The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1904-12-09

effort to secure justice for others or jus
tice for ourselves, save as conditioned
upon the attitude we are willing to take
toward our army, and especially toward
our navy 1t is not merely unwise, it is
contemplate. for nation, as for an in
dividual. to use high sounding language
to proclaim its purposes, or to take po-
SitonS which are ridiculous if unsupport.
ed by potential force, and then 10 refuse
to provide this force. II there is no in
tentiOn Of providing and Of keeping the
force necessary to hack UP a strong atti-
tudc. then it is far better not to assume
such an attitude.
The steady aim Of this nation. as Of all
enlightened nations. should be to strive
TO bring ever nearer the day when there
shall prevail Throughout the world the
peace Of justice. There are kinds Of
peace which are highly undesirable.
which are in the long run as destructive
as any war. Tyrants and Oppressors have
many times made a wilderness and called
it peace. The peace of tyrannOus terror
the peace of craven weakness. the peace
of injustice, all these should be stunned
as We shun unrightcOus war. The goal
to set before US as a nation. the goal
which should be set before all mankind
is the attainment of the peace of JUS
ticc, Of the peace which comes when
each nation is not merely safc-guarded
in its own rights. but scrupulOusly rec
ogniZcs and performs its duty toward
others.
There is as vet no judicial way of en-
forcing a right in international law.
wrongs many others. there is no tribu-
nal before which the wrongdoar can be
brought. Either it is necessary supinely
to acquiesce in the wrong and thus put
a premium upon brutality and acgres-
sion. or else it is necessary for the ag-
grievcd nation yaIiantly to stand up for
its rights. Until some method is devised
by which there shall be a degree Of in
ternational control over offending ma
tions, it would be wicked thing for
the most civilized powers, for those with
most sense of international obligations
and with keenest and most generous APP
probation OF the difference between right
and wrong, to disarm. If the great civ
ilZed nations of the present day should
completely disarm. the result would mean
an Immediate reCrudeSCCnCe Of barbar-
ism in one form or another.
Arbitration Treaties.
We are in every way endeavoring to
help on, with cordial good will, every
movement which will tend to bring us
into more friendly relations with the rest
Of mankind. IN pursuance of this policy
[ shall shortly lay before the Senate
treaties of arbitration with all powers
which are willing to enter into these
treaties with us. Furthermore. at the
request of the Interparliamentary Union,
an eminent body composed of practical
statesmen from all countries. l have
asked the Powers to join with this gov
eminent in a second Hague conference,
at which it is hoped that the work al
ready so happily begun at The Hague
may be carried some steps further to-
ward completion. This carries out the
desire expressed by the first Hague con-
ference Itself.
Policy on Western Hemisphere.
1t is not true that the United States
feels any land hunger or entertains any
| projects as regards the other nations of
| the western hemisphere save such as are
| for their welfare. All that this COun-
| try desires Is to see the neighbOring
| countries stable. orderly. and prosperous.
Any country whose people conduct them
| selves we'll can count upon our hearty
| friendship. If a nation shows that 1t
| knows how to act with reasonable eff
| cheney and deCenCy in social and political
| matters, if it keeps order and pays its
obligations. it need fear no interference
| from the United States. Chronic wrong
doing or an impotence which results in
a general loOsering of the ties of civil
| lied society, may in America. as else
| where. ultimately require intervention by
| some civilized nation, and in the western
hemisphere the adherents of the United
| States to the Monroe doctrine may force
the United States. however reluctantly
in fragrant cases of such wrongdoing OF
| impotence, to the exercise of an inter-
| national police power.
| Our interests and those of our south
ern neighbors are in reality identical
They have great natural riches, and il
within their borders the reign of law and
| justice obtains. prosperity is sure to come
to them. While they thus obey the pri-
mary laws of civilized society they may
rest assured that they will be treated by
us in spirit Of cordial and helpful sym
patty. We would interfere with them
|
! if it became evident that their inabn4ly
or unwilingness TO do justice at home
and abroad had violated the rights OF
the United States or had invited foreign
| aggression to the dctriment of the en-
| tire body of American nations.
| In asserting the Monroe doctrine, ir
| taking such steps as we have taken ir
| regard to Cuba, Venezuela, and Panama
| and in eEdeavoring to circumscribe the
| theater of war in the far East and t
secure the open door in China, we have
| acted in our own interest as well as ii
the interest Of humanity at large There
| are. however cases in which, while oul
own interests are not greatly involved
| strong appeal is made to our sympathies
| There are occasional crimes committed
| on so vast a scale and of such peculiar
horror as to make us doubt whether it Is
| not our manifest duty to endeavor a
| least to show our disapproval of the deco
| and our sympathy with those who have
| suffered by it. The cases must be ex.
| IRENE in which such a course is justi
| fable. But in extreme cases action may
| be justifable and proper. What form
the action shall take must depend upor
the circumstances of the case; that is
upon the degree of the atrocity and upor
| our power to remedy it. The cases IL
| which we could interfere by force o.
| arms as we interfered to put stop t
| ntoerable conditions in Cuba are neces
sarily very few. Yet it Is not to be ex
pected that a people like ours, which il
| spite Of certain very obvious shortcom