The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-11-22

of the twelfth international congress of
peace held at Rouen and Havre from Sept.
- to Sept q, inclusive, four days in the
first city and two in the second. These
cities were admirably suited for such a
congress. Rouen. interesting by its pic
turesqueness, its historical associations. its
quasi-worship of Joan of Arc, is infinitely
more by its philanthropic institutions.
its labor unions and its peace societies.
Hence the strong sympathy of it's citizens
for the congress. The municipalities of
Rouen and Havre did everything in their !
power to give 1t prestige. So many enter
tainments were planned that some dele
gates almost asked themselves If the whole
was not great festivaf. rather than re-
union Of earnest workers to put stop to
the monstrous anachronism of time.
war. The formal opening meeting in
R0uen was quite impressive, when in the
cid Town Hall the president said: You
have thought that from under these arches.
which in by-gone days resounded with the
songs of victory and the cries of hatred
against foreigners, should ascend an har
monious concert where voices representing
the nations that were but yesterday enc
mics. should unite in singing the hymn
of fraternity" The Prince of Mon
NJ. Frederic Passy, the venerable econ
omist and virtual leader of the pacifistes.
held his audience spellbound, as, deeply
moved, he showed what had been done in
France. The Baroness Won Suttner related |
the doings of the recent interparliamentary
conference in Vienna and stirred her audi
ence by her impeachment Of the massacres
in Macedonia General Gurr. with the en-
nd I'll IF
spoke for Hungary. Herr Richter, from
the German Reichstag, delivered a most
tactful address. He even ventured to say
that If NJ. d'Estournelles were to take
party of French deputies to Berlin he would
have as good a. reception in London.
NJ. Novicow, the Russian sociologist, said
that he was speaking "in the name of
160,0O0,OOO mutes," but that Russia had done
| good things for the world, among which
was that campaign concluded by the treaty
of San Stephano. Among others who were
heard was M. Dacommun. who has shown
such devotion and ability in making the
international peace bureau Of Berne what
1t is. Every speech was received with the
applause and the "bravos" of pacifistes.
In all great philanthropic conventions there
must be some time devoted to the quasi
worship of the ideal, a moment when hopes
and realities are a little too indiscrimi-
nately blended. Such was the first meet
ing.
1t would be mistake to think that the
congress devoted itself to mere platonic
| enuncia ton of principles; much of the work
| was eminenty practical. 1t had been care
| fully prepared by three commissions which
| showed no little wisdom. The most signif-
| cant feature of the congress was the in
| dorsement which it received from different
| countries of Europe, and especially from
France During the meetings kilograms and
letters were constantly reaching the presi-
dent. Organizations of women, cooperative
| societies. syndicates of laborers, labor ex-
| changes, religious associations were at ev
cry step giving their hearty support to the
congress. The delegates who attended the
reception at the Labor Exchange of Rouen
were profoundly impressed by the enthu-
siasm of the workingmen for the cause Of
peace and their hatred of militarism.
Equally significant was the trip to Havre
| on board of the Gazelle. AS the steamer
| started we heard on all sides ''Vive la paix,"
| utterance repeated thousands Of times on
| the arrival at Havre. Not to speak of
an interesting meeting Of the French and
| English delegates, at which they discussed
| the proposals of a treaty of arbitration be-
| tween the two countries, the important
meeting the concluding on Sunday
afternoon. 1t was presided over by M.
| Trouillot, the minister of commerce. The
| largest hall of the city, at the Cercle Frank
| lin, was crowded. Most of the foreign dele
| gates were heard again. Some of the adj
| dresses were complimentary. though
most of them touched the very. soul
of international peace. That OF NJ. Trouil-
| lot had ring of earnestness and SINGER
| ity which went to the heart. The burden of
| his discourse was that war lays as heavy
a hand upon the victor upon the van
| pushed. With merciless hand he showed
that war robs society of forces needed for
| her development. In a moment of great
eloquence. he said. IF one thinks that for
| thirty years Europe has spent more than
| ten billions of francs a year to maintain
the regimen OF armed peace, is not the
mind COMPOUNDED and saddened In rejecting
| upon what these three hundred billions
would have accomplished had they been de-
voted to works of scientific, material, in
| dustrial and artistic progress?" Important
and admirable as the speech was the thing
to be remembered is that the present
| French Ministry wished to gain it's ap-
the congress and the other manifestations
of this movement show the rapid growth of
the feeling that war is an international
collective crime harmful to all concerned
that people that does not do all in its
power to prevent it by rational and moral