Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1905-12-05

IA 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 irrep-
arabic harm to any nation that
adopted their principles, and even as It
Is they seriously hamper the cause
which they advocate by tending to rem
der It 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 continually rails at and abuses
other nations, who seeks to excite his
countrymen against foreigners on In
sufficient pretexts, who excites and in
flames q perverse and aggressive ma
tional vanity and who may on occa-
sions wantonly bring on conflict be-
tween his nation and some other ma
ton. But there are demagogues Of
peace just as there are demagogues 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. -, !,
War and Peace.
Whenever it is possible for nation
or an individual to work for real peace,
assuredly it is failure Of duty not 80 to
strive; but If war is necessary and
righteous then either the man or the
nation shrinking from it forfeits all
title to self respect. We have scant
sympathy with the sentimentalist who
breads oppression less than physical
suffering, who would prefer a shame
ful peace to the pain and toll some
times lamentably necessary in order to
secure q righteous peace. AS yet there
Is only a partial and imperfect analogy
between international law and internal
or municipal law, because there is no
sanction Of force for executing the for
mer 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 sher-
MS posse, upon the militia or in Ger
tain extreme cases upon the army, to
defend him. But there Is no such sane
ton Of force for international law. At
present there could be no greater ca
lam,ity than for the free peoples, the en-
hghtened, independent and peace low
Ing peoples, to disarm while vet leaving
1t.open to any barbarism or despotism
to remain 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 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 Sc
curing 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
mat knows how to fight and that will
not shrink from fighting If ever the
conditions become such that war is de-
manded in the name Of the highest
morality.
+, For General Arbitration Treaty.
So much it is emphatically necessary
to say in order both that the position
of the United States may not be mis-
understood 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 impossible, would rem
der it hopeless to attempt the achieve
ment of the practical. But, while rec
ognizing most clearly all above set
forth, it 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
~ to minimize the number Of cases In
which it must be the arbiter and to Of
fer, at least to all civilized powers,
some substitute for war which will be
available in at least a considerable
number Of instances. Very much can
be done through another Hague con-
ference in this direction, and I most
earnestly urge that this nation do all
In its power to try to further the move
ment and to make the result of the de-
cisions Of The Hague conference effec-
tive. I earnestly hope that the confer
ence may be able to devise some way
to make arbitration between nations
the customary way Of settling interna-
honal disputes In all save few classes
Of cases. which should themselves be
Is sharply defined and rigidly limited
as the present governmental and social
development Of the world will permit.
II possible, there should be general
arbitration treaty negotiated among all
the nations represented at the confer
ence. Neutral rights and property
should be protected at sea as they are
protected on land. There should be an
international agreement to this pur-
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