The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-11-10
Peace of the Country is Still
 UnbrOkGn
LORD LANDSOOWNE SPEAKS
Thinks the Terrible Lesson to the World of the Far Eastern Con- flct Will Act as Aid
 to Arbitration.

London. November 9.-Lord Lansdowne, in the absence of Premier Balfour at the historic lord mayors bars uet. held tonight, made a strong plea for peace and abitration on behalf of the British government. Lord Lansdowne pointed out to a large and rather unsympathetc audience that arbitration was the only way In which the North sea dispute with Russia could have been eqnitably settled. and almost m the same breath drew a vivid picture of the horrors of the struggle now proceeding in the far east.
 Between the lines of every reference the foreign minister made to the Russo Japanese war, was an urgent plea, amounting almost to a demand that 1t might be settled by arbitration. 1t was a carefully prepared statement made be- fore what is considered the most repre- sentative gathering of leading men or Great Britain. As such 1t was generally interpreted as bolder bid for inter- vention than has yet emanated from any foreign power. American was writ largely in this speech. for which Great Britain has been waiting for many days.
 Compliment to John Hay.
 The foreign minister prefaced all his re- marks by .aying that great statesman,
  was the most futile and fallacious or human folles."
 Then came an impassioned review Of the North sea affair. Although Lord Lansdowne was unable to announce the signing of the convention, he emphatieal- " confirmed statements made in these dispatches namely, that Great Britain had found "no difficulty in arriving at a solution in principle of the dispute ana only supplemented what is already known by the statement that Russia has guar anteed the punishment of any other or hcers in ssditlon to those already de- tached from Admiral Rojestvensky squadron, who might be proved to have been implicated.
 By most of his hearers who tonight had their first opportunity of hearing ! the foreign offices views. and who hither- | to had based their ideas on MT. Balfour' ! mueh-criticzed Southampton speech, and | belligerent editorial articles in the news | papers, Lord Landsdowne,'s utterances were regarded almost as a plea for Rus sia.
 Dead Silence Greets Him.
 A dead silence greeted him, as pointing out that the two governments in good faith believed contradictory statements of fact he said: Could we have done bet ter than get full apology and eompensa- tlon, and leave the question of facts to an international tribunal with a guaran- tee of punishment of any who may be found guilty?"
 After referring to the widely prevalent desire that arbitration might be resorted to in the case of the present war in the far east, Lord Lansdowne added:
 MT Choate walked into my room yes- terday and asked if we would sign an ar btration treaty with the United States. Simultaneously I received from President | Roosevelt, whom we all must congratu- late (cheers), a message inviting us to participate in a second international peace conference at The Hague, It Is needless to say that the invitation has not been re- fused, only we have reserved to our selves the right to consider what sub- jects should be dismussed,'
 Country Is at Peace.
 "At this suspicious moment l am able to announce to you that not only the peace of the country is unbroken, but so far as I am able to foresee there is no reason why 1t should not remain un- 1 broken. Not only have we had the good fortune to avoid war, but by the exer- | else of strict neutrality and wise inter- national arrangements we have done | something tc restrain the area of hostil- ities.
 Has Not Escaped Athletics.
 "The country, however has not alto. eether escaped anxieties. For the las | few days we have been ever done. In thi incident of October 2l in the North ses was an attack on British citizens, ant an affront to the British flag, which 1 intentional 1 would rather not contem plate the consequences. It was a deplor l able and 1naccountable blunder, but am bound to add that recent evidenc has satisfie. the British government tha the Russian government believed in goo faith that the facts were different iron what we supposed and that each part was convinced of the justice of its owl cause. Great Britain has adopted th only course Tn referring the matter to al independent and impartial tribunal ant we found ID difficulty in arriving at th' principal questions, nor in deciding tha the terms for their reference under Tht Hague convention was such as we could accept'
 After detailing what would be the pro- cedure of the court, Lord Lansdowne re. ferred to the smalIness of the number Of the Russian officers left at Nlso' anu said:
 Responsibility With Russia.
 aIt was not for us to assume the respon- sibfIitv for the selection of the officers. That rested with Russia, and IL would pc great mistake to relieve Ter of the re- sponslbity a,oa .ho. +ho | foreign ,overnment had received distinct assur- snce during the last day or two that the Russian officers detained were those who were directly implicated, and if the in- oiirv showed that others were culpable tbev also would be punished. Great Brit ain has received full expression of re- oret. a promise of ample compensation, and A guarantee against a recurrence, with security for all neutral commerce and promise of the punishment of the guilty persons. Was 1t possible to secure more?
 Continuing, Lord Lansdowne referred to other questions which have arisen dur ing the war especially that of contra band, which had been largely cleared up, and since July there had been no case of selzlng British ships by Russian ves- sels.
 Will Aid Arbitration.
 q am sanguine enough to say" Lord Lansdowne remarked, that good is likely to come from the struggle in the far east It is my hope and belief that this terrible war will give stimulus to the existing desire for some less clumsy and brutal method of adjusting international differ