The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-05-10
COMPULSORY
ARBITRATION


CONTINUED from page Ore.1
which he reported jointly with Arthur
Gamer Victor Murdoch and Paul
Hudson.
| Mr.. HoustOn'S Address.
Mr.. Houston spoke as follows:
''In the capital of the greatest farm-
ing state in the Union and in the pres
ence of it's greatest farmer, Mr.. Co
burn, I must not neglect saying that
agriculture has been very definitely
serving in the interests of world peace.
While this war has been in progress,
there has been in session in Rome the
International Institute OF Agriculture,
under the direction of great fellow
citizen of ours-David Luban of Cali
fornia In that institute, representa-
tives of England, Germany, France,
Russia and Austria fOrgather to ira
ternize along with representatives or
the neutral nations. Here, in word,
is an example of peaceful information
alism in the midst of a world war.
How may that example be followed
and a world peace secured and main
tanned? Now, ! am not one of those
who believe this present war can be
ended until it is fought to finish.
But when this war does end. there
ought to come an enduring peace so
tinue.
And isn't the way to safeguard
peace to base its continuance on eco
nomic questions? The world has been
trying all kinds of forces from the
Stone Age until now, to find way to
end war; but war continues. Chris
tianity has been in the world for near
ly twenty centuries trying to make
men better, but still there is war. And
despite schools and colleges, and lit
erature and art and music, and all the
great spiritual forces OF the world.
they have not sufficed to establish
peace But the world needs some
thing more than all these fOrces-it
you have churches and schools and
libraries and all the other visible rep
resentatiyes and causes of civilization
but they would not in themselves be
sufficient to secure the peace Of this
city. You need also a court which
stands for the organized pressure of
the community to establish justice.
The World Court.
Now, the world really has great
court; namely, the high tribunal at
The Hague and what it generally
needs is some means by which that
everywhere are saying that the way to
make the court effective is by compu1-
sorry arbitration. In this connection
it is interesting to state that the last
Hague conference, that of 1907, closed
with a declaration. passed without a
sorry arbitration. And the next Hague
conference, which will meet in a
world chastened and exhausted by
war. will undoubtedly start with this
declaration that ended the last confer
ence. Now, if arbitration is to be
compulsory, how is that compulsion to
be applied. In my judgment, the most
effective means is that of economic
pressure. Economic pressure could
be applied in three ways; first. to
compel nations to submit to arbitra-
ton second, to compel them to ac-
cept the DEGREES of arbitration; third.
to serve a heavy penalty against an
offending nation that broke The
Hague convention laws.
Now, of what does this economic
pressure consist? Our present money
is international, because it has gold
as a commercial basis. Credit based
on gold is international Commerce
based on money and on credit is in
ternational. Then the amazing net
work of exchanges by which money,
and credit and commerce now used in
the world are also international. Take
the stock exchanges, the cables the
wireless, the international tolls serv-
ice and the wonderful systems for
communication and intercommunica-
tion-all these are international forces.
And the sum total of these forces
the most powerful kind. 1t would af-
feet subsistence, armament, equipment
and every side and phase of war. If
nations felt they were going to meet
the pressure of such an embargo. they
would certainly think twice before de-
claring war. For nearly a century we
have made the Monroe Doctrine eff
fective in the western hemisphere,
the force of public opinion,
we have never fired q. gun
to support it. If all the nations were
banded together to enforce arbitration
and had agreed to apply the penalty
of economic pressure to the nation
that declined to arbitrate. isn't it prac-
tica1ly certain that arbitration would
be resorted to and the world court
made effective?
Two Sides to the Question.
"Of course, the one apparently
strong reason against economic pres
sure is that it would bring loss to the
of the nation applying. but
that loss would be far less than the
loss brought by war and there would
be no loss whatever if war were
Still to the farmers enchant-
ed with the vision of $1.50 wheat and
to manufacturers working overtime