The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1897-01-21
A LONG STEP TOWARD PEACE.


From the Times Herald.
The more the arbitration treaty with
Great Britain is studied the deeper be-
comes the conviction that it deserves to
rank among the greatest blessings that
this century has conferred upon civilIa-
ton. Fault may be found with its de-
tails. We have no doubt some wasp IN
house or senate will attempt to attract
attention to himself by stinging it. But
in the eyes of the people it stands splen-
didly forth as an active realization OF
the promise of Christianity to the world.
tilt
The chief objection 10 the pact will
touch a failure to precisely recognize the
Monroe doctrine as an item of nternation-
al law. Article VI, by far the most i'm
portant part of the document, bears only
on territorial claims between the high
contracting parties. That is as we UNI
derstand the treaty, the Alaskan boundary
dispuatc, or a difficulty between the ma
tions at some point where their actual ter
ritory touches, would properly come be-
fore the arbitrators, while the Venezuelan
case would not be subject to the terms
of the treaty. But this, after all, is a
doubtful criticism. The British govern
ment has gone as far as it could decently
be asked to go in acknowledging the Mon
roe doctrine in the Venezuelan settlement.
on the other hand, while we sustain a
treaty that provides for arbitration in all
cases except those involving the claim of
American sovereignty on this continent,
it is inconceivablc that the peace of the
nations can ever be liable to danger from
too bumptious application of the doctrine
on one side or contemptuous disregard of
it on the other
-:II:-
In short, the treaty seems to absolutely
preclude the possibility of war between
England and America. Even in the event
of a failure of the arbitrators. drawn
from the most eminent judicial bodies
of England and America, to agree, it IS
specifically provided that neither nation
shall resort to war until one or the other
| or both have sought the mediation of one
or more friendly powers. In this case,
as in all others, the words of the treaty
| count for less than the spirit that ami
mates the agreement. Throughout this
| document runs the command that between
| the two great Englishspeaking nations
| there shall be peace ror all time. No
treaty could be tight enough to prevent a
| dishonorable government from wriggllng
| through or a contentious government
| from breaking through. Here the mani
! fest intention is so plain to preserve good
| feeling between the nations al all hazards,
| to substitute for the brutality of war the
methods that prevail in the relations of
| individuals, and to make a resort to arms
a crime against civilization, that the
word "arbitration" might we'll be stricken
| from the title and the treaty called by its
| right name: "a permanent treaty of
| peace between the people of the United
| Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
and the people of the United States"
The world has been a long time on the
| weary road to this first breathing place
| and it has till a far journey before 1t.
! But to believe that the example of two
| of the foremost powers of civilization
| abandoning savage precedents in the in
| terest of rational intercourse will not
| exert a far-reaching influence upon the
| continental powers Is to question the
| reasoning faculties of mankind. We
| may not return to the golden age as an
| English paper cynically suggests, but
there is good ground for the belief that
| this treaty, so difficult in prospect so
| easy when actually attempted, will give
| the first impulse to that general disarma-
| ment abroad that humane statesmen have
| looked forward to with rising hopes for
many years. And Americans have just
| reason to be proud of the fact that as it
was America that first insisted upon the
| principle of arbitration, so it is America
| that has now crystallized the principle in
| the shane of law.