetuity OF civili-
cation and liberty"