Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-05-08

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Il conference see more proofs of the
deep and devoted earnestness and sim
4 certify with which all the plenipoten-
tlaries Of the nations gathered here,
are working on the solution of this
4 great and difficult problem. y
j All of us here, Am sure, "a so ra-
f3nember the magnificent address In
4 which Baron Marschall Won eBieber-
! stein announced at the Hague that
/ the German government Will promote
J by all possible means, International
4 arbitratf ton. And we all remember
! that the plenipotentiaries OF the forty
4 four governments of the world signed,
1 before leaving the Hague, q year ago
\ last October, the article in favor OF
the principle Of arbitration.
s5 SO. We see, the responsible leaders
Of the worlds governments are With
lsus. 10 no S
And yet, as the result Of their ardent
and arduous work during the four
months OF the second Hague confer
ence only very few points were consii-
cred suitable and safe for settlement
BY 2, but unsafe oil points OF
these statesmen not right? Did they
not prove their wisdom and sense OF
| responsibility, before which we ought
to bow in gratitude Indeed, we need
not make a profound study OF the in-
ternatio :, situation of today to per-
- y
weak or strong, civilized orstincivilized,
would be far from being securely pro-
tected by International arbitration In
it's present state OF development; and
we must concede that the life and hon
or OF q nation are as sacred as the life
and honor of the Individual Law al
lows the individual to kill in self-de-
fence. This applied to nations means
the keeping UP of armies and ilavies
Tor emergency of national self-defence.
But does this mean that armies and
navies must be kept up and Increased
Indefinitely? Does it mean that the
abolition Of war is an impossibility?
No. surely not! SiF
For, while 1t is not, as yet, within
human power to prevent attack upon
the life of every Individual, it Is a
simple matter today, to provide alb
nal forces for the life OF the forty
four nations. All that is required is
that the plenipotentiaries of the forty
four nations, when meeting at the
Hague for the third conference, sign
g convention establishing universal
law by which no verdict by arbitra-
ton. or other pacific means, in the
settlement Of any international diff
hculty, shall endanger the self-preser-
walton and development, in other
words, the vital interests of any ma
tion. nor It's honor. The honor or a
nation being distinctly defined as the
protection by a nation of Its own self
preservation and development without
Infringing upon the conditions neces-
Ssary for the self-preservatlon and de-
Velopment of other nations.
This single international law which
will be reasonable and as easy to make
as the laws concerning the internal
t1onal arrangements for postal and
telegraph seryice-this single law will,
With one stroke. shift the RESPONSE
ibility for national life and honor from
the shoulders of armies and navies and
manshp working through pacific
means. And with the responsibility
must and will go what belongs to 1t;
the financial and brain support which
will strengthen and perfect the pacific
institutions for the settlement of in
ternational controversies: and the
causes Of such controversies must be
minimized, SO that the declaration OF
the abolition Of war will be a safe
thing to do, and that each nation, rs
it sees fit in its own peculiar case. can
safely begin to reduce armies and na-
vies.
This is the sense and purport OF the ..
world petition. 1t asks the governments
of the third Hague conference to sign
conventions pledging:
1. That establishment OF universal
law by which decision by pacific |
means Of any international difficulty
shall, in no case, endanger the self
preservation and development, !. e., the
vital interests and honor of any ma
ton.
s 2. Removal of the causes OF war by
regulating In speedy succession all in
ternatlonal interests by conventions and |
treaties, each with clause insuring pa
ciflc settlement of any difficulty that J
may arise from said arrangements.