Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1899-07-01
II We Knew Each Other Better.

1t is with nations as with individuals
the better they know each other the
better friends they are. AS steam and
electricity. the growth of commerce
/ and the diffusion of knowledge, have
brought the countries of the world into
Much of the distrust and hostility OF
nations vanish upon close acquaint-
ance. We generally find that the
worst people and the worst places are
those most distant from us. If we
knew each other better. both as ma
tons and as individuals we would
judge each other less harshly. heredited
animosities would be softened. and on,
minds would be broadened and our
hearts made larger.
The day of universal peace may be
far away. Certain it is that it is not
in the immediate future But all these
worlds fairs and international confer
ences are undeniably leading toward
that day. The peace congress, now in
session at The Hague, may seem to be
failure; it may NOT. accomplish ali
that it was hoped it would accomplish.
But it is not, and from its very nature,
could not be. all a failure. 1t comes
nearer to being deliberate realization
of Tennyson's fine phrase, the parlia
ment of man, the federation of the
world than any previous gathering
between representatives of nations.
Its influence for peace will consist not
alone in the prohibition of unnecessary
cruelties which may result from its de-
alterations or in any arbitration
tribunal which it may create. but in the
representatives Of the countries there
represented. 1t cannot fail, when
headstrong patriots are crying for war,
that the counsels of these men will be
for peace as long as that is honorably
possible.
The same may be said of other bodies
of international membership whose
meetings are more and more frequent.
International organizations for scien-
tifc, literary. educational, religious,
commercial and fraternal purposes ar.
much more numerous than genera
ton ago and the influence for peace
among the nations concerned is cor
respondingly more potent. The dele
tisan and less prejudiced after min
Cling with the representatives of other
countries. They belong more to the
brotherhood of man. The scales of
isolation are dropped from their eyes.
Not that they are made less patriotic,
but that their patriotism is tempered
ed with malice. A convention of the
worlds most famous medical men re-
Gently met in Berlin to consider means
for the suppression of tuberculosis.
Many lands and many languages We're
represented, but the delegates We're all
inspired by a common purpose and
working toward a common end, the
betterment of humanity and the saving
of human life. Why were they so anx-
ious to save life if they expected to go
home and help their respective coun
tries prepare to destroy life with pow
der and dynamite?
The world is getting to know itself,
and the nations to better know their
neighbors. And in this lies the great
est hope for universal peace. The time
may never come when wars and ru-
mors of war. are unknown, but as we
know each other better we tend toward
that ideal condition of things. 1t is
not the greater horrors and increased
destructiveness of modern war that
will bring about universal peace; it is
rather the better acquaintance of ma
tons with each other and the clearer
light in which they are gradually see
ing each other.