The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-04-15
Says Basis of Whole Movement
Is Arbitration.
ENLARGEHAGUECOUR
Both in Membership and Scope
of Its Power.
Says Armaments Cannot Soon
Be Dispensed With.

! is an abstract of letter of President
| Roosevelt read at the arbitration and
peace congress in New York late this
| afternoon.
| President Roosevelt's letter address,
| ed to Andrew Carnegie, after voicing
his regret at inability to be present,
said:
'Mr. Root will speak to you at
length, and no man in the country is
better fitted than he to address you
on the subject you have SO much at
heart: for no man has in keener or
more practical fashion, or with
nobler diSinterestedness of purpose,
used the national power to further
which L believe to be the national pur-
pose of bringing nearer the day when
the peace of righteousness, the peace
of justice, shall obtain among nations
The president wished hearty God
speed to the associations efforts and at
the same time beseeched that it be re-
membered that though it is our
bounden duty to work for peace, yet II
is even more our duty to work for
righteousness and justice.
Said the president: THE peoples OF
the world have advanced unequally
along the road that leads to justice and
fair dealing one with another (exactly
as there has been unequal progress in
securing such justice by each within
it's own borders); and the road
stretches far ahead even of the most
u.
result if the most advanced nations,
those in which most freedom for the
individual is combined. with most EN-
cheney in securing orderly justice as
between individuals. should by agree
ment disarm and place themselves at
the mercy of other peoples less ad-
vanced, of other peoples still in the
stage of military barbarism or mill
tary despotism. Anything in the ma
ture of general disarmament would 90
harm and not good if it left the civil
lied and peace-loving peoples, those
with the highest standards OF munlcl-
pal and international obligations ana
duty, unable to check the other peo-
ples who have no such standards, who
acknowledge no such obligations.
1T behooves all of us to rememDer
that there are few more mischfeVous,
things tnal utteri1-g or applauding sen.
timents which can not be translated
from words into deeds.
These warnings that I have uttered
do not mean that I believe we can DO
nothing to advance the cause OF inter-
national peace. On the contrary. pc
lieve that we can do much 10 advance
it provided only We act with SANITY,
with self restraint, with power; which .
must be the prime qualities OF achleVS-
ments of a1y reform. The Nineteenth
century saw on the whole, real ana
great advance in the standard OF inter
nationaI conduct, but as among CIVIL |
ized nations and by strong nations
towards weaker and more backward
neODieS, The Nv enl1eln Century Will
I believe, witness a much greater ad-
vance in the same direction. The Uni
ted States las a right to speak on pc
half of such cause and tc ask thdl
its course during the half dozen open
ing years Of the century be accepted
as a guaranty of the truth OF its pro-
fessions.
..Our representatives will go to the
second peace col ference at Inc hague
Instructed to help in every possible
wav to brig some steps nearer COM
pleticn the great work which the hrst
conference began 1t is idle TO expect
tied by any one cr2 two conferences anu
these demand the peoples forming the
conference not only prepare 1or acute
for themselves, put py
aronsing exaggerated and baseless
hopes which are certain to pc dlsap-
pointed, play the game of the very
men who wish the conference TO ac-
complish nothing
lone of the questions, although not
not to nv mind one of the most i'm
nortant. which will be brought before
the conference, will be that of the linn
Ita ton of armaments. Ihe Onileo
states owing to it's peculiar position,
has regular army so small as TO pe
Infinitely small when compared to that
Of ary other first class power. Bul
the circumstances which enable this
to be SO are peculiar 10 our case anu
do not warrant us in assuming the OF
fensive attitude of school masters to-
wards other nations We are no long
ar enIarging our navy. We are simply
keeping up it's strength. The most {
oroba bic step in diminishing the bur- {
len of expense caused by the increas- +,
ng sizes of naval armaments, would,
believe, be an agreement limiting the I
Size of ships hereafter to be built; but {
hitherto it has not proved possible to t
get other nations to agree with US on {
his point.
"More important than reducing the {
.xnense of the implements of war is {
he question of reducing the possible j
,auses of war which can most ef- 6
,ther methods than war for the set t
Iement of disputes. OF those other {
methods the most important which is t
1ow attainable is arbitration. 1 do I
1ot believe in the world as it actually {
g it is possible for any nation to agree {
o arbitrate all difficulties which may
rise between itself and other nations; {
,ut do believe that there can be at !
his time very large increase in the I
.lasses of cases which it is agreed '
hall be arbitrated and that provision t
.an be made for greater facility and I
certainty of arbitration. / hope to see f
Ldopted general arbitration treaty c
lmong the nations; and l hope to see t
The Hague court greatly increased in ! t
power and permanency and the judges t
n particular made permanent and I
riven adequate salaries so as to make l
n increasingly probable that in each c
ase that may come before them they t
will decide between the nations, great
,r small, exactly as a Judge within r
'ur own limits decides between the in S
iividuals. great or small. who come t
matters will be taken up at The f
Hague, but 1t seems to me that this t