The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1905-12-05

nothing permanent value
beaee IN keep ever clea1l, "a
mind tie It en eIlt which lies
at the root of the problem. Cur
aim IS 81 eousness Peacegis NOR
1nally tEle n1malden Of righteous
ness but hen peace and righteons-
ness conflict then a great and mp
right beople can never for q moment
hesitate Is 6llow the path which
loads toward righteousness, even.
though that path also leads 70 war.
There are persons who advocate
1,eace atsaIlv price there are Others
Who. following fs analogy, think
fhat because it is no longer neces-
sary in CIVILIZED eou1tries for Il d.
yiduals to protect theiE rights with
strong hand, it Is therefore url-
necessary for nations to he ready 20
defend their rights These persons
would do irreparable harm to any
nation that adopted their principles
ana even as it is they seriously ham
per the cause which they advocate
bv tending to render it absurd in the
ewes Of sensible and patriotic men
There can be no worse foe Of man
kink in general, and of his own
country in particular, than the
demagogue of war, the man ssllps N
mere folly or to serve his own 81 h
ends continually rails at and abuses
other nations, who seeks to excite his
countrvmen against foreigners on
insufficient pretexts, who excites aud
infiames a perverse and aggressive
national vanity, and who may on &C
casions wanfonly bring on conflict
between his nation and some other
nation. But there are demagogues
of peace Just as there are demagogGes
of war, and in any such movement
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 a nation or an individual to work
for real peace, assuredly it is fail.
ure of duty not so to strive; but II
war is necessary and righteous then
either the man or the nation shrink
ing from it forfeits all title to self
respect. We have scant sympathy
with the sentimentalist who breads
oppression less than physical suffer.
ing, who would prefer hamefui
peace to the pain and toll sometime
lamentably necessary in order ~ 60
cure righteous peace. As yet t.ie-
is only a partial and iuperfaal a
alogy between international NV an
internal OF municipal INV. beeaC-
there is no sanction of force for
executing the former while there Is
in the case of the latter. The PR.
yate citizen is protected in his right
by the law, because the law rests IT
che 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'e posse, upon the militia, or
in certain extreme cases upon the
Army. to defend him But there is
no such sanction of force for inter-
national law. At present there could
be no greater calamity than for the
free peoples, the enlightened, indie
pendent, and peace-loving peoples,
to disarm while yet leaving it open
to any barbarism or despotism to re-
main armed. So long as the world
is as unorganized as now, the armies
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 IN
stance, if the United States alone
or in company only with the other
nations that on the whole tend to
act Justly, disarmed, we might some
times avoid bloodshed, but we would
cease to be of weight in securing the
peace of iustice-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 it will not shrink from
fighting if ever the conditions be-
come such that was is demanded in
then anne of the highest morality.
So much it is emphatically neces-
sarv to say in order both that the
position of the United States may
not be misunderstood, and that
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 impossible. would render it hope
II II. 4 ~