Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1910-05-06

Theodore Roosevelt for his lecture be-
fore the Nobel prize committee, which
was delivered here Thursday. A large
and distinguished audience listened to
the man to whom was awarded the |
Nobel peace prize for bringing about
peace between Japan and Russia. Mr..
Roosevelt said:
Need of Industrial Peace.
1t is with peculiar pleasure that I |
stand here today to express the deep |
appreciation feel of the high honor |
conferred upon me by the presenta- |
tion of the Nobel peace prize. The |
gold medal which formed part Of the |
prize shall always keep. and I shall
hand 1t on to my children as precious
heirloom. The sum of money provided
as part Of the prize by the wise gen.
erosity of the illustrious founder Of
this worldfamous prize system, did
not, under the peculiar circumstances
of the case, feel at liberty to keep.
think 1t eminently just and proper
that In most cases the recipient of the
prize should keep for his own use the
prize in its entirety. But in this
case, while l did not act officially as
president of the United States, 1t was
nevertheless only because / was pres
ident that was enabled to act at all;
and / felt that the money must be
considered as having been given me
in trust for the United States. l there
fore used it as nucleus for a founda-
tion to forward the cause of indus
trial peace as being we'll within the
general purpose of your committee;
for in our complex Industrial civiliza-
tion of today the peace OF righteous
ness and justice, the only kind of
peace worth having, is at least as
necessary in the industrial world as
1t is among nations. There is at
least as much need to curb the cruel
greed and arrogance of part of the
world of capital, to curb the cruel
greed and violence of part of the
world of labor as to check cruel
and unhealthy militarism in interna-
tional relationships.
When Peace May Be Evil.
We must ever bear in mind that the
great end in view is righteousness,
justice as between man and man, ma
tion and nation, the chance to lead
our lives on a somewhat higher level,
with broader spirit of brotherly good
will one for another. Peace is gen.
,erally good in itself, but it is never
the highest good unless 1t comes as
the handmade of righteousness; and it
becomes very evil thing If it serves
merely as a mask for cowardice and
,sloth, or as an instrument to further
the ends of despotism or anarchy.
We despise and abhor the bully, the
.brawler, the oppressor, whether In
private or public life; but we despise
no less the coward and the voluptu
ary. No man IS worth calling a man
who will not eight rather than submit
to infamy or see those that are dear
to him suffer wrong. No nation de
serves to exist IL 1t permits itself tc
lose the stern and virile virtues; and
this without regard to whether the
loss Is due to the growth of heart
less and all-absorbing commercialism
ITO prolonged indulgence in luxury ant
soft effortless ease, or to the deif1ca
ton of a warped and twisted senti
mentality.
Moreover, and above all, let us re
member that words count only wheI
they give expression to deeds or ar,
to be translated into them. The lead
,ers of the Red Terror prattled o
peace while they stepped their hand
in the blood of the innocent; an,
many a tyrant has called 1t peac
when he has scourged honest protes
into silence. Our words must b
judged by our deeds; and in strivin
for lofty ideal we must use praG
tical methods; and II we cannot a
tain all at one leap, we must advanc
towards it step by step. reasonabl
content SO long as we do actuall
make some progress in the right
rection.
Now, having freely admitted tn
Limitations to our work. and the qua
ifcations to be borne In mind, fet
that i have the right to have m
words taken seriously when l poir
out where, in my judgment, great az
vance can be made in the cause of II
ternational peace, l speak as pra
rtical man, and whatever ! now adv
cate actually tried to do when wa
for the time being the head of gre,
nation, and keenly jealous of its hol
or and interest. 1 ask other natior
to do only what / should be glad
see my own nation do.
Treaties of Arbitration.
The advance can be made alon
several lines. First of all there ca
be treaties of arbitration. There ar
of course, states SO backward that
civilized community ought not to e.
ter into an arbitration treaty wit
them. at least until we have gor
much farther than at present in s
.curing some kind of international p
lice action. But all really civilize
communities should have effective a
ahitratioI, tran atios Among thamsalve