The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1899-06-23
Present Day Thoughts.
BY "NEMo."



purpose of discussing various
phases OF peace will have scat
tered. Whatever may be the out
come of the gathering, the build
ing in which the delegates met
must forever be regarded as
sanctified by one of the most re-
markable international move
ments that has ever taken def
mite shape amid the restless and
antagoniStic nations of the world.
His proclamation that all nations
are gradually coming to sense
Of the unity of maitland of the
rights Of the obscure man who.
by the way. has always borne the
most arduOus brunt and burden
Of the battles Of men. To the
Young Gar Of Russia, son Of
father who was himself a power
for peace in Europe, all honor is
due for not being content with
his own inner leanings towards
peaceful development, but for
being willing to run the risk of
misunderstanding and of suspic-
ion in trying to convert others
to bis own way Of thinking.
PauSlug a moment TO consider
the nation Of which the Car is
the head, it is strange, but never.
thelesS very fitting. that the pro
po>al for disarmament and arbi-
tration should come from a nation
whose very yastnesS is enough to
permit it to verwhelm all other
nations on land. Judged by or
binary standards, no natiOn could
have less to fear from the contin-
ued armament Of Europe. and
therefore no nation had less need
70 suggest the disarmament
speak. of course. from the point
of View of its compact and con,
tinuOuS territory, its vast reserve
supply of men, and its climatic
conditions, but. Of course, not
from the view point of its bonded
Indebtedness, which is very great
indeed, and actually exceeds that
Of France.
Reviewing now some of the
work of the Peace Conference, il
is very noteworthy that the Unit
ed States, fresh from successful
warfare and flushed with con.
quest, should have been able to
bring before the conference
plan for arbitration that secured
more approval than the plans sub
mitted by others. This is not pc.
culiar, for our nation has not vet
run short, and never will. of far.
seeing men whose vision extends
beyond conquest to uplift. and
beyond immediate gain to future
glory. Though all that we have
done during the past year has, 50
far AZ the national heart is con
cerned. been done well, and been
done for the best, national vision
is not at all blinded to the fact
that there will he greater glory to
US if he history Of the next hun.
dled years should show our ma.
ton, greater in some particulars
than Russia, to have believed
more in preventing conflict than
III precipitating it.
The results Of the conference
will not be Immediately visible to
the great hurrying world, because
from the pressure Of daily life and
events, the mass Of us lose sight
OF a movement as soon as our
text books, the newspapers, cease
making comments upon it. 1t
will not be surprising, therefore.
If there should arise a lull of in
terest, but this will be apparent
rather than real; for each set of
delegates will return with re-
port to its home government, and
out of these reports will develOpe
correspondence back and forth in
relation to the future offensive
and defensive plans of each gov
eminent. The result will be in
creasing international under
standing and the gradual evolu
] ton Of ideas, by which in future
disputing nations will find It
more than ever difficult to 90 to
the extreme of actual battle.
Five years or ten even will not
he too many before we can hope
for the creation and the mainten
ance of good working plan
among the great nations of the
earth, which great nations for all
/ practical purposes are simply
Russia, Germany, England and
the United States.
The discussion of the confer
ence in relation to the humane
methods of warfare such as the
disuse of flattened bullets, of bal
looms, explosives, and of certain
contents of shells, are mere dust
in the balance. Of the wider ones.