Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1908-10-03
Mr.. TAFTS PEACE
SPEECH IN JAPAN

Mr.. laft's famous peace speech"
which summarily quelled all talk of
war between the United States and
Japan, was delivered in Toxic on
Monday evening, September 80. OF
last year. The occasion was a BAN
quet in his honor, the hosts being the
municipality of Toxic and the Cham
Der of Commerce of the city. The
labor troubles ON the Pacific Coast,
which bred persistent rumors OF i'm
pending hostilities, would have been
dismissed by Mr.. Taft in his speech
with little more than a passing refer
ence IL, indeed, he alluded at all to
the subject. His plans were changed
almost on an instant the morning OF
the banquet. His attention was d.
rected to a cable dispatch in the local
newspapers, stating circumstantially
that our State Department was weary
of the diplomatic hectoring Of ia
PAN" and was about to deliver to the
Emperor an ultimatum. This could
scarcely spell other than war or a
backdown by Japan. Mr.. Taft pc
rused the dispatch carefully and
quickly formulated what seemed to
him the proper curse to pursue. He
devoted the remainder of the day to
a preparation of the speech. Compar-
ing It's brevity with the amount of
time and thought he expended on 1t
n may readily appreciate the meas
ure of Importance with which Mr..
Taft regarded what he vas going to
say. Everything p~resaged that the
Japanese would receive Mr.. Taft's
speech as they did. No representa-
tive of the United States Government
upon whom might have devolved the
duty OF so frankly discussing the deli
cate subject of wal between the two
countries would have been accorded
q more respectful hearing than Mr..
Taft. Neither was there another
American in whose integrity of pur-
pose and depth of honesty, with the
will and the ability to utter the truth
as he saw it, did the Japanese repose
as complete confidence as they did In
Mr.. Taft. He was charged with no
official message to the Japanese. He
merely took it upon himself as a SEN
sible man, and in the light of a patri-
otto duty to both countries, to do
what he could personally to put a
stop to that nonsense" as he pri-
vately termed 1t. In part Mr.. Taft
said:
War between Japan and the Uni
ted States would be a crime against
modern civilization. 1t would be as
wicked as it would be insane. Meth
er the people of the United States nor
the people of Japan desire war. The
Governments of both countries would
strain every point to avoid such an
awful catastrophe. What has Japan
to gain by it? What has the United
States to gain by 1t? Japan has
reached that point in her history
where she is looking forward with
confident hope to great commercial
conquest. She is shaking off the eff
fects OF war and Is straining every
nerve for victories of peace.
why should the United States
wish a war? War would change her
In a year OF more into a military ma
ton, and her great would
be wasted in a vast equipment that
would serve no good purpose. but to
tempt her to warlike policies. In ,he
last decade she has shown a material
progress greater than the world has
ever before seen.
To-day she is struggling with the
abuses which accompany such mate
rial development, and is engaged in
an effort by process of law to retain
the good for her people and to sup
press the evil. Why should she wish
war, in which all the evils of society
flourish and on which all the vuItures
fatten?
"She is engaged in establishing a
government of law. order and pros
perity In the Philippine Islands and
in fitting the people of those Islands
by general education and actual prac-