The San Francisco call., 1908-04-11
BY Shiuichiro Saito

TN the memorable message which
President Roosevelt has sent to the
congress under the date OF Decem-
Der 3, 1906. we find the following
significant language:
1T must be kept in mind that war
is not merely justihable, but imperative.
upon honorable men, upon an honorable
nation. where peace can only be OBJ
tanned by the sacrifice Of concientfous
conviction or of national welfare
Peace Is normally q great good. and
normally 1T comedies with righteous
ness, but It is righteousness and not
peace which should bind the con-
sciences of nation as 1t should bind
the conscience Of an individual, and
neither a nation nor an individual can
surrender conscience to another's keep
ing. Neither can a nation, which is an
entity, and which does not die as in
dividuals die, refrain from taking
though for the interest Of the genera
tions that are to come, no less than
for the interest of the generations OF
today, and no public men have a right.
whether from shortsightedness, from
selfish Indifference. or from sentf-
mentality, to sacrifice national inter
ests which are vital IN character. A
Just war Is, IN the long run, far better
for nations soul than the most
prosperous peace obtained by acquies-
cence in wrong or injustice. Moreover,
though It Is criminal for nation not
to prepare for war, so that Ii may es-
cape the dreadful consequences OF be-
ing defeated In war, yet it must always
be remembered that even to be de-
feated In war may be far better than
not to have fought at all As has been
well and finely said. a beaten nation
is not necessarily disgraced nation.
but the nation or man IS disgraced IL
the obligation to defend right Is
shirked-
I'VE should, as a nation, do every
thing In our power for the cause OF
honorable peace 1t is morally as in
defensible for nation to commit
wrong upon another nation, strong or
weak, as for an individual thus to
wrong his fellows We should do all
in our power to hasten the day when,
there shall be peace among the nations
"a peace based upon Justice and not
upon cowardly submission to wrong.
We can accomplish a good deal in this
direction, but we cannot accomplish
everything, and the penalty of at
tempting to do too much would almost
inevitably be to do worse than nothing;
for 1t must be remembered that fantas-
tic extremists are not in reality leaders
of the causes which they espouse, but
are ordinarily those who do most to
hamper the real leaders of the cause
and to damage the cause itself. As yet
there is no likelihood OF establishing
any kind OF international power, Of
whatever sort, which can effectively
check wrongdoing, and in these circum-
stances it would be both foolish and
an evil thing for a great and free na-
ton to deprive itself Of s.le power to
protect It's own rights. and even in ex-
ceptional cases to stand up for the
rights of others. Nothing would more
promote iniquity, nothing would further
defer the reign upon earth of peace and
righteousness than for the free and en-
lightened people which, though with
much stumbling and many shortcom-
fngs, nevertheless strive toward justice,
deliberately to render themselves pow
erless while leaving every despotism
and barbarism armed and able to work
their wicked will. The chance for the
settlement OF disputes peacefully by
arbitration now depends mainly upon
the possession by the nations that
mean to do right OF sufficient armed
strength to make their purpose s1ec-
tive"
In this spirit. President Roosevelt,
Japan is always preparing herself and
spending millions in the efficient equip
ment of her army and navy; but to con-
clude from these facts that she har-
bors any design Of aggression upon
any friendly power-much less upon
the United States-is only a calumny
OF an interested writer. We fully rec
ognize that the correspondent OF the
Evening Bulletin is a gentleman Of
wide knowledge in far eastern affairs,
but we doubt whether he understands