The news & observer., 1905-12-06


be no worse foe OF mankind in gem
eral, and of his own country in par
ticular, than the demagogue of war,
the man who in mere folly or to serve
his selfish ends continually rails at ard
abuses other nations, who seeks to
excite his countrymen against foreign
ers on insufficient preteXts. who eX-
cites and infiames a perverse and ag-
gressive national vanity and who may
on occasions wantonly bring on con-
fiiet between his nation and some
other nation. But there are dema-
gogues of peace just as there are DEM
agogues OF war, and in any such move
lnent as this for The Hague conference
it is essential not to be misled by one
set Of extremists any more than by
the other. Whenever it is possible
for nation or an individual to work
for real peace. assuredly it is failure
of duty not so to strive. but If war
is necessary and righteous then either
the man or the nation shrinking from
il forfe.ts all title to self-respect. We
Lave sca.it sympathy with the senti-
mentalist who breads oppression less
than physical suffering, who would
prefer a shameful! peace to the pain
cnd toll sometimes lamentably neces-
Scry in order TO secure a righteous
peace. AS yet there is only a partial
and imperfect analogy between inter-
national law and internal or munich
pal law because there is no sanction
of force for executing the former
while there is in the case or the lat
ter The private citizen is protected
in his rights by the law, because the
law rests IN the last resort upon force
exercised through the forms Of law.
a man does not have to defend his
rights with his own hand, because he
can call upon the police, upon the
sheriff's posse, upon the militia, or
in certain extreme cases upon the
army, 10 defend him. But there is no
such sanction Of force for information
al law. At present there could be
no greater calamity than for the free
peoples, the enlightened, independent
and peace-iov ng peoples, to disarm
while yet leaving it open to any bar
barism or despotism to remain armed.
So long as the world is as unorganized
as now. the armies and nayies of those
peoples who on the whole stand for
iustlce. offer not only the best, but
the only possible, security for a just
Ieace For instance. if the United
States alone or in company only with
the other nations that on the whole
tend to act justly, disarmed. we might
sometimes avoid blOodshed, but we
would cease to be of weight in secur-
ing the peace of justice-the real
peace for which the most laW-abiding
and high minded men must at times
be willing to fight. As the world is
now, only that nation is equipped for
peace that knows how to fight and
that will net shrink from fighting il
ever tho conditions become such that
war is denanGed IN the name of the
highest morality.
50 much t is emrhaticaliy neces-
sary 10 say in order both that the po~
sition of the Omitted States may not be
misunderstood and that a genuine
effort to bring nearer the day of the
peace of justice among the nations
may not be hampered by folly
which. in striving to achieve the i'm
possible, would render t hopeless to
attempt the achievement of the prac-
teal But, while recognizing most
clearly all above set FORTH it remains
our clear duty to strive in every prac-
tcab.e way to bring nearer the time
when the sword shall not be the ar
bitter among nations. At present the
practical thing to do is TO try to mini
mize the number Of cases in which it
must be the arbiter, and to offer, at
least to all civilized powers, some sub
st tute for war which will be available
in at least a considerable number o.
instances. Very much can be idone
through another Hague conference in
IL, L
urge that this nation do all in its pow
er TO try to further the movement and
TO make the result OF the decisions or
The Hague conference effective.
earnestly hope that the conference
NAV be able to devise some way to
make arbitration between nations the
customary way of settling information
al disputes in all save a Few classes
of cases. which should themselves be
as sharply defined and rigidly limited Il
as the present governmental and So
cial development of the world Will per-
nit If possible, there should be a
general arbitration treaty negotiated
among all the nations represented al
tho conference Neutral rights and
property should be protected at sea
as they are protected on land. There
should be an international agreement
to this purpose and similar agree
ment defining contraband of war
During the last century there has
been a distinct diminution in the
number os wars between the most
civilized nations international re-
lations have become closer, and the
development Of The Hague tribunal *
not only q symptom of this growing
closeness of relationship, but is
means bv which the growth can be
furthered. Our aim should be from
time to time to take such steps as
may be poss bile toward creating some
thing like an organization of the civil
lied nations because as the world ne
comes more highly organized the need
for navies and armies VIII dlmlnlsh.
1t is not possible to secure ahythills
like an immediate disarmament De
cause it would first be necessary 10
settle what peoples are on the who're
a menace to the rest of mankind, ana
to provide against the disarmament OF
the rest being turned into a moYement
which would really chiefly benent
these obnoxious peoples but it may De
possible to exercise some check upon
the tendency to swell indefinitely the
budget for military expenditure. OF
course such an effort could succeed
only if it did not attempt to do too
much, and if it were undertaken in 6
spirit of sanity as far removed as pos
sible from a merely hysterical pseudo
philanthropy. 1t is worth while
pointing out that since the end of the
insurrection in the Philippines this
nation has shown It's practical faith in
the policy of disarmament by reducing
its little army one-third. But disarm-
auent can never be of prime import
ance; there IS more need to get rid of