The Democratic advocate., 1907-04-26
Peace Among Nations.

the times, to those who are today looking
to, and working for the betterment Of man
kind, is the growing desire for permanent
peace among the nations of the world.
War is a relic of barbarism, and has
many times been used, not in the interest
of the right, or to better the condition OF
the people, but to crafty the whims of am
bilious rulers. And upon this bloody altar
thousands of human beings have, in the
past. been sacrificed as an offering to the
sanguinary God of War.
Human nature, with its passions unre-
strained, is always ready for fray The
natural tendency is to settle everything by
a fight, Just as ferocious animals settle their
disputes, by tearing each other to pieces.
Rut mans reason and conscience are
beine awakened to realize that that is not
the best way.
First of all it cannot be justified upon
any principle of high morality There are
occasions. doubtless, in which nations are
compelled to go to war in self defense, just
as the law recognizes the right of an indi-
yidual to kill his antagonist, if it is abso-
lutely done in self defense.
But the reckless going to war, before all
efforts for peace have been exhausted, Is
both cowardly and atrocious. II men who
make war are the persons who are to do
the fighting, then large part OF our OBJ
lection to war would cease, for upon this
,r;ncinle we are sure, war itself would
soon become a thing of the past.
But the trouble is, the authorities make
war, and then the people are taken from
their shops and stores and farms and are
set in the field as targets for the bullets
And then comes the long train OF widows
and orphans, and all that that means, so
that for every reason of humanity, war
ought, as far as possible, to be banished
from the world
Then again, nations, even victorious
nations are beginning to understand that
war is too costly. That while it may give
them some prestige, it depletes and weak
ems them financially and puts burden upon
them that they do not recover from in years.
Take the case of Japan in her recent war
with Russia. While she gained victory
after victory and astonished the world with
her prowess, she nearly bankrupted herself
in doing SO.
The disposition to place disputed ques-
tions among nations, which cannot be set
tied by diplomacy, in Court of Arbltra-
ton, is reasonable, just and humane, and
when the people of our country and all
other countries where the voice OF the peo-
Die can be heard, come to fully understand
the situation, they will demand it. And
who better than the people should be heard
upon this question? They are the main
sufferers in war.
We should like to see the Hague trlbu-
nal enlarged and the Court made perma-
nent, with Judges we'll qualified for the
work, and we'll paid for their services.
And then let the princi pal powers of the
world agree that to this tribunal all dis
putes, which they cannot settle among
themselves, shall be referred for adjudica
ton and final settlement.
The position of our own country has
always been creditable to us, in regard to
the value of Arbitration in settling ma
tional disturbances, and seems favorable
at this time to making the Hague tribunal
a more effective agency in promoting in
ternational peace.
President Roosevelt exhibits the same
sort of temper, in this matter, which he
shows in almost all questions which he
touches, that is, while seeming to be frank
and outspoken, and willing to favor arbi
tration as means of promoting peace among
nations, he wants, at the same time, to
have the privilege of keeping his hand on
his pistol, and his gun loaded to the muzzle
We believe the nations of the world are
more and more tending to this rational
method of adjusting their differences, and
thus averting the calamities and horrors Of
war.