The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-09-08
PEACE TREATY
IS DENOUNCED
Former President Roosevelt
Takes Issue With Successor
i'll White House.
DECLARES ARBITRATION
PACT TO BE DEFECTIVE
Also That 1t Is Not Straight
forward, and That 1t Lacks
Explicitness.

NEW YORK. Sept. Former Presi-
dent Roosevelt deals with the arbltra'
tiou treaties recently presented to the
senate in an editorial appearing in the
Outlook today. He says in part;
''It is one of our prime duties ms 2
nation to seek peace. II 1s su even
higher duty to seek righteousness. 10
is also our duty not to indulge IN
shams not TO make believe we arc get
ting peace by some patent contrifance
which sensible men ought TO know can
not work in practice and which II we
sought 10 make 1T work might cause
irretrievable harm. | sincerely believe
in tho principle Of arbitration; be
lieve in applying that principle so far
as practicable: but / believe that the
effort to apply il where it is not prac-
ticable can not do good and may do
serious harm. Confused thinking and
a Willingness to substitute words for
thought even though inspired by an
entirely amiable sentimentalty do not
tend toward sound action
Danger of Humiliation.
''T think that the great ma aiority of
these persons who advocate any and
every treaty which is called treaty
for peace or for arbitration would be
less often drawn into a position that
tends to humliate their country If
they would take the trouble to formu.
late clearly and definitely just what 1t
is that they desire. OF course, there
are persons wholly Indifferent to the
national honor and interest who in
consequence cannot be reached by an
appeal to national honor and interest;
and there are other persons whose in-
grained personal timidlty is such that
they are more afraid or war than Of
any dishonor, personal or national.
''We, the American people, believe,
and ought to believe IN righteousness
first, and in peace rs the handmade
OF righteousness. We abhor brutality
and wrongdoing whether exhibited by
nations or by individuals. We bold
that the same law of righteousness
should obtain between nation and Da
ton as between man and man. !, for
one, would rather cut off my hand than
see the United States adopt the atti-
tude either of cringiug before great
and powerful nations who wish to
wrong us. or by bullying small and
weak nations who have done us no
wrong.
The American Attitude.
'The American people desire TO do
Justice and to act with frank gener
osity toward all the other nations Of
mankind; but ] err greatly in my judg
ment Of my countrymen if they are
fice. Again and again in the past they
have shown, and rightly shown, that
when the choice lay between righteous
ness and peace they chose righteous
ness. Just exactly as they also chose
righteousness when the choice lay be-
tween righteousness and war;
MI Roosevelt cites the revolution
ary war. the civil war. the Spanish
American war, as instances in which
''we put righteousness above peace" "
He also cites the existing arbitration
treaties between the United States,
Great Britain and France as better
than the proposed treaties, because
they make no false pretenses and ex-
clude questions affecting our vital in
terests, independence or honor. He
continues:
Treaty Defective.
"Ths proposed arbitration treaty is
is not straightforward II sets forth
that all 'justiceable' matter shall be
arhitrated, The language. both of the
opponents and the defenders of the
treaty shows that even among our own
people and before cause for apply
ing the treaty has arisen. there is hope
less confusion as to what justiceable'
imagined how useless would be the ef-
fort to define 'jnsticeabe' when Sc
rious conflict had actually arisen and
blood was up and passion high The
wording of the treaty is so loose, it
lacks explicitness, as 10 allow one set
of its advocates to announce that it
binds us to arbtrate everything, and
another set TO say that under it we
would not have 20 arbitrate anything
we did not wish to.
Hypocracy Alleged
"Now, no moral movement is perma-
nently helped by Hypocrisy Does the
proposal in the treaties. if entered into
with various nations bind us 10 'arbi.
trate the Monroe doctrine, the Platt
amendment with Cuba. the payment of
state bonds TO European bondholders,
the question whether various European
countries are entitled to the same con
cessions that Canada is TO receive under
the reciprocity agreement, the right Of
other foreign nations to interfere in
Panama, our own right to exclude any
immigrants whom we choose to eX-
cludea If these questions arose J am
sure our representative would privately
or publicly inform forei gn powers (and
indeed would have to inform foreign
powers) that the American people
would never abide by an agreement to
arbitrate them; In which case the only
proper course TO follow is that FOL
lowed by the senate committee and to
say in honest fashion that there are
certain questions which this nation will
not arbitrate at the dictation of any
outside body. Critics OF the senate in
this matter talk as if it had 'usurped'
right in reality the senate merely
performed 4 duty.
Most men Of knowledge who are
wiling to think, know perfectly we'll
that this country would not as a matter
or fact keep an agreement TO aTbitrate
all questions Of vital honor and inter.
est, even though it were so unwise as
to make it; and it is wicked thing
to put ns in position of promising
what will not and can not be per.
formed In such matter the in
dulgence of false pretense in the pres.
ent would be with absolute certainty
pe followed by the breaking OF faith
In the future.
Some Fatal Features.
The fatally Objectionable feature
Of the proposed treaty is the clause