Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-04-09

Tie i'cnd-a- Hand Record sometimes al
most the entire number has been given
up to 1t ;oud latterly he has taken to send
ING out monthly broadsides fun of ma
terial concerning the cause. to hundreds
OF the newspaper offices of the country.
! sometimes wonder how many, even Of
his dear Boston friends, realize what an
immense work he has done and Is doing
IN this field
II was from Russia and not from the
| nlted States, that the proposal which
resulted in the first Hague difference ac-
tually came On that point DR.. Hale's
1899 sermon did not rro exact
prophecy. II is worth noting here, how
ever that the hrst definite proposal Of
such conference did come from an
American democrat and not from Rus
sian Car. 1t came from the Massa-
ChusettS peace society in 1916, in the
form or a memorial to the President OF
the United states, written by William
l;llcry Claiming
Tho words of DR.. IIale's 1859 sermon
were remembered at the arbitration con
ference which met at Washington in the
spring of 1896, and were read by Senator
Edmunds, the president Of tine confer
cncc. as remarkable prophecy of the
things for whose promotion the confer
cncc was assembled Dr. Hale sat on
the platform as his prophetic words
were read. He has lived to see his
prophecy far on the road to flliiilment.
The world court is a fact. Treaties OF
Of arbitration between the United States
and many other nations are ccrtant"s
OF the near future. 1t is, indeed. disap-
pointing that We should not have the
honor OF being party to the first gem
oral arbi ration. treaty. That honor be-
longs to England and France. But arb.
tration treaties between the various ma
tions are now multiplying rapidly; and
In this movement the Tinted states.
whose course in connection with Tho
Hague conference and Tho Hague trihu-
nal has been So noble and efficient, viii
not be laesard.
1t was half dozen years before tho
Washington conference OF lse6-.t was
while the pan-Amcrcan congress ot 1890
WAS in scssion-tllt Dr Hale published
an important article, tho first clearly
outlining his plar of a permanent court
Of arbitration, with specific reference at
the time to the rcpublics of North AMI
South America.
diplomats declare at Mohonk after Or.
liacs memorable speech in 1896 that it
was mot pro6abl, that for many years
to come the governments would accept
any such ideal" and another eminent
diplomat declare the next year that at
aims too high for our day" That was
in 1891. In less than a dozen years The
Hague conference had been held. Thr
Hague conventions signed, Tho Hague
tribunal established. and the first case
before It dccided.--a case IN which the
United states was 81 party. This history
is worth remembering by the skeQtics
about progress. Tho virtue Of Dr. Hal"
las always been his belief that some
Things in this word can be done as well
as others. that TN" things which ought
TO he done can Ice done more quickly
nowadays than ever before and that our
husincss is TO set about doing these
without any talk or much care as to
how many years it will take. There is
no man who loves history and the past
loves celebrations of the right Kind and
of proper proportion, better Than DR.
Hale: but there Is no man so impatient
Of the lashing of lead corpses and vast
ing power in continuing fights already
won. His famous motto is Look For
ward. not Backward" He knows that
several fights Of n far-rcach ching char
acter in the peace cause are now won.
The fight FOR international arbitration
has really been fought and won. A lot
Of work remains 10 b" done around the
edges; the scope of treaties has TO he
enlarged 80 bring them up to the de-
mands of Judge Gray and Mr.. Foster