The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-06

1 necessary in order to secure a righteous peace As yet there is only a partial and ! imperfect analogy between international
 law and internal or municipal law, be-
 cause there is no sanction of force for l executing the former while there Is in
 the case of the latter The private citt-
 zen is protected In his rights by the law,
 because the law rests in the last resort | upon force exercised through the forms
 or law man does not have to defend 1 his rights with his own hand, because he can call upon the police, upon the sherlns posse, upon the militia, or In
 certain extreme cases upon the army, | to defend him. But there is no such l sanction of force for international law.
 At present there could be greater
 calamity than for the free peoples. the 1 enlightened, Independent and peaee-loy- l ing peoples to disarm while yet leaving | 1t open to any barbarism or despotism | to remain armed. So long as the world l is as unorganzed now, the armies l and navies of those peoples who on the whole stand for justice, offer not only | the best. but the only possible, security | for a just peace. 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 l cease to be of weight in securing the 1 peace of justice-the real peace for which ] the most law-abidng and high-minded | men must at times be willing to. fight. | As the world is now, only that nation I is equipped for peace that knows how
 to fight and that will not shrink from l fighting if ever the conditions become | such that war is demanded in the name | of the highest morality
 | So much 1t Is empha ticaly necessary to | say in order both that the position of the
 United States may not be misunderstood 1 and that genuine effort to bring nearer , the day of the peace of justice among 1.-the nations may not be hampered by q | folly which, in striving to achieve the l impossible, would render 1t hopeleAs to attempt the achievement of the practical. l But while recognizing most clearly all l above set forth. 1t remains our clear duty | to strive in every practicable way to | bring nearer the time when the sword l shall not be the arbiter among nations. | At present the practical thing to do is i to try to minimize the number of cases | in which it must be the arbiter, and to | offer, at least to all civilized powers, some substitute for war which will be avail | able in at least considerable number | of instances Very much can be done ] through another Hague conference in 1 this direction. and I most earnest 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. I earnestly hope that the conference may be able to devise some | way to make arbitration between nations 1 the customary way Of settling fntefna- | tional disputes In all save a few classes | of cases which should themselves be as | sharply defined and rigidly limited as the | present governmental and social develop l ment of the world will permit. If possible | there should be g general arbitration l treaty negotiate among all the nations
 represented at the conference. Neutral .y.@~ tod | sea as they are protected on land. There | should be an international agreemnt to this purpose and similar agreement de- fning contraband of war.
 During the last century there has been distinct dimnution in the number Of | wars between the most civilized nations. | International relations have become closer and the development of The Hague tribunal Is not only a symptom of
 this growing closeness of relationship,
 but 1t is a means by which the growth
 can be furthered Our aim should be
 from time to time to take such steps as
 may be possible toward creating some
 thing like an organization of the civilized
 nations because as the world becomes
 more highly organized the need for navies
 and armies will diminish. It is not pos
 sible to secure anything like an immedi-
 ate disarmament, because it would first
 be necessary to settle what peoples are
 on the whole menace to the rest of
 mankind, and to provid against the dis
 armament of the rest being turned into d movement which would really chief'
 benefit these obnoxious peoples; but 1t | may be possible to exercise some check
 upon the tendency to swell indefinitely
 the budgets for military expenditure. Ol | course such an effort could succeed only
 if 1t did not attempt to do too much and if it were undertaken in spirit oi | sanity as far removed as possible from | rfo 6n-nh 1 It Is worth while pointing out that since | the end of the insurrection in the Philip | pines this nation has shown It's practfca
 faith in the policy of disarmament by
 reducing it's little army one-third. Bu | disarmament can never be of prime i'm l portance there is more need to get rid o | the causes of war than of the imple | ments Of war
 have dwelt much on the dangers tc
 be avoided by steering clear of any mere foolish sentimentality because my wisf | for peace Is so genuine and earnest; be . | cause have real and great desire tha , | this second Hague conference may marl : | a long stride forward in the direction o . | securing the peace of justice throughou , the world No object is better worthy tho , | attention of enlightened statemanshiI . | than the establishment of surer method
 than now exists of securing justice a. | between nations and for the prevention | of war between the big nations. To this
 aim we should endeavor not only to aver , bloodshed, but above all, effectively t' i strengthen the forces of right. The goldef : rule should be- and as the world grow in morality 1t will be. the guiding rul' : of conduct among nations as among indi , viduals; though the golden rule must no , be construed, in fantastic manner, as for , bidding the exercise of the police power
 This mighty and free republic should eve deal with all other states, great or small f on basis of high honor respecting thef I rights as jealously it safeguards 1t 8 own.
 Q Monroe Doctrine.
 One of the most effective instrument for peace is the Monroe doctrine as it ha been and is being gradually developed b, , this nation and accepted by other nations No other policy could have been as eff
 cient in promoting peace in the westerl
 hemisphere and in giving to each natiol
 thereon the chance to develop along 1t
 own lines. If we had refused to apply tn
 doctrine to changing conditions it woul
 new be completely outworn, would no
 meet any of the needs of the present day
 and indeed, would probably by this tim
 have sung into complete oblivion. It
 | useful at home and Is meeting with rec ognition abroad because we have adapte' 1 our application of 1t to meet the grow
 ing and changing needs of the hemis l. phere When we announce a policy, sucl as the Monroe doctrine, we thereby com
 | mil ourselves to the consequences of tn