The news & observer., 1905-12-06

be permitted to use stockholders
money for such purposes; ana, more
over, a prohibition Of this kind would
be, as far as it went, an effective
method of stopping the evils aimed at
in corrupt practices acts. Not only
should both the national and the sew
eral State legislatures forbid any Off
Ger Of corporation from using the
money of the corporation ia or about
any election, but they should also
forbid such use Of money in connec-
tion with any legislation save by the
employment Of counsel in public man
ner for distinctly legal services.
The Hague Conference.
The first Conference o. Slations held
ar The Hague in 1892 being unable
TO dispose or all the business before
1t, recommended the consideration and
settlement of a number OF important
questions by another conference to be
called subsequently and al an early
date. These questions were the fol-
lowing: ID The rights and duties OF
neutrals; CD the limitation Of the
armed forces on land and sea, and of
military budgets; I'D the use of new
types and Calibers of military and
naval guns; (4) the inviolability ot
private property at sea in times of
war; t5) the 0ombardment of ports,
cities and villages by naval forces In
october, 1904, ct the instance of the
Interparliamentary Union, which, at
q conference he'd in the United States
and attended by the lawmakers of
fifteen different nations, had reiterated
the demand for a second Conference
Of Nations. | issued invitations to all
the powers s!gnatory to The Hague
Convention to send delegates to such
d conference ana suggested that it be
again held al The Hague. In it's note
of December 16, 1904. the United
States Government communicated to
the representatives of foreign govern
ments its belief that the conference
could be best arranged under the
provisions of the present Hague treaty.
From all the powers acceptance was
received, coupled in some cases with
the condition that we should wait un-
til the end of the war then Waging be-
tween Russia and Japan The En-
peror of Russia, Immediately after the
treaty of peace which so happily ter
minated this war, in note presented
to the President on September 13,
through Ambassador Bosen, took the
initiative i'm recommending that the
conference be now called The
United States Government in response
expressed its cordial acquiescence and
stated that it would, as matter Of
course, take part in the new confer
ence and endeavor TO further its aims.
We assume that all civilized govern
ments will support the movement, and
that the conference is now an assured
fact This government viii do every
thing in its power. to secure the sue
cess Of the conference to the end that
substantial progress may be made in
the cause of international peace, JUS
tice and good will
This renders it proper at this time
to say something as to the general
attitude of this government toward
peace. More and more war is coming
to be looked upon as in itself Ia
mentable and evil thing. A Wanton or
useless war. or a war CT mere aggres-
sion-ln short, any var begun or car
ried on in q consciencelesS spirit, is 10
be condemned as a peculiarly atroci-
Gus crime against all humanity. We
can, however, do nothing of perma-
nent value for peace unless we keep
ever clearly in mind the ethical ele-
ment which lies at the root of the
problem Our aim is righteousness.
Peace is normally the handmaiden of
righteousness, but when peace and
righteousness conflict then a great and
upright people can never for a mo-
ment 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 false analogy think that
because it is no longer necessary in
civilized countries for individuals to
protect their rights with a strong
hand. it is therefore unnecessary for
nations to be ready TO defend their
rights These persons would do ir-
reparabIe harm to any nation that
adopted their principles, and even as
it is they seriously hamper the cause