The times., 1899-07-11
The pope and thc Conference.

According to the Catholic World Maya
zine" the Peace. Conference at The Hague
has failed because Russia omitted, at the
instance of Italy, to invite the Vatican to
participate. The story given is that the
whole idea Of the scheme originated with
the present Pope, who made strong repre-
sentations 10 the Car on the subject of
disarmament. Immediately after the lat
! ter's coronation, through Monsignor Tar
nassi, a papal diplomatist of distinction
who visited St. Petersburg for the purpose.
This was in 1884 From that time Until
| ii appeared that the Quirinal influence was
/ TO be potent enough TO shut the papacy
out of the conference Leo XIII was active
in promoting the objects of the peace plan.
| But, when it became apparent that the
I Vatican was to be ignored. the-Supreme
Pontiff reluctantly and sadly dropped the
matter.
| The editor of the Catholic World Mag
azine,'' reviewing the work of the Confer
ence. says that IAN attempt to insure and
| perpetuate human peace without the aid
OF the Prince of Peace is a foredoomed un-
| dertaking'' Without either accepting or
| denying that proposition from the point OF
view of the man who makes it, we may be
excused for remarking that We doubt If the
I'result of The Hague meeting would have
| been any different if the Pope had been
given the presidency of the Conference and
half the voting power in it. We are in
clined to believe that, whoever planted the
idea of peace and disarmament in the head
of the young Emperor Nicholas, he has
| been, personally, sincere in its develop
ment and promotion; but that concession
| does not involve any admission that the
powers. including even Russia, whose po-
litical and military representatives have
been threshing the old straw OF interna-
tional law, the regulations OF civilized war
ware. and the academic ideas OF advanced
nations as to arbitration, mediation, neu-
tral rights at sea, and all the rest of it.
have ever entertained the least idea that
anything proximately practical would
! grow cut of the gathering.
1t has been well said that. however
much the peace scheme was born in
honest good faith and hope, in the mind
and heart of its proponent it has, in fact
and effect amounted to little more than a
play to uncover by indrection the Interior
motives and designs of the participant
Governments; the delegates of each diplo-
matically working to develop the hands
of the others game.
We have seen how the holy principle
of compulsory arbitration was frozen cut
of court in the House in the Wood. As
proposed by the British and our own dele
gates it presented an obvious impasse to
powers like Russia, Germany. and France.
On the surface 1t was an excellent and
Christian tentative proposition, or work
ing hypothesis. But, If other proposals
were not more disinterested and ingenious
as far as their initiation and purpose went,
history will have little to say for the bona
fides of the Conference. Confning our
selves to the arbitration matter, it is per-
fectly safe to hold that the pious co-opera-
tion of the American and British delegates
had an object quite outside of any hope
that the international body would adopt
their views. What that object was il
would be premature to discuss at this
time. Suffice it to say that the identical
| llOIil w douluGtbH anu LOulOU
to the spokesmen for the Anglo Saxon
Governments were not formulated without
reference to things which are humanity
certain to develop in the course OF the
next session of Congress.
BY this it is only incidentally that We
mean they were in preparation for a much
more comprehensive scheme of Anglo
American compulsory arbitration, which
we may expect the Hanna Administration
TO spring at any time. There is a dea
in prospect which would baggar the or.
binary Imagination to conceive; but which
has been in process Of incubation in thi:
city, New York. and London ever since
the night when the Edmunds- ireland pro-
tocol was cooked in the White House
It was pushed and promoted in London
Paris, and Berlin, in connection with tn,
Peace Commission. II Is ominously illus.
trated in the report of the packed ant
instructed Insular Commission. which find.
that our colonial possessions are not in.
tegral parts OF the United States, but ar,