The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-09-03
Cars Dream OF
Universal Peace
From the Chicago Times-Herald.

From the Chicago Times-Herald.
1THE TIME is never ripe for the ut.
| terances of a great man. lie must
create the time. Such Is the
| II maxim of progress and reform, and
| 1t applies in all its scope to the ex-
traordinary note addressed to the VIII bic
| world by the czar. Nothing like so grand
| an appeal for peace on grounds that al
| men must recognize as true has ever be-
fore been known in craftsmanship. 1t is
| an appeal to the common sense and the
| common reason of mankind, and is q
| practical application of the doctrines oi
| the sermon on the mount to the rela-
tionship of nations as well as of indi'
| viduals. 1t is a most memorable state
paper. and will establish the fame ot
| Nicholas on a pedestal greater than any
that can ever be constructed for him
through successful war.
| o
| But are the nations prepared for II?
| When the two great Anglo-SaXon ma
| tions made the Olney-Pauncefote treaty
OF arbitration not two years ago 1t was
praised in almost every language as a
| grand advance IN civilization, but there
were not wanting influential statesmen
| and critics who said that even that treaty
| aimed at an ideal too high for humanity.
| III that was too high, what then must
| be thought of the cars proposal? Never
| theless the proposition is rot to be lightly
| received nor coldly rejected. y congress
| OF the nations such as the czar invites
| might prove of invaluable benefit to man.
| kind. 1t would do much certainly to ame-
liorate the conditions of war, and who
| knows but it might really achieve the
| cars hopes?
From the Philadelphia Press.
Five nations, Great Britains, Russia
France, Germany and Japan, are pledge ed
| by present plans to spend 81, 0O6 900 900 on
their navies in the next eight years, or
before 1906. Add the recent plans pro-
| posed for this country and the expendi-
ture of the seven nations will be about
Sl,1VO, 1000 In 1906 these six countries
VIII be Just where they are now. England
will still have the strongest navy. France
and Russia will nearly equal her strength.
Japan will, as now, be the strongest naval
power in the West Pacific, hut not stron-
ger than the combined civilized fleets.
This country will be weaker than Great
Britain, Russia or France and on a
parity with Germany or Japan, the bal
| ance being turned by the superior char
acter of our men.
But why spend 81. 100 OOO, 900 to leave the
relative naval strength of five nations
where 1t is today? Neither battleships
iNi bNlttu u can nc l1npTONlSeu
built in secret so that nation could not
| be caught unawares, and If the czar is
honestly anxious to have marine disarma-
ment he can probaly secure it. He will,
however, be very seriously hampered by
| the summary breach by Russia of past
treaty stipulations as to her naval force
on the Black Sea, the fortiflcaton of
points on those waters and the creation
at Batoum of an armed fort, where the
cars grandfather agreed TO have only
free port, essentially commercial"
The retrenchment of military forces on
| land is a far more difficult matter. EN-
perience has shown that it is extremely
hazardous to trust to treaty compacts on
| this subject BY shortening the term of
| service and passing large bodies rapidly
under drill for short times Stein sue
ceeded in evadng the restrictions placed
| on the land armament of Prussia by Ma
poleon after her defeat at Jena. Rou-
mania in the same way evaded like
treaty provisions and turned out in 1871
| a far stronger force than any one antici-
pated. Possible cXpedients of this kind
render It difficult to insure that reduc-
| tions in armies will be carried out in
good faith, bat tho mere discussion OF
the proposal will accomplish something.