The National tribune., 1907-07-11
IMPOTENT CONCLUSION OF
HAGuE CONFERENCE,

One of the evils for which civiliza-
ton has as yet found no remedy is thai
we are all so completely at the mercy
of mere talkers,-men and women wnt
have no other qualities than a con.
Stunning desire to prattle impressively
| to as large an audience as they can Sc.
cure. They have rarely studied with
any thoroness the subjects they want
to talk about, and would not under.
stand them if they did. Their long suit
is voice. manner and a copious vocab-
ulary. We have had them, worlds with
out end, talking on slavery, the race
question, Temperance, free silver, di-
vorce, criminology, trusts, labor and
capital, status of women, Imperialism,
etc, etc. 1t gives a commonplace man,
engaged in daily struggles with real
practical questions, daZed. tired feel
ing to give a casual backward glance
over the limitless oceans of words with
which he has been deluged on these
questions, and see that actual knowl-
edge as to real conditions. common
sense grasp of undeniable facts, and
practicable solutions of problems have
been as scarce as whales in the Allan
tic. OF late the great fad of these
empty-headed. tireless takers has been
Peace. Peace is a very captivating sub
ject. We all want Peace, and want it
intensely. We are all willing to do al
most anything to secure it. There
never was a more peace-loving people
in the world than the Aemricsns.
They are determinedly attached to mil
lions of things which they would rather
have than war. But the gentry who
have assumed the profession of Peace
only mainstays against multitudes who
are determined to rush into war. They
are doing this just az they used to as
sumo that they were the only friends
of the negro, of the laboring men; of
Temperance. of the sanctity of the
with a craze for the limelight. and in
reality care little for anything that they
can make use of to get there. The
much -heralded Peace Conference in
New York was an illustration of this.
1t brought together from all over the
world mere phrase makers like the
Englishman Stead. They were all dead
ly jealous Of one another, and the
meeting at once degenerated most ridic-
ulously into a squabble among these
fellows for notoriety. Each Peace Ad
vocate found every other an insuffer-
able bore, eaten up with unreasoning
vanity. and hating his competitors for
the foremost place in the light spot
The Hague Conference. tho an i'm
more dignified body, is
with something like the
same humiliating conclusion.
The London Times says that the Con-
ference is made up of cosmopolitan
swelled heads who conceive that
friendship for every country but their
own is proof of superior enlightenment
and moral rectitude, timid or astute
persons who always seek refuge in half
measures, irrespective of the import of
the measures they are asked to haIve.
and honest fanatics who believe that if
only the conference would decree a
the millennium would be-
gin.
The Conference has reached that
stage where the members have begun
to look anXiously about for something
that they can do to prevent the laugh
ter of the world at its impotent ending.
Every day sees the world much more
inclined toward Peace. All of the
mighty influences are in that direction.
Mightiest of ali is that of commerce.
The speaking and writing of these
gentry have about as
much influence as dogs barking at the
moon have upon the weather