The Topeka state journal., 1911-09-07


of nationals of the two countries but
which also may be composed excIus-
lively of foreigners, may, by unanl-
nous vote or by vote of all but one
Of its members, determine that any
given question might be arb1trated- 1t
is difficult TO characterize this pro-
vision truthful1y without som ething to
be offensive. Merely to speak of it as
silly comes far short of saying what
should be said 1t is arguabIe that in
certain cases neither of the two COM
ponent parts of the treaty making
power the president or the senate,
should delegate to the other for GER
tain purposes the power of exclusive
action.
But no substantial argument can be
made for permitting both the president
and the senate to delegate to outsiders,
possibly to foreigners. the exercise of
a fundamental and vital power. The
details of carrying in to effect great
and far-reaching policy can appropriate
~ be delegated: but tie elected ser
wants of the people betray the inter
est of the people if they shirk the duty
Of themselves deciding what that pol
icy shall be. Tt would be quite proper to
delegate to the joint high commission
many subordinate functions; but the
high. the supreme function of deciding
whether a question is of such vital I'M
portance to the country that it is r
is not arbitrable, cannot, with proprie
ty, be delegated to any outsider by eth
are elected to perform exactly the vi
tai duties implied in such decision. If
the president after consulting with his
constitutional advisers, the senate,
could not make UP his own mind about
such a vital question and had to have
it made UP for him by outsiders-possi-
bly, foreigners and certainly not spon-
sible to the people-it would be proof
positive that he was not Mt to hold the
exalted position to which he had been
elected. A president unfit to make such
a decision himself and willing to have
somebody else make it for HIM would
also be unfit to perform any of Tho
really important duties of the presi-
dency.
Offensive Hypocrisy.
I'VE, the people of the United States
cannot and will not surrender 10 out
siders the power to determ ne whether
or not we are fit to decide for ou~-
selves what are our vital needs and
what are the policies proper for meet
ing those needs. In other words, I'm
Gle Sam does not intend to wrong any
one, but neither does he intend to
bind himself, if his pocket is picked, his
house burglarized or his face slapped,
to 'arbitrate' with the wrongdoers and
as long as he does not intend so to
bird himself ii would be offensive hypo-
crisy for him to say that he will so
bind himself.
1T is our duty so far as now possi-
BILE, so far as human nature in the
provide peaceful substitutes for war as
a method for the settlement of inter
national disputes But progress in this
direction is merely hindered by the folly
that believes in putting peace above
righteousness: while it is, of course,
even worse to pretend to so believe.
The greatest service this nation can
render to righteousness is to behave
with scrupulous justice to other nations
and yet to keep ready to hold it's own
if necessary. Our chief usefulness to
humanity rests in our combining pow
er with high purpose Power indirect
ed by high purpose spells calamity; and
high purpose by itself is utterly use
less if the power to put it into effect is
lacking. In the history of our country
the peace advocates who treat peace
as more than righteousness will never
be. and never have been, of service
either to it or mankind. The true low
ers Of peace. the men who have really
kelped onward the movement for peace,
have been those who followed, even
though afaT off, the footsteps of Wash
ington and Lincoln and stood for right
eousness as the supreme end of nation
al life Only by acting on these princi-
pies, only by following in the footsteps
Of these great Americans of the past
can we of the present generation effec-
lively work for and secure the peace of
righteousness.