The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1909-05-05

lhey would say today that the repub-
lie was standing ON its head.
This is what has come about in ten
years in these three nations because
The Hague Conference in 1899 did
nothing about the reduction or arrest
or armaments. AS we now look back
We see that it could not do much dif-
ferently at that time The war sys-
tenn of nations could be supplanted
only by the gradual development OF n
system of international law and JUS
tice to take its place. When the first
Hague Conference created the inter-
national Tribunal, it did Indirectly
the most useful thing it could do I'M
behalf of the reduction of armamehts
because II took long step in FUR
nishing the nations with such legal
machinery for the settlement OF theic
differences as makes recourse to war
machinery more and more unneces-
sary and inexcusable. Il has been In
the line of this thought that the in
ternational lawyers have had their
hopeful assurance. Develop the legal
machinery, they said, and the arma-
ments will perforce crumble OF their
own dead weight.
! The continued and rapid develop
ment during the decade of provision
for the peaceful settlement of inter-
| national disputes has been something
unparalleled in history. The leaders
Of the movement for international
justice are sometimes reproached
with being dreamers. The only
trouble with them in the last ten
years has been that, so far as the
development Of the instruments OF
international justice are concerned.
they have not been able to dream
daringly enough or fast enough to
keep up with the facts. If we had
been told in 1899 that we should see
in the world today an International
Tribunal, with half a dozen cases
already successfully settled by Il,
an international Prize Court with
such code as that just agreed upon
In London, Court Of Arbitral Jus
tice decreed and the appointment of
its judges a thing of the near future.
and eighty rbtration treaties rati-
fed between different pairs of ma
tions pledging reference TO arbltrzl-
tion of all disputs not settled by
regular diplomatic negotiation that
are likely to arise between them,-
l say that IL we had been told In
May, 1899, when the first Hague Con-
ference met, that we should see that
all this achieved by this May, 1909,
we could none OF us, the most opti-
mistic Of us. have believed It. Yet
all this we see.
What of IL? Wha' Is the logic of
it? The logic of It, the thing clear
ly prescribed Is the gradual de-
crease of the machinery for the set
tlement of international differences by
war corresponding to the steady
and now so wonderfully great in
crease OF the machinery for their
settlement by arbitration and tho
courts. This is perfectly clear. Ths
wayfaring man, though q fool, can
not err In this. And the wayfaring
man does not err. It is so clear
that, seeing the nations do not re-
sDe,t the logic, he promptly pro
nounces Tie Hague conventians
waste paper and the whole Hague
movement a humbug. In this he
does err seriously; but it is because
he does not take into account the
extent to which vested interests, com
mercial greed, selfish national am
billions and the pride of persuasive
influence of entrenched military
classes hinder straight logical ope'-
ations. The sophisticated politician
is reckoning with a mass of prom
ises not down in the books Of the
plain people.
The plain people are right In the
main point. The failure to decrease
the machinery of war as we increase
the machinery of law, above all, the
actual enormous increase of arna-
ments at such time by the very
nations party to the Hague conven-
tious, Is rank inndelity to the spirit
and purpose of those conventions.
One thing alone could justify or ex-
cuse it-some obvious new danger.
Is there any such new danger? We
need not NEEDLE with other peoples
affairs. How is it with ourselves?
Our increase in naval armament in
these ten years has been something
portentious. No narion has a worse
record; perhaps no other has so
bad record, since we unlike Eng
land and Germany, have no provo
cation or excuse. We have no jeal-
Gus neighbors, no great merchant
marine TO guard, noconcern about
food supply, no exposure 10 inva-
sion or attack,--we are in no danger
whatever If we behave ourselves.
There Is none from Europe; there is
none from Asia,-the periodic trump
ed-up visions OF Japanese armies ad-
yan,ing through the mountains upon
Salt Lake are worthy only OF the
type of Englishmen whom Golden
deals with in his "Three Panics." and
who ale thrilled by Du Maurier's
cheap melodrama At this very time.
JaDan Is cutting down her naval budsf-