The Washington herald., 1907-04-18

Two impressive deIiverances upon the
attitude Of me United States toward the
movement for the peace of the world
have been made before the National Peace
Conference.-The enc by the President him
self, who. though combative by nature,
has never lost sight Of his responsibility
as head of the most pacific of the nations:
and the other by his able Secretary OF
State. whose firm grasp of principle and
power OF accurate generalization were
never better exemplihed than in his sane
presentation Of the fundamentals of an
international peace policy the policy To
which the government of the United
States is fully committed by the tradi-
tions Of its past and By the declarations
and practice of the present administra-
tion.
Neliher the President nor Mr Root has
indClged Ia merely academic proclamation
Of American policy. The President points
10 our amieabIe relations with the weaker
peoples with whom we are brought into
contact and our benevolent rule over
those who have become dependent upon
us as guarantees Of our respect for the
rights of other populations. We have ac-
eepted in practice the principle of arbitra-
ton, and differences between us and
foreign nations have been determined by
that means number of arbitration
treaties have been concluded: the Presi-
dent wishes there were more. While he
does not think it possible 20 arbitrate an
the differences that may arise between
nations, he believes that the scopc of in
teinational arbitration may he verv
largely extended. and hopes for a general
arbitration treaty and the creation OF a
permanent and powerful tribunal before
which international disputes may be set
tied with tlHality and justice. AS 10 dis
armament, The President declares for the
very moderate proposal Of limiting the
size Of battle ships 10 be hereafter built.
NC have relatively small standing
army, and we are no longer enlarging
our navy, so that our attitude toward dis
armament is that Of willingness to accede
TO any agreement on that subject which
may be reached by the powers.
Mr.. Root emphasized the alliance and
sympathy Of the American government
with the humanitarian sentiment which IS
steadily making for universal peace. but
he sounded a warning against the error
of expecting too much from The Hague
conference. He showed that little could
be done by the conference to compose
serious differences of opinion among the
nations represented theret Il was an
essential characteristic Of the conference
that it could deal only with matters upon
which the nations agree. Nevertheless. lie
hoped for a substantial advance in the
general field Of arbitration. in spite OF the
unwillingness of the powers TO surrender
any portion of their sovereignty TO an
alien tribunal-a surrender that IS in
dispensable to the arbitration of queS-
tons Of policy, and to lesser extent in
volved in the determination Of questions
Of law or of fact To this end MIR. Root
favors the establishment of a court Of
permanent judges who win have no
other occupation and no other interest
but the exercise Of the judicial faculty
under the sanction OF that high sense OF
responsibility which has made the courts
OF justice in the civilized nations Of the
world the exponents Of ali that is best and
uoblest in modern civilization"
II TlTc Hague conference does no more
III establish such tribunal and en-