Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-05
the employment Of counsel IN public man-
ner for distinctly legal services.
The Hague Conference.

The Hague Conference.
The first conference of nations held at
The Hague in 1899. being unable to dispose
of all the business before 1t, recommended
the consideration and settlement of num-
Der of important questions by another con-
ference to be called subsequently and at
an early date. These questions were the
following: "a The rights and duties of neu-
trails; CD the limitation of the armed forces
on land and sea. and of military budgets;
t0 the use of new types and caliber of
military and naval guns: f4) the inviolabil-
ity of private property at sea In times of
war; 60 the bombardment= of ports. cities
and villages by naval forces. In October,
mentary union, which, at a conference held
In the United States and attended by the
lawmakers OF fifteen different nations, had
reiterated the demand for second con-
ference of nations, I issued Invitations
to all the powers signatory to The
Hague convention to send delegates to
such conference and suggested that It be
again held at The Hague. In its note of
December 16, 1904, the United States gov
eminent communicated to the representa-
tfves of foreign governments its belief that
the conference could be best arranged under
the provisions of the present Hague treaty.
From all the powers acceptance was re-
cefved, coupled in some cases with the con-
dition that we should walt until the end
of the war then waging between Russia and
Japan. The Emperor Of Russia, immediate
ly after the treaty of peace which so hap
PLY terminated this war, in a note pre-
scented to the President on September IL,
through Ambassador Rosen, took the initla-
tive I'm recommending that the conference
be now called. The United States govern
ment In response expressed Its cordial ac-
quescence and stated that 1T would, as
matter of course. take part in the new con-
fwence and endeavor to further its aims.
We assume that all civilized governments
will support the movement, and mat the
conference is now an assured fact This
government will do everything In its pow
er to secure the success of the conference
to the end that substantial progress may
be made In the cause OF international peace,
justice and good WILL
This renders 1t proper at this time TO say
something as to the general ATTITUDE OF TINS
toward peace. More and more
war is coming to be looked upon as In IL
self lamentable and evil thing. A wanton
or useless war; or war of mere agrees
sion-in short, any war begun or carried on
in a constituencies spirit, Is to be con-
demned as peculiarly atrocfous crime
against al humanity We can. however do
nothing of permanent value for peace I'M
less we keep ever clearly in mind the ethi-
cal element which lies at the root OF the
problem. Our aim is righteousness. Peace
is normally the handmaiden of righteous
ness; but when peace and righteousness
conflict then a great and upright people can
never for a moment hesitate to follow the
path which leads toward righteousness,
even though that path also leads to war.
There are persons who advocate peace at
any price; there are others who, following
a false analogy, think that because 1t Is no
longer necessary in civilized countries for
individuals to protect their rights with
strong hand, 1t Is therefore unnecessary
for nations to be ready to defend their
rights. These persons would do irreparable
harm to any nation that adopted their
pripn ND is they SERIOUSLY
hamper the cause which they advocate by
tending to render 1t absurd in the eyes OF
sensible and patriotic men, There can be
no worse foe of mankind in general. and OF
his own country in particular, than the
demagogue of war, the man who in mere
folly or to serve his own selfish ends con-
tinually rails at and abuses other nations,
who seeks to excite his countrymen against
foreigners on insufficient pretextS, who eX-
cites and infiames a perverse and agrees
sive national vanity, and who may on ecca-
sions wantonly bring on conflict between
his nation and some other nation. But
there are demagogues of peace just as there
are demagogues of war, and in any such
movement as this for The Hague confer
ence 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. as
suredly 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
scant sympathy with the sentimentaiist
who breads oppression less than physical
who would prefer a shameful
peace to the pain and toll sometimes Ia
necessary in order to secure
righteous peace AS yet there is only par
tial and imperfect analogy between inter
national law and internal or municipal law,
because there is no sanction of force for
executing the former while there is in the
case of the latter. 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 sherihs posse, upon the
militia or in certain extreme cases, upon
the army to defend him. But there is no
such sanction of force for international
law AT present there could be no greater
than for the free peoples. the en-
lightened, independent and peaee-loving
peoples, to disarm while yet leaving 1t open
to any barbarism or despotism to remain
armed So long as the world is as unor
ganzed as now, the armies and nayles 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 cease to be of weight in securing
the peace of justtce-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
for peace that knows how to
fght and that will not shrink from fighting
If ever the conditions become such that war
is demanded in the, name of the highest
So much it Is emphatically necessary to
say in order both that the position 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 folly
which, in striving to achieve the imposssi-
BILE. would render it hopeless to attempt the
achievement of the practical But while
most clearly all above set forth
it remains our clear duty to strive In ey-
cry practicable way to bring nearer the
time when the sword shall not be the arbi-
ter among the nations. At present the
practical thing to do is to try to minimize
the number of cases in which it must be
the arbiter, and TO offer, at least to all civ
ilized powers, some substitute for war
which will be available in. at least a con-
siderable number of instances. Very much
can be done through another Hague con-
ference in this direction, and I most ear
nestly urge that this nation do all in its
power to try to further the movement and
10 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 be-
he c,,Sf ma IF cat.