The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-04-14
1trmont matthman.
THE CAUSE OF PEACE.

Will be neld at i1drtloTu, Oohi'i WV
New England Arbitration and Peace
Congress. Prof Henry Wade Rogers,
dean of the Yale Law School, Will
preside. Among the speakers Will
be former Secretary of State John w.
Foster, Hon. Herbert Knox Smith,
Congressman Richard Bartholdt,
Judge Simon L. Baldwin, former
Chief Justice of the Connecticut STU
preme Court, Hamilton Holt az Cd |
itor of the Independent Hon Edwin |
D. Mead of Boston and Rev. Samuel |
A. Crothers, of Cambridge, Mass. The |
late Justice David j. Brewer had &C
cepted an invitation to speak. Special
religious services will be held il
the churches on Sunday and the pub
lie schools will be visited by the
delegates on Monday morning.
OF course the object of such meet
ing must be the development of
sentiment in favor of iaternatiopal
arbitration as a substitute for Inter
national conflict and sach an object
cannot be cons dered either foolish
or futile. Such a movement IS not
sensational ana does not appeal to
the popular fancy, hut it does appeal
powerfully to the best judgment OF
Probably it will ttke long time--a
very long t1me--to abolish war. but
the end in REV is of such tremendous
Importance that it is well worth
working for, though progress may be
tiiscouragtngly slow at times. Be
yond question the caifse which this
convention is intended to promote is
right, AVID therefore should be en-
couraged.
Shortly after his return from a
trop around the world former Vice
President Charles w. Fairbanks.
speaking at a peace banquet in New
York said IN part;
Nations are busy laying the keels
of great bat .eshipS. many hundreds
of millions of dollars are annually
Spent Iue ItdulIS COUHtIsEo
building and maintenance OF naAies
and Notifications and IN the support
of armies far beyond their OWL yea
Sonable police requirements The an
nual budgets of hany governments
are swollen by millions upon millions
of dollars to prepare, We are told,
for their national defense. There
the most thoughtful men and women.
has perhaps been no time in the his
tory of the world, when nations-in
time of comparative peace, were ex-
pending money more lavishly To
maintain and drill armies and expand
navies, than now, and If the ratio OF
increase during the past decade. is
continued during the next, the mag
nitude of the burden in a few years
will become astounding. Yet we
fancy that the goth century is better
than any which has preceded it; thai
knowledge is more widely diffused /;
that nations are in closer touch with
each other and have better under
standing of each other than ever. In
short it would seem that we are bet
ter able to guard against misnnder-
standing than at any time in the past,
and therefore that we should be able
to greatly minimize the causes and
chances of war.
NO nation is free from the mad
race for strengthening Notifications,
building navies and eQuipping and
drilling troops. We are all engaged
in increasing our capacity to attack
and defend. We indulge in interna-
tional compliments, in expressions OF
good VIII and in praying for a con-
tinuance of amicable relations. and
yet we go forward with our naval
and military preparations upon a con-
tinually expanding scale ! criticise
no one. for if all that is done IS
praisewOrthy, all are entitled to cred
it, and II otherWise--all are alike TO
blame.
I'VE have become familiar with the
assertion which seems 10 find wide
acceptance as variety. that prepar-
alton for war among nations is a
necessary means OF preserving the
peace; tnat army corps and battle
ships are a sort of evidence of good
faith and an assurance OF tranquility.
When we witness the vast naval
and military establishments which
are maintained, these questions nat
urally occur: Does civilization fully
civilize? What is the limit of the fac
tor of safety in army and military
preparation? What shall be the meas
ure OF the annual expenditure of the
different nations of the world for
NhNii htlIhSts vi NOul II ID ItnulAg
TO be seen, in view of the interlacing
of national interests. that where one
makes military preparation others
feel disposed out of abundance OF
caution, to do likewise.
In many of the countries which
have visited in the course of the
past year, ! have seen something of
the preparations made and being
made for their national defense
have seen something of the burdens
that are imposed upon people who are
little able to bear them. | have often
thought what blessing it would be
to countless millions if the burden
of preparing for war could be lifted
from their treasures, and the public
revenues could be used for the bene-
fit of their Internal affairs: for the
construction of their highways, the
Improvement of the sanitary cond.-
ton of cities, the support of schools,
the construction of hospitals, and in
countless other ways in the advance
ment of the material intellectual and
moral welfare of the great masses OF
the people.
I'VE have, of course, not fully
measured the waste on account Of
war preparation when we have taken
account only of the expenditure for
building and maintaining nayies ana
equipping armies. We must bear in
mind the fact that many thousands
Of VnunO mon ara wit nd ramn frnt,, tho