The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-01-23
Darncll
&
Thomas
Raleigh, N. c.

rose to respond to the toast. 'The Friend
ly Relations of the Dutch with Other Ma
TONS" he was loudly cheered. Sir Cheng
Tung said in part:
Fortunately for the present day and
generation, the world has advanced so far
| in enlightenment and civilization as to
| have other means of settling information
! al disputes than a resort to arms. At the
same time the nations of the earth have
! been drawn closer together. War at the
present day not only involves the parties
strictly concerned, but also affects the
| interests of other nations. The extension
! of commerce has brought about all this
| 1t is to be hoped that the time is not
| far distant when war between nations
will be only painful memory Of the
| past
| After James NJ Beck had spoken Mr..
Bryan was introduced and was received
with cheers Speaking of the Dutch in
general Mr.. Bryan referred at some length
to the labor and length Of hours laborers
had to work. asking that more leisure
| time be allowed them for the cultivation
of their minds He concluded by saying:
Il am looking for something's greater
civilization than we have now, when a
/
sake, but for the peace of his country.
Since my visit to the Netherlands my
thoughts have been dwelling much upon
the important part that that little nation
seems destined to take in the movement
that has for it's object the substitution OF
| reason for force in the settlement of diff
| ferences between nations. 1t is fitting
| that the Temple of Peace should stand
| upon the ground that was the scene OF
| an eighty years conflict and l am glad
| than an American citizen has so generous
ly provided for its construction.
1--WE must not expect all armies to be
| disbanded at once or look for the imme-
date settlement of all questions by arbi-
| tration. The peace conference, which, by
I invitation of the Emperor of Russia,
convened at The Hague-the peace con-
| ference to which our own country has
| given such effective support-did not an
| nounce new discovery; it simply gave
! expression to a desire that was felt, to a
| greater or less extent, among the more
enlightened of every nation. 1t revealed
the fact that society is at last approach
! ing the point where conscience will assert
its supremacy over the brute instinct.
There have been times when bravery
upon the battlefield was considered the
highest form of virtue, and there have
been times when intellectual force and IN
dependence of thought have been consid-
cred all sufficient, but now heart charac-
teristics are beginning to be recognized
as the dominant ones. We are finding
that neither the perfectly developed body
nor the splendidly trained mind fills the
measure of the man or of the nation.
1.-THE evils which affiict the body pol
itic are not due to the extraordinary de-
velopment of the material resources OF the
world. but to the fact that the moral
sense has not always kept pace with IN
dustral expansion. But there is an
awakening at hand. In the United
States, in England, in France, in Russia,
everywhere, there is an increasing group
of those who are looking to higher
ideal, who insist that a physical combat
between men is as powerless as a fight
between wild animals to determine the
right or wrong of any proposition. They
fear that even intellect, unless warmed
and vitalized by a belief in the brother
hood of man, may go far astray.
ut is not upon the plutocracy OF
wealth, nor upon the aristocracy of learn
ing but upon the democracy of the heart
! that the hope of universal arbitration
and permanent peace must rest. Today
! an increasing number of people through
out the world, standing upon the heights,
are learning that God is not in the iron
clads nor in the armies but in the still
small voice of justice that issues from tri-
bunals like that recently instituted at
The Hague