The searchlight., 1910-05-06

! oouovo tnat these treaties can covol
almost all questions liable to arise bs
tween such nations. II they are drawn
with the explicit agreement that each
contracting party will respect the 9th
er'a territory and absolute sovereignty
within that territory. and the equally
explicit agreement that (aside from
the very rare cases where the nations
honor 10 vitality concerned) all other
possible subjects Of controversy will
be submitted to arbitration. Such Q
treaty should insure peace until one
party deliberately violated II. OF
course. .as yet there II NO adequate
safeguard against such deliberate vio-
lation. but the establishment OF q
sufncient number Of these treaties
would 80 long way towards creating
q world opinion which would finally
flnd expression In the provision Of
methods to forbid or punish any such
violation.
Work 81 Hague Tribunal.
Secondly. there 10 the further de.
velopment q The Hague tribunal, of
the work OF the conferences and courts
at The Hague. II has been well said
that the first Hague conference
framed a Magma Charta for the ma.
tions: 1t Sc; before US an ideal which
has already to some extent been real.
lied. and towards the full realization
OF which We can all steadily strive.
The second conference made further
progress: the third should do yet
more. Meanwhile the American gov.
ernment has more than once tenta.
lively suggested methods for com
p,eting the court of arbitrnl Justice,
constituted at the second Hague con.
ference. and for rendering II effective.
II Is earnestly to be hoped that the
various governments OF Europe. work.
ing with those Of America and Of
Asia. shall set themselves seriously to
the task OF devising some method
which shall accomplish this result. n
| may venture the suggestion. II would
be well for the statesmen OF the
world. In planning for the erection OF
this world court. 10 study what has
been done in the United States by the
Supreme court | cannot help think.
ing that the Constitution OF the United
States, notably In the establishment
OF the Supreme court and In the
methods adopted for securing peace
and good relations among and be-
tween the different states. offers GER
tain valuable analogies to what should
be striven for In order to secure,
through The Hague courts and confer.
ences. species Of world federation
for international peace and justice.
There are, Of course, fundamental DIFF.
ferences between what the United
States Constitution does and what we
should ever attempt at this time to
secure at The Hague; but the meth.
DDS adopted In the American Constitu.
ton to prevent hostilities between the
states. and to secure the supremacy Of
the federal court In certain classes of
cases. are well worth the study of
those who seek at The Hague to OBJ
tain the same result on world scale.
Undue Growth Of Armamsnts.
In the third place. something should
be done rs soon as possible to check
the growth Of armaments. especially
naval ornaments. by international
agreement. No one power could or
should act by itself; for It Is eminent.
ly undesirable. from the standpoint of
the peace OF Righteousness. that q
power which really does believe In
peace should place itself at the mercy
Of some rival which may at bottom
have no such belief and no intention
Of acting on It. But. granted sim
cerity Of purpose. the great powers Of
the world should find no insurmount-
able dimculty In reaching an agree
ment which would put an end to the
present costly and growing extrava-
gance OF expenditure on naval arma.
ments. An agreement merely TO limit
the size Of the ships would have been
very useful few years ago. and would
still be Of use: but the agreement
should 60 much further.
Finally. It would be a master stroke
II those great powers honestly bent on
peace would form league OF peace,
not only to keep the peace among
but to prevent. by force II
necessary. It's being broken by others.
The supreme difiiculty In connection
with developing the peace work OF
The Hague arises from the lack OF any
power. OF any police power
10 enforce the decree OF the court.
In any community of any size the au-
thority Of the courts rests upon actual
Or potential force; on the existence of
= police. or on the knowledge that the
able bodied men OF the country are,
both ready and willing to see that the
DEGREES of judicial and legislative
bodies are put into effect. In new and
wild communities where there 10 vio-
lence.. an honest man must protect
and until other means Of 90
curing his safety are devised. It 10
both foolish and wicked to persuade
him to surrender his arms while the
men who are dangerous to the COM