Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1904-10-04
Thirteenth Annual
Peace Congress
lcontlnuea from Page Twol

ff
apparent conspiracy 10 give proceed
ence to the glory OF arms. Demos
themes and Perlcles adjured the
Athenians by the memory OF their
battles. Horace boosted that he had
been a soldier, non sine gloria Even
Milton, in that sublime sonnet where
he said pence hatF> her victories no
less than those q war;" also me-,
toned among the cody trophies Of
Cromwell "Darwent's stream with
blood of Scots imbrued," In almost
every sermon and hymn We hear in
our churches the imagery of war and
battle is used. We are charged TO
fight the good fight of faith; We are
to sail through bloody seas TO win
the prize. The Christian soldier Is
constantly marsaeled " war, Not
only in or habits and custome, but
in our daily speech and in our Utmost
thoughts we are beset by the obses-
SIOl. vi tplllltb oili Iiht'aA 'NN'
ton. 1t it like law of sin in the mem
bers to which the greatest or the
Apostles refers: "Who shall deliver
us from the body Of this DEATH"
am speaking to those who recog-
nize the lamentable state of things
and who yet do not accept 1t, or sub
nit to it, and who hope that through
the shadow of this night We shall
sweep into a younger day. How is
this great deliverance to be accom-
plisehd?
We have all recently read that
wonderful sermon on war by Count
Tolstoi, in which a spirit of marve-
lous lucidity and fire, absolutely de-
tached from geographical conditions,
speaks the Word as it has beer given
him to speak 1t, and as no other Nv
ing man could have don
AS you read, with an
aching heart, his terrible ~arraignment
of war, feeling that as a man you are
partly responsible for all human afro
cities, you wait with impotence for
the remedy he shall propose, and you
find it is-Religion. Yes, that is the
remedy. If all would dc right, no
body would do wrong-nothing is
palmer. 1t is a counsel OF perfection
satisfactory to prophets and saints,
TO be reached In Gods good time.
But you are here to consult together
to see whether the generation now
alive may not do something to hast
en- the coming of the acceptable
day, the appearance on earth OF the
beatific vision. If we cannot at once
make peace and good will the univer-
sal rule and practice of nations, what
can we do to approximate this con-
dition? What measures can we now
take which may lead us at least a
little distance toward the wished-for
goal.
| have not come to advise you;
have no such ambitious pretensions.
do not even aspire to take part in
your deliberations. But | am autho-
rized to assure you that the Ameri-
can government extends to you a cor.
dial and sympathetic welcome, and
shares to the utmost the spirit and
purpose in which you have met. The
President, so long as he remains in
power, has no thought of departing
from the traditions bequathed us by
the great sldiers and statesmen OF
our early history, which have been
strictly followed during the last seven
years. We shall continue to advocate
and to carry into effect, as far az
practicable, the principle of the arbi
tration of such questions as may not
be settled through diplomatic negoti.
ations We have already done much
in this direction; we sail hope to dc
much more. The President is now
considering negotiation of treaties of
aIDIJTdllUTi WITH SutIl vi luR EuIO-
pean powers as desire them, and
hopes 10 lay them before the Senate
next winter.
Unhappily We can not foresee in the
Immediate future The cessation of
wars upon the earth. We ought
therefore to labor constantly for the
mitigation of the horrors of war, es
pecially to do what we can to lessen
the sufferings of those who have nc
part in the struggle. This has been
one OF the most warmly cherished
wishes of the last two administra.
tions.I make no apology for reading
you a paragraph from the message
which President Roosevelt sent TO
Congress last December:
There seems good ground for the
belief that there has been a real
growth among the civilized nations
OF a sentiment which will permit a