New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-08-30
THE CARS PEACEMikING.

The Russian Emperor has added one Of its
most impressive incidents TO the history Of the
year At almost the very moment Of unveilinS
a monument 10 the memory OF his grandsire.
the Car I.berator, he has taken long and
practical step toward winning for himself the
title Of Car Peacemaker. That Is the purport
of the extraordinary note sent out at his com
mand on Wednesday last TO the foreign diplo-
mats AT ST Petersburg. The car catcgorically
proposes maintenance of peace. reduction or
ornaments and devotion Of energy 10 the hui
mani.arian arts That means. in brief the
abolition Of mihtarisn. II has been talked OF
before in academic fashion. by those not hold
Ing sovereign or ministerial power: perhaps
even now and then by serious statesmen in
office; hut never as anything more than some
thing 70 be theoretically desired rather than
practically expected. Certainly II has never
before been concretely proposed by one who
held within his own hands the ability 10 fulfil
or 10 defeat IT, But these latter are exactly
what Nicholas II now Is and does. He pos
sesses the dominant military power Of the Eu-
ropean and Asian continents. and the key to
all important alliances thereon He IS by COM
mon consent the leader of the Concert of the
Powers" Ard he formally proposes an inter-
national conference for effecting general dis
armament.
No member OF a peace society ever drew a
more convincing picture OF the evils OF Mill
tarism and OF its awful failure 10 secure the
ends M which IL aims than this First Lord
OF War The cost Of mitarism strikes Mt the
very root Of public prosperity. The brain and
Drawn of the na:iOn--tS best capital--are I'M
productivity consumed. Vast fortunes are
spent fer new equipments which the next year
become obsolete and must be discarded, with
ont ever being used. for something newer. Ma
tional culture economic progress. the produc-
ton Of wealth. are checked or paralyzed. a
crushing burden. harder and harder 10 bear, IS
laid upon the people. And all is in vain. for
this intOerabc state Of affairs will. II pro-
longcd. Inevitably lead TO the very catnclysm
Iii Is desired 10 avert. the horrors whereof
"make every thinking being shudder in ad-
'vance." Those are not the words OF any
tinlorous rccuse. whose mind IS "slcklled DER
with the pale cast of thought" nor Of any
Notwithstanding disciple Of Tostoi. but OF the
foremost military aut0crat OF the age. whose
word Is life or death TO one-ten,h the populn
lion OF tho world and at whose beck nearly
three million disciplined soldiers stand ready
10 take the field
II would be easy To- scoff cynlrnlly at these
u,terances and 10 call their sincerity into Ques
don. But II would not be reasonable nor just
The Instant presumption and the deliberate
conviction both ere that the Car means what
he says And that truth stands upon both the
lower grounds Of self-.n;crest and tho higher
grounds Of pure humanity. We showed the
other day that Russia had ever been success
full in diplomacy and unfortunate in war. That
fact lncines her naturally toward peace. and
the gigantic expansion Of her empire. the build
ing of her vast railroad systems and the prac-
teal absorption Of third of the Chinese En-
pire, with q hundred million souls and unde-