New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1910-12-12

! iect than has been available heretofore
| The supplying of such information is the
| commissions most important function.
! THE HUNDRED YEARS or PEACE.
! The activities of the American Peace
! Society III moving for an internatiOnal
! celebration of the centenary of the
! Treaty of Client are to be cordially
| commended as helpful and inspiring It
was not to he expected that all the
I ideas and suggestions elected would be
marked with fiawleSS discretion and
WISDOM and it is not surprising that
some proposals have been made which
| can best be described as fantastic
! Nevertheless. there have also been put
forward some admirable plans, which
we should certainly hope to see exc
cuted. The actual arrangements for
the commemoration Will. we may as
sumo be made by official representa-
tfyeS Of the two nations concerned. but
in that work the results of these yolun-
teer efforts may be profitably utilized.
The simple fact Of there having been
hundred years of unbroken peace be-
tween Great Britain and America will
he impressive and worthy of COM
mem0ration. But we should not CON
slider that after all the chief feature of
the occasion, for of course the peace
has been kept much longer than that
between each of these nations and
some others. \ more important con
lsideration is the character of the Treaty
of Client and the terms on which It
was made The War of 1872 was not
causelesS nor purposeleSS, nor was II
void of enduring results. 1t VIII be
profitable for the people of both coun-
tries to take opportunity at this cen
tenary to consider those causes and
nurDoSes ard still more those results.
/ For the virtue of war Is not i'll Its
magnitude nor in the triumph or de-
! feat Of either party. but rather i'll the
! enduring effect which it produces upon
! the parties 10 il and upon their rela-
! lions. and the value of a treaty Is
! similarly not simply in the fact that it
! ends a war. but still more in the terms
and conditions which are agreed upon.
In this view of the case il may be
| that the feature Of the peace of 1Sl4-l1
| which is best worth COMMUNICATING is
one which really was not cousummated
until few years later. but which WAS
| inevitably foreshadoWed in the Treaty
Of Client. That is, the practical dis
armament OF the frontier between
! Canada and tho United States. At the
| time of the War of 1912 each nation
/ e. aud City forts long
! that line and a considerable naval force
on each of :hc Great Lakes. As re
/ salt of the Treaty of Client, or more
/ accurately of It's sequel. tho RuSh-Eagot
agreement of 1871. those forts and
/ fleets were abolished. and ever since
/ that cont international
! Ioundarv has been as free from mill
tsrv demonstrations rs the boundary
line between two of our states or two
nroyinces of Canada. That achievement.
r,aintained for now nearly hundred
wears. is one of the most Impressive
r2rts in international relations. Con
t17,St if witt, the conditions which pre-
vail along the frontiers of some other
nations,
Ii is. of course. moi desirable TO eXag-
cerate the significance of this clrcIm-
stance or to seek on its account to estab-
fish other conditions which are not nee
essarly sequential 10 it. Thus the pro-
Dosal TO mark the centenary OF the aboll-
ton of forts by abolishing the custom
houses along the frontier is not ju-
dicious. since it would really contradict
the heneficent meaning Of The former
event. The supreme distinction Of the
disarmament lay in the fact that if was
possible 10 effect il without in the least
degree impairing or menacinG the entire
independpnce of the nations on both
sides of the line: but the abolition of
custom houses would he impossible
without taking a long step toward the
abolition of that independence and the
making Of one country an appaDage 10
The other. II would not be well to cele-
bratc a hundred years of peace with an
act which would 70 far toward nullify
ing the very conditions which inspired
the celebration.