The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-08-21
ON PEACE
Continued from First Page


Thucydides, the History of the Peloponnesian
War, Archidamus, King of Spain, declared
that lit was unlawful to attack an enemy
who offered to answer for his acts before a
tribunal of arbiters.'
In 1890 the senate and the house of repre-
sentatives of the United States adopted con-
current resolution requesting the president to
make use of any fit occasion to enter into
negotiations with other governments to the
end that any difference or dispute which
could not be adjusted by diplomatic agency
might be referred to arbitration and peaceful
ly adjusted by such means. The British house
of commons in 1898 responded by passing
unanimously a resolution expressive of the
satisfaction it felt with the action of congress
and of the hope that the government of the
queen would lend its ready cooperation to
give effect to it. The parliaments of Den
mark, Norway and Switzerland and the
French chamber of deputies have followed
suit.
1t seemed eminently desirable that there
should be some agency by which members
OF the great representative and legislative
bodies of the world, interested in this far
reaching question, should meet on a common
ground and discuss the basis for common
action. With this object there has recently
Committee in Favor of Arbitration and
Peace" or as it is sometimes called, "The
1nter-Parliamentary Union" This union has
a permanent organization-its office is at
Berne. It's members not vain idealists.
They are of the world They do not
claim to be regenerators of mankind nor do
are
doing honest and useful work in making
straighter and less difficult the path of intel
lgent progress. Speaking in this place. l
need only refer, in passing, to the remarkable
Pan-American congress held in your states
in 1890 at the instance of the late Mr.. Blaine,
directed to the same peaceful object
1t is obvious. therefore, that the sentiment
for peace and in favor of arbitration as the
alternative for is growing apace. How
has that sentiment told on the direct action
of nations? How far have they shaped their
policy according to its methods? The an
swers to these questions are also hopeful and
encouraging. Experience has shown that
over a large area, international differences
may honorably, practically and usefully be
dealt with by peaceful arbitrament There
have been since 1915 some sixty instances of
effective international arbitration. To thirty
two of these the United States has been a
party and Great Britain to some twenty OF
them.
AMERICA IN THE VAN.
There are many instances also of the intro
duction of arbitration clauses into treaties.
Here again the United States appears in the
van Among the first of such treaties-if not
the very f1rst-is the Guada1oune-H idoIgo
treaty of 1848 between the United States and
Mexico. Since that date many other Countries
have followed this example. These facts, dull
as is the recital of them, are full of interest
and hope for the future.
But are we thence to conclude that the
millennium OF peace has arrived-that the
dove has returned to the ark, sure sign that
manently subsidized? I am not sangnine
enough to lay this hattering JUNCTION to nv
soul. Unbridled ambition-thirst for wide do
minion-pride of power still hold SWAY. al
though 1 believe with lessened force and in
some sort under the restraint of the healthier
opinion of the world.
But further, friend as l am of peace T
would yet affirm that there may be even
greater calamities than war-the dishonor If
a nation, the triumph of an unrighteous
cause. the perpetuation of hopeless and de-
basing tyranny:
''War is honorable
In those who do their native rights maintain:
In those whose swords an iron barrier are
Between the lawless spoiler and tho wal.
But is, in those who draw tn offensive blade
be."
1t behoves then all who are friends of peace
and advocates Of arbitration to recognize the
difficulties of the question, to examine and
meet these difficulties and to discriminate he
tween the cases in which friendly arbitration
is, and in which it may not be- practically
possible.
Pursuing this line of thought, the short
comings Of international law reveal them
selves to us and demonstrate the grave diff
culties of the position. The analogy between
arbitration as to matters in difference between
individuals and to matters in difference be-
tween nations carries us but short way
In private litigation the agreement to refer
Is either enforceable as rule of court or
where this is not so, the award gives to the
successful litigant substantive cause of ac-
.ioH. III ellner case tnefe is DenlnQ the ar
bitrator the power Of the judge to decree and
the power of the executive to compel COM
pliance with the behest of the arbitrator. In
fine, such arbitration is a mode of litigation
by consent, governed by law, starting from
familiar rules, and carrying the full sanction
of judicial decision. International arbitration
has none Of these characteristics. 1t is a
cardinal principle of the law of nations that
each sovereign power, however politically
weak, is internationally equal to any other
political power however politically strong
There are no rules of international law relat-
ing to arbitration, and of the law itself there