The Columbus journal., 1910-05-11

Christiania.-'International Peace
was the fitting topic selected BY Col
| Theodore Roosevelt for his lecture be
fore the Nobel prize committee. which
was delivered here Thursday. A large
and distinguished audience listened Il
the man to whom was awarded the
Nobel peace prize for bringing about
peace between Japan and Russia Mr.
Roosevelt said:
1t Is with peculiar pleasure that
stand here today to express the deep
appreciation ! feel Of the high homo.
conferred uron me by the presenta.
ton Of the Nobel peace prize. The
gold medal which formed part Of the
prize shall always keep. and I shall
hand It on to my children as q precious
heirloom. The sum Of money provided
a. part Of the prize by the wise gen.
crosby of the illustrious founder Of
this worldfamous prize system. I did
not. under the peculiar circumstances
Of the case. feel At liberty to keep. I
think It 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 I did not act officially as
president of the United States, II was
nevertheless only because I was pres
ident that was enabled to act at all:
and I felt that the money must be
considered as having been given me
In tv,sSe 10 IN y~St 4
fore used 1t as a i1ucleus for founda.
ton to forward the cause of indus
trial peace. as being well within the
general purpose Of your committee:
for in our complex Industrial civiliza.
ton 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 q 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.
ton and nation. the chance to lead
our lives on q somewhat higher level.
With . broader spirit Of brotherly good
will enc for another. Peace is gen.
orally good in itself. but 1t is never
the highest good unless 1t comes as
the handmade of righteousness: and II
becomes q very evil thing II 1t serves
merely as q mask for cowardice and
sl0th. 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 q man
who will not fight rather than submit
to infamy or see those that are dear
to him suffer wrong. No nation de.
serves to exist II It permits itself to
lose the stern and virile virtues; and
this without regard to whether the
loss is due to the growth of q heart
less and all-absorbing commercialism.
to prolonged indulgence in luxury and |
soft effortless ease. or to the deifica- |
ton Of q warped and twisted sent.
Moreover. and above all. let rs re-
member that words count only when
they give expression to deeds or are
to be translated into them.
Now. having freely admitted the
to our work. and the quail. /,
ifications to be borne In mind. l feel
that l have the right to have my
words taken seriously when l point |
out where. in my judgment, great ad-
vance can be made in the cause Of in |
peace. I speak as a prac-
teal man. and whatever I now advo-
cate actually tried to do when I was
for the time being the head Of great
nation. and keenly jealous of its hon.
or and interest I ask other nations |
to do only what I should be glad to
see my own nation do.
Treaties Of Arbitration.
The advance can be made along |
several lines. First Of all there can
be treaties of arbitration. There are.
Of course. states SO backward that q
civilized community ought not to en-
ter into an arbitration treaty with
them. At least until We have gone
much farther than at present In Sc
curing some kind Of international po-
lice action. But all really civilized
should have effective ar
treaties among themselves.
believe that these treaties can cover
almost all questions liable to arise be-
tween such nations. II they are drawn
With the explicit agreement that each
party gill respect the 9th
ef's territory and absolute sovereignty !
- a~>>e>>~se~~>