Evening journal., 1914-06-01
peace MESSAGES
At HIGH School
Continued Prom First Page.

continued From First Page.
tho growing desire for peace amonl
men Of all nations. There Is indee'
no other policy IN the world with
purpose so noble and so humane a.
this Peace Movement; for that reasoi
alone IL Is the most logical standar,
by Whicn 10 measure the strides
taken toward a higher and purer ciyi
/ lization. Surely the most sensibl,
way 10 judge national prosperity &.
not by the number of dollars whicl
a country can spend on armament
The time for such comparisons a.
/ that has gone by. Today we call thai
nation truly great which has the bcsl
/ educational facilities. the frcest form
of government for its people. and
/ above all. the noblest aims and as
pirations for the future
Even with all these signs Of Inter-
nal progress. we are as yet only just
coming out OF the Dark Ages of in
ternational relationship. Although
modern science has diminished the
size OF The world. and. although re-
ligious liberation has grown broader
the nations still stand apart as mdi-
viduals. But with modern advance
in thought. the time must soon come
when nations shall cease to stand as
units, and 10 view each other with
mutual distrust and suspicion. When
that time comes. we can safely pre-
dict, armed force will only be needed
for the prevention and arrest OF
crime
Only a moments thought is needed
10 convince one that war is an OBJ
solete notion War itself is only a
survival of the ancient duel. in which
men decided right by might-a fallacy
long since exploded. lt is truly
strange, then, that nations are will
ing, even eager, TO go 10 war TO settle
some point of justice. While they
all admit armed conflict TO be a ter
rible evil. they are afraid TO be with
out its protection. From an economic
standpoint. one glance at statistics is
sufficient 10 prove that any people
always lose more than they gain by
war. 10 Is i'm the war situation, and
more particularly i'm the disarmament
problem, that the mos. difficult work
in the struggle for peace is cncoun-
tered There are those who claim
that formidable armies and navics
are essential 10 peace. The danger
in such a policy lies IN the fact that
the nations supporting II are held I'm
a continual tension, and some time,
when the tension breaks. disastrous
international complications will be
the result Il still remains for some
genius to devise a practical plan of
disarmament, but, however the ques-
tion may be answered, we can posi-
lively assert that war is doomed to
become a curiosity of history I'm the
near future.
When war is abolished, there must
be some way by which unavoidable
international misunderstanding can
be settled. Just as civil courts have
superseded trial by battle, some form
of international court must succeed
TO war Arbitration has been sue
cessfully employed since the Middle
Ages to settle differences based on
questions of law While up to the
present time il has only been applied
to differences arising from disputed
possession and legal technicalities
( there seems no good reason why Il
should not be Just as successfully ap-
piled to the so-called problems OF
national honor. Honor cannot be
worth much II il is unable to stand
the examinations of a just court Be
sides. an international court, treaties
OF peace, by which the contracting
nations agree not TO engage in war
for a stipulated period, have been
used with great success by some ma
tons. notably France and England.
AT present the only body qualified
to act as a court of arbitration is To-
Gated at the Hague. On August "a,
1898. the Emperor of Russia issued a
Rescript inviting the nations of the
world to participate in Peace Con-
ference, 10 be held at the Hague on
May is, 1899. Nearly every country
sent its most prominent men of
affairs 70 this Congress, and it was
there that the first definite steps We're
taken toward World Peace. Since
then other conferences have been
held. and the Permanent Court OF
Arbitration, established by the first
convention, has been amplified and
strengthen. Although no nations are
compelled to submit their differences
to this Hague Court. they may do Sc
II they desire; decisions are then rem
dered after careful deliberation boy
an arbitration committee chosen from
the members of the Court. IL is ;
significant fact that many worl,
powers have not considered it be
meath their dignity to sue before tn,
Court, and many famous decision
have been rendered, such as the Nortl
Atlantic Fisheries case in 1910, an,
the Pious Funds case of 1912.
Since this Court has no power 4
enforce its decisions, 1t is not sucl
very great force in maintainin
: peace Fortunately there are crhe
agents actively engaged in cementin
the bonds of peace To gain this enc
such societies as Cancellation Inter
national, lnstitut de Droit Interna
tional, and the International Law AS
sociation have been formed. Beside
! these permanent institutions, specii
4 peace conferences are called upo
different occasions. The chief wor
of all these societies is 20 educai
? public opinion, and foster the desiI
among men for peace.
And now, surely, when confronte
"