The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1904-10-07
PEACE co...n-ss
Secretary Hay Makes Notable
Address to Delegates
ANTICIPATION OF WAR
Measures Must BE Taken Which
May Lead Us Gradually to
Wished For Coal w orId's Ma
tiOns Looking to United States


lions Looking to United States
Boston, Oct. 4.-The Internationa
Peace congress formally opened in
fremont temple yesterday afternoon,
the auditorium being crowded with
members of the congress on the floor
and with as many of the interested
the galleries. The greetings of the city,
state and nation were extended to the
delegates by eminent men in the gov
ernments of each, and a cordial and
sympathetic support of the purposes
of the congress was pledged.
The principal speaker was John Hay,
secretary of state in President Roose-
veIt's cabinet, who brought the greet
ings Of his chief, and welcomed the
delegates in the name of the govern
ment at Washington. Secretary Hay
called attention to the comparatively
peaceful history of the United States,
and earnestly asseverated that its
policies have always been peaceful
where peace might be attained with
honor.
But fixed as our tradition is" said
Mr.. Hay, clear as is our purpose in
the direction of peace, no country is
permanently immune to war so long as
the desire and the practice of peace
Ot al h.
ingtOn as an advocate of peace, it is
but fair also to quote him where he
says: TO be prepared for war is one
of the most effectual means of pre-
serving peace Human history is one
long desolate story of bloodshed. All
the arts unite in the apparent con-
spiracy to give precedence to the glory
of arms.
"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 marshalled to war. Not
only in our habits and customs, but in
our daily speech and in our inmOst
thoughts we are beset by the obsession
of conflict and mutual destruction. 1t
il like the law of sin in the members
to which the greatest of the apostles
refers: Who shall deliver us from the
body of this deathY
1--WE have all recently read that |
wonderful sermon on war by Count |
Tolstoi, in which a spirit of marvellous
lucidity and fire, absolutely detached
from. geographical or political condi-
tons, speaks the word as it has been
given him to speak it, and as no other
living man could have done. AS you
read, with an aching heart, his ter
rtbe arraignment of war, feeling that
as a man you are partly responsible for
all human atrocities, you wait with |
impatience for the remedy he shall |
propose, and you find it is-reigion. |
Yes, that is the remedy. If all would |
do right nobody would do wrOng-nOth- |
ing is palmer. 1t is counsel of perfec-
ton, satisfactory to prophets and |
saints, to be reached in Gods good |
time.
But you are here to consult to-
gether to see whether the generation |
now alive may not do something to
hasten 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 universal |
rule and practice of nations, what can
we do to approximate this condition? |
What measures can we take which |
may lead us at least a little distance |
toward the wished-for goalY'
Secretary Hay said that the presi- |
dent was earnestly working to the end |
Of mitigating the horrors of war; and |
called attention to the presidents re-
cent intimatiOn that he will ask for a
second conference of the nations of the |
earth at The Hague.
The responses for the foreign dele |
gates were made by Rt. Rev. John Per |
cival, d. D., bishop of Hereford, of |
London, and John Lund, member of the |
Norwegian parliament. Bishop Here |
ford said that the presence of Secre- |
tary Hay in itself gave a new character |
to the gathering. He felt grateful that |
the secretary's address should have |
been given in behalf of the President
of the United States, as well as in his |
own behalf. "Mr. Hay is well known
fl Europe, and greatly respected and |
honored," the bishop continued. "His |
address will be far more valued in Eu- |
rope because it contains words of Mr. |
Hay. 1t will be read all over the |
world and will have its influence in
cabinets and chancellories, where no
words of ours would be listened to at
nll."
Bishop Hereford then expressed the
opinion that change was coming in
peace affairs of the world. "Our hope
for peace" the speaker said sis fixed
upon the international policy of the
United States in years to come" He
declared that the nations of the world
were looking to the United States to
lead in the matter of adopting peace
universally
The other speakers were George r.
Jones' president of the Massachusetts
state senate. who welcomed the con-
gress on behalf of the state, in the
absence of the governor and lieutenant
governor at Worcester. Mayor Collins
spoke for the city of Boston.
-
Congressional Candidates
New York, Oct. 4.-COngressional
district conventions were held by the
Democrats in various districts in New
York and Brooklyn last night. Prom