The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-03-21
LOOKING TO A WORLDS PEACE.

LOOKING TO A WORLDS PEACE.
The most striking of President s
Roosevelt g cpigrams, 'Trcad softly,
but carry the Big Stick" is receiving
effective exemplifcation in the inter
national negotiations for disarmament.
The abortive attempt for peace, made
by the car Immediately antecedent to
his war with the Mikado, gave a lull
to peace talk among rulers of the ma.
tons, But now it has been renewed
under the auspices of King Edward of
England rs the European representative
and President Roosevelt of the United
States as the representative of the west
ern hemisphere.
Naturally, because of the greater cost
OF naval armament and the long ante
cedent period required for adequate
naval preparation, any effective appl-
cation of the idea must first be directed
to the navies of the world. Their rel
ative strength becomes of first impor-
tance
Great Britain leads the world not
only as to the present equipment, but
also as TO annual expenditure The
United States comes next and then
France, Germany, Russia, Japan, and
Italy, Broadly speaking, England's
naval armament is four times that of
any other nation, and she is expcnding
at tho rate of more than thirty-one
million. pounds per annum for it's in
crease, She has launched the greatest
OF battleships and is building three
more of even larger size, and has au.
thorized the construction of still addi-
tional fighting monsters, pending the
conclusion of the Forthcoming peace
talk at The Hague This particular
type of vessels, England calls tho
Inyinciblc class; and unless STAYED by
A general concert for disarmament. or
land will have fleet of floating forts
constituting a wall of steel around her
islands. and will still have gigantic
squadrons for aggressive operations in
the seas of the world. King Edward s
idea is that during the next seven years.
WV ''.t'"i poNIlS VI lNC pdIIn Sudll nOl
increase their present rate Of expendi-
ture for naval armament. Were this
idea to be adopted, England S suprem-
acy would still be maintained. The
present outlay Of these nations is, in
round figures, as follows; England,
Sl50,ooo,0oO; United States. 100000
600; France, SOC, 900; Germany, $780,
100000; Russia. S50,000,0OO; Japan,
$42.000,000; Italy, S29,0oo,O0o. If the
present rate were to continue, the
United States would outdistance all
other nations, except Great Britain.
The attitude of this country on this
question has been better defined by
President Roosevelt than by any of his
predecessors, While inclining to
world s peace, and participating in dip
lomatic councils with that object in
view, the combative spirit OF Roosevelt
has never been )ulled into dangerous
slumber. He recognizes that, pending
an international agreement which shall
be effective as to general disarmament
or non-augmentation, the leading ma
tons must maintain and increase their
equipment so long as any one of them
advances It's naval power; and the Pres.
ident recognizes the further and equally
important fact that, even with disarma.
ment agreed TO, an international tribu.
nal, with international power TO enforce
decrees and punish recalcitrant nations,
must be achieved. The enforcement of
pence by substantial war powers is well
described i'll the Roosevelt words, ut
tered by him three years ago;
Until some method is devised by
which there shall be a degree OF inter
national control over offending nations.
civilized powers, for those with the most
sense OF international obligations and
With the keenest and most generous ap~
probation of the difference between
civilized nations OF the present day
should completely disarm the result
would mean an immediate rccrudescence
or barbarism in one form or another
Under any circumstances, sufficient ar
mament would have to he kept up TO
serve the purposes OF International police.
and until International cohesion and
sense OF international duties and rights
are far more advanced than at present
the nation dcsirous Of securing respect
both FOR itself and for others must have
force adequate for the work which il
feels is allotted to 1t as its part OF gem
cral world duty.
With this intelligent comprehension
OF offensive and defensive operations.
aud given real inclination on the part |
OF Roosevelt, Edward and Wilhelm |
the three great figures among rulers of |
the world--to effect disarmament, there
is no reason why The Hague conference
shall not result in a definite plan Of |
achievements. The Eastern |
natlons are little TO be feared, the !
M'kado alone having any ambition TO
become world conquerer; and with
an alliance of the leading European
countries and the United States, sup
ported by international authority and
an allied navy 10 back it. the MiIado
would be forced TO operate in conjunc.
ton with the disarmament plan.
tnr h,..