The evening times., 1899-01-16
The cznr.s New Circular.

The new circular addressed by the Car
60 the European powers-published ex-
elusively in The Times this morning-gives
a more practical turn TO the proposed peace
conference Instead of outright disarma-
Inent and the establishment of an inter
national arbitration tribunal, the present
purpose is TO mitigate the horrors of war
and take the first easy steps toward the
ultimate abolition OF war. The ten sug-
Eestions contained in the circular are such
Hs the nations might agree upon without
committing themselves 10 an impracticabIe
scheme for disbanding the standing armies
II is not impossible that all the nations
of Europe might consent to make no in
crease of naval or military forces for a
given time, and even 10 'endeavor to find
means of reducing the forces and budgets
fn the future" This second proposition
leaves the matter 10 the judgment of
each. There can be- no insuparable obsta-
Gle in the way Of the third proposition,
10 interdict the use Of any new weapon or
explosive more powerful than any nov
made There is no reason why there
thould be an increase of destructiyeness
sn wars, and the proposition affects all
alike. 1t is impossible that any power
should have monopoly of any new de-
vice for killing men, so there can be no
favor TO any particular nation in such
an agreement The same is true Of the
next iteIn-to restrict the use of the most
terrible of existing explosives and to p-o-
bibit the throwing of explosives from bal
foons. The most enterprising state
would have an advantage in the use of
these means, but on any terms such a ma
tion has advantage enough in any con-
fict Perhaps there will be opposition to
She proposition forbidding the employ
Inent of submarine torpedoes and smi- ar
sontrivances. Indeed. it may be shown
shat these are really mercifuI and prevent
the loss OF life. In the recent war with
Spain, We had TO depend chiefly on such
means to escape the bombardment of
coast cities. The loss of life from the de-
struction of warships by submarine mn
would be less than from the bombardment
Of a great city. 1t is possible, with mod
srn guns and explosives, to destroy an
unprotected great city in a few hours
The construction of warships without
rams is a thing TO which all might agree
The history of recent naval fights does
not show the ram TO be the terrible in
strument it was supposed to be, chiefly,
however, because the gun work has made
ramming unnecessary. The remaining
propositions can. arouse no opposition
They include the application of the hu-
name provisions of the Geneva Convention
TO naval warfare; the naturalization of
vessels saving those wrecked in naval bat
ties; the revision of the Brussels declara-
tion concerning the laws and customs of
war, and the acceptance of the principle
OF mediation and arbitration where it is
practicable.
By this new PRONUNCIATION the Car has
taken his peace conference out of the re-
glon of fancy and made it practical. This
is not the first time the powers have held
conventions to agree on the rules of war
fare. Instead of immediate disarmament,
which is a mere dream, they will now con-
slider how to prevent an increased de-
struction of life in battles and how TO pro-
mote humane methods where it can be
done without impairing the relative
strength of the different nations. While
all, or nearly all. of the powers sent
pleasant messages of acceptance to the
Gar on the receipt of his first peace cir
cular, it was evident enough that all re-
garded the matter as visionary and inca
pable of effecting material change of
military and naval conditions That the
Car has been humiliated by the newspa-
per comments on his scheme we may fairly
infer, so he resolved to suggest changes
OF real importance to which there could be
no general opposition. 1t is manifestiy
practicable as well as reasonable and hu-
name TO prevent an extension of the power
OF inilicting loss and wretchedness on the
human race. 1t was only a question of