Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-12-05

WV" "'N'h"'ioha law ana nterna
Oh municipal law, because there Is n,
sanction of force for executing tn,
former while there Is in the case o
the latter. The private citizen is pro
teclei In his rights by the law. he
cause te law rests in the last resor
upon force exercised through tht
forms OF law, A man does not have 1,
DEFEND his rights with his " hand
because he can call upon the police
upon the sheriif's posse, upon the mill
VA, or III certain extreme eases upon
the army, To defend him. but there /.
no such sanction of force for inter
national law, Al present there coulC
be no greater calamity than for Tho
free peoples, the enlightened. indepen
dent, and peace loving peoples, to dis
arm, while yet leaving II open TO ans
barbarlsm or despotism TO remain
armed, So long as the world Is rs
u~norganized as now, the armies and
navies or those peoples who ON the
whole stand for justice, offer not only
the best, but the only possible, securi
" for a just peace. For instance, II
the United States alone, or In company
with other nations that on the whole
tend to act justly. disarm, We might
sometimes avoid oioodshed, but we
would cease to be of weight in Sc,
curing the peace OF justice-the real
peace for which the most law abiding
and high-minded men must AT times
hA willing - Aphf Az .hA pFnr1J 10
now, only that nation Is equipped for
peace that knows how to fight and
that will not shrink from fighting If
ever the conditions become such that
war Is demanded In the name of the
highest morality.
So much II Is emphatically necossa-
ry TO say In order both that the pc
sition OF the United 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 a folly which,
In striving to achieve the impossible,
would render II hopeless to attempt the
achievement Of the practical. But
while recognizing most clearly all
above set forth, 1t remains our clear
duty TO strive in every practicable
way to bring nearer the time when the
sword shall not be the arbiter among
nations. At present the practical thing
to do Is to try to minimize the num-
Der of cases in which 1t must be the
arbiter, and to offer, at least to all
civilized powers. some substitute for
war which vii be available in at least
a considerable number of instances.
Very much a be done through an
other Hague conference in this direc-
ton, and ! most earnestly urge that
this nation do all in its power to try
to further the movement and to make
the result of the decisions of The
Hague conference effective. ! earnest.
ly hope that the conference may be
able to devise some way to make arbi-
tration between nations the customary
way of settling International disputes
in all save a few classes of cases.
which should themselves be as sharp
ly defined and rigidly limited as the
present governmental and social de-
clODlIlcIIt vi tnt WOtIu Will per I'LL
II possible, there should be a general
arbitration treaty negotiated among
all the nations represented at the con-
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 a similar agreement de-
lining contraband of a
During the last century there has
been a distinct diminution in the num-
Der OF wars between the most civiliz
ed nations. International relations
have become closer, and the develop
of The Hague tribunal is not
only a symptom OF this growing close
of relationship, but is a e
which the growth a be further
I'd. Our aim should be from time to
to take such steps as may be
toward creating something
ike an organization of the civilized
nations, because as the world becomes
highly organized the need for
and armies will diminish. 1t Is
not possible to secure anything like
IN immediate disarmament, because 1t
would first be necessary to settle
what peoples are on the whole a men-
ice to the rest of mankind, and to
provide against the disarmament OF
he rest being turned into a movement
which would really chiefly benefit
.hese obnoxious peoples; but 1t may
be possible to exercise some check
lpon the tendency to swell indefinite
the budgets for military expendi
.ure. OF course such an effort could
succeed only if it did not attempt to
10 too much; and If 1t were undertake
en- in a spirit of sanity as far removed
rs possible from a merely hysteTical
Dseudo-philantropy. It Is worth wnile
pointing out that since the end OF the
Instruction in the Philippines this ma
ion has shown its practical faith in
he policy of disarmament by reducing
It's little army one-third. But disarm-
ament can never be of prime import
ince; there is more need 10 get rid
the causes of wal than of the imple-
of a
] have .dwelt much on the dangers
IN no avoided nv steering clear of