Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1911-09-08

COL. ROOSEVELT
Cannot Indorse the Arbitra-
ton Treaty with England.
Is Not Straightforward and Is
Hard 10 Understand.
Endless Confusion Will Arise Over
The One Word "Jusiiciable".


Roosevelt deals with the arbitration
treaties recently presented to the Sen
ate, in an editorial article appearing in
the OUTLOOK today. He says in part:
1t is one of our prime duties as
nation to seek peace. 1t is an even
higher duty to seek righteousness. 1t
is also our duty not To indulge in
shams, not to make believe we are
getting peace by some patent eontriv-
ance which sensible men ought to know
cannot work in practice. and which If
We sought to make it work might
cause irretrievable harm. | sincerely
believe in the principle of arbitration;
believe in applying that principle so
far as practicable; but | believe that
the effort to apply it where it is not
practicable cannot do good and may do
serious harm Confused thinking and
a willingness to substitute words for
thought even though inspired by an
entirely amable sentimentality. do not
tend toward sound action"
Il think that the great majority of
those persons who advocate any and
every treaty which is called n treaty
for peace or for arbitration would be
less often drawn into a position that
tends to humiliate their country if
they would take the trouble to fQrmu-
late clearly and definitely just what il
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
al thorn n p n hnr whose in =
grained personal timidity is such that
| they are more afraid of war than OF
any dishonor, personal or national.
We. the American people, believe
and Ought TO believe. in righteousness
first, a,nd- in peace as the handmade
of righteousness. We abhor brutal
lily and wr6ngdoing, whether exhibited
by nations or by individuals. We hole
that the same law of righteousness:
should obtain between nation and ma
ton as between man and man. |, FOL
zone, would rather cut off my hand than
see the United States adopt the atti-
tude either of cringing before grea
land powerful nations who wish Il
wrong us, or by bullying small ano
weak nations who have done us NJ
wrong.
The American people desire to d,
! Justice and to act with frank generosi
| ty toward all the other nations of man
kind; but | err greatly in my judg
ment of my countrymen if they ar
willing to submit to wrong and injus
tice. Again and again in the pas
| they have shown, and rightly shown
that when the choice lay between
Righteousness and peace they ehos'
righteousness. just exactly as they
also chose righteousness when tbs
choice lay between righteousness ant
war
| Mr.. Roosevelt cites the Revolution
airy war; the Civil war. and the Span
| ish- American war as instances ir
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 treaty be-
cause they make no false pretenses
and exclude questions affecting oul
vital interests. independence or honor
He continues: The proposed arbi-
tration treaty is defective, in the first
| place, because it is not straightfor-
ward. 1t sets forth that all 'justicia
BILE matters shall be arbitrated. The
| language both of the opponents anC
| the defenders of the treaty shows that
| even among our own people, and be-
| fore a cause for applying the treaty
has arisen. there is hopeless eonfu-
sion as to what justiciable' means
Such being the case, il can be mag
| lned how useless would be the effort
| to define justiciable' when a serious
conflict had actually arisen, and blood
was up and passion high. The word
| ing of the treaty is so loose, it SO lacks
eXplicitness. as to allow one set of its
advocates to announce that it binds us
to arbitrate everything, and another
set to say that under il we would not
have to arbitrate anything we did not
wish 70. Now, no moral movement is
permanently helped by hypocrisy
Does the proposal in the treaties, il
entered into with various nations
bind us to arbitrate the Monroe Doc
trine, the Plat Amendment with Cuba
the payment of State bonds to Euro
plan bondholders, the question wheth-
ell various European countries are en-
titled to the same concessions that
Canada is to receive under the reel
procity agreement the right of Other
foreign nations to interfere in Pana :
ma, our own right to exclude any i'm
migrants whom we choose to exclude
II these questions arose, | am sure our
representatives would. privately or
publicly, inform foreign 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 enc
only proper course to follow rs tat
followed 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
an outside body. Critics of the Sen
ate in this matter talk as II 1t had
usurped' right; in reality the
Senate has merely performed a duty.
"Nost men of knowledge, who are
willing TO think. know perfectly well