The labor world., 1899-06-03
w z has just been reading the Ii
wv report of the proceedings of D

the peace commission at thu
Hague when I said:
Doctor, what will be the result o1
this peace conference
1T will result in great good to all
nations" said he. sIt will direct at
tention to the means by which diff.
culties way. be adjusted without re.
sorting to bloodshed.'' S.
s"sHow could we have avoided wal
with Spain if we had had national
committee on arbitration %
Perha cps with conditions as they
were war was inevitable at that time
But had Spain and the people Of Cuba
made a study Of the means by which
difficulties, could be settled without
war their misunderstanding might
have been adjusted without bloodshed
True, it is doubtful if the S2aniards
and Cubans were sufficiently civilized
ito avoid war. It requires a high or.
der Of civilization for people to live
in peace 2.} 554#s
Could not our civil war have been
avoided by arbitration ~ 2 gs@ssS
q Doubt said the Doctor. ssRep-
sresentatives in congress, from the
North and South had been trying to
arbitrate the differences between these
two sections of the country for twenty
years in vain. The North had resolved
that slavery ought to be abolished.
The South; was firm in the opinion
that slavery should be maintained, and
that it wa right while the Southern
fire eaters thought that the people of
the North were a race Of towards and
that one southerner could whip five
Yankees g s2:}
What zengender that feeling, Doc
tor
- John g. Calhoun and various prom
inent men from the South had been
proc claiming the states rights doctrine,
the right of a state to 60 by itself, i if
the majority of its people should 50
decide, unit the Southern people had
fully determined that it. was right to
Essecede from the Union. Again, duel
ing had been common in the South,
and man who would not accept a
challenge was regarded as lacking in
bravery. orthern men had frequent
ly refused to- Fl ght duels. For that rea-
son Northern people were regarded
as a race of weddings and the South
ern, people held them in supreme con.
Tempt
.'What could have been done to allay
that feeling?"
Probably nothing. The Southern
fire-eaters wanted to fight the sup
posed towards of the North. They
had not the slightest doubt about
their ability to overrun the North and
call the roll of their slaves on Bunker
Hill if they could precipitate a quar-.
rel. They were so hot-headed and SC
spelling for fight that probably no
board of arbitration could have paci.
fed them. Even if they had been Of
fered good price for all their slaves
they would never have been satisfied
until they had whipped the Yankees
And further, the North would never
have consented to the appropriation
of $6OO,O0O,OOO for the purchase so1
their 100000. of slaves at 500 apiece
All in all it seems as if our civil war
was inevitable. .
''What is the real purpose of this
peace conference?' %
$40 induce the different nations tc
disarm; that is, lay aside their imple
lnents of war, reduce the size of theil
standing armies, and instead of con
tinuing this enormous expense of wal
settle misunderstanding of national
character by arbitration without go
ing to war;
''Would you consider that feasible
Doctor?''
Certainly As said before, it, re:
quires ~ high order Of civilization t
avoid war. We have accomplished
good deal in that line. by the estab
lishment of courts, judges and juries
international arbitration is along the
same line. Formerly if parties dis
agreed about a matter there was Z
fight and a killing. Latterly much
OF this difficulty has been settled il
the court rooms.''
''If a national board of arbitration
car, be successful in setting difference
of opinion why cannot boards of ar
bitration be generally established il
place OF courts, Doctor?'
'srhey might and should be estab