Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-13

heart. and this fact Is so wen borne OUT
by our history that no one will gaipsay
that we have a mission OF peace TO full
I'LL. and no one knowing the American ma
ton viii doubt that persuasion viii be our
principal instrument employed in the ac-
complishment of task.
Mission of Peace.
II. then. we acknowledge that ours Is a
mission of peace ia this troubled world.
and that our principal means for effecting
our purpose will be a peaceable one. We
may expect 10 be asked why we maintain
any military force at all. All civilized peo-
pie abhor war. and many people seem to
think that the millennium Is at hand. that
the lion Will lie down with the lamb and
that no nation Will raise its hand against
It's netzhoor. Indeed has not The Hague
tribunal been instituted for the express pur-
pose OF settling the quarrels OF nations
without resort to arms? But the enthusi-
asts who give themselves up to hopes OF
universal peace reckon without human ma
tufe, without the genius Of nations and
without Providence that directs them. To
oeueNe In universal peace because of the
establishment OF The Hague tribunal and
10 disarm in consequence, would be as rea-
sohande or unreasonable a step for ma
Noh TO take as IL wonld be for the indiyid-
uai TO Believe in physical Immortality be-
cause or the progress OF medical science.
ana 10 give up life insurance. We NAV
dismiss the hope of universal peace as an
rate. - e's
Nations are very much like individuals:
tney may be good or bad they may ha
bright or stupid, energetic or IIstless and
their success In life depends on their ma
Honai capabilities and tho use they make
OF them They differ from the individual
IN not acknowledging a common sIperior
as individuals acknowledge their state Ac-
cordlng TO all conceptions of human law,
states are sovereign; they are governed IN
their actions not by laws imposed by SUI
perior authority. but by self-imposed rules
dictated by self-interest in the first place
ana by considerations of Justice IN the seq
ond place. II follows that although the
normal condition of mankind is acknowl-
edged TO be peace, and although nations
OF governments may long dwell side by
Side IN harmony, yet the result of soyer-
eisnty is TO put each constantly on the
defensive against all others. The Christian
principle of turning the other cheek does
not apply in the life of nations; there might
Is right; each is bound to protect itself and
It's individuals and to safeguard their in
terests. In the multiplicity and ramifica-
ton of human endeavor II is unavoidable
that different interests should como In
contact somewhere and clash. and when
these differences are irreconcilable or when
1hey accumulate too much or too fast, they
are apt to lead to a resort to arms IL is
therefore, the duty of ours. as it IS of any
olnef government, to protect itself and its
interests as well as its individual citizens
and their interests, and that paramount
duty cannot be discharged without an ade-
quate force
Power of Persuasion.
Just as an individual will accept the adj
vice of one above him in attachments, in
fuence and power, more readily than from
one below him in these respects, so a state
or nation Is more apt to let itself be per-
suaded into certain course of action by
powerful neighbor than by a weak one
The greater our might, the greater and
speedier our means for exertng f. the
greater will be our power of persuasion, our
influence, and the better we shall fulfill our
mission as the great nation OF peace. and
the more completely and effectively we shall
fulfill toward Providence our duty as a
great power Until a few years ago 1t was
not our policy to take part IN the shaping
or human AFFAIRS except as regards our own
hemisphere. We were then in our national
adolescence, 1t was our good sense, dur
ing that stage of our growth. to keep out
of the affairs OF our elders; we conducted
ourselves as a well brought up youth
should, and we may point with some pride
to the fact that we never cried enough in
any of our encounters. Just a youth
does not become a man at a certain day and
hour, but gradually realizes that he has be-
come a man, so We have ripened into ma
tional manhood, and 1t gradually dawns
upon us that we have entered a new phase
of life and that our duties have become
more serious and more comprehensive.