Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1916-11-30

"S"i' SiadlS agree.
me tme VIII come when treaties
snall De more than truces. when it
VIII again be possible for them to be
observed with that religious faith.
mat sacred invtolability. on which
depend the reputation. the strength.
ana the preservation of empires"
We are not going to weary our readers
by pointing out again. what we have so
often pointed out In these columns thar
Tue holN alliance. though started with the
niost genuine and sincere desire to form a
League to Enforce Peace, ended In the
erection of a reactionary tyranny, and
that 1t took all the efforts of Castlereagh.
remington and Canning. together with en-
ashtened whig opinion In Britain, to pre-
ven; IT from bringing about the destruc-
uoh OF liberalism throughout the world.
How this happened is oAe of the most
curious examples of the terrible nature Of
logic when working unrestrained In human
aiiairs. II you have leagues of powers
oouha by u great common object which
demands large sacrifices. the first thing
lhat the consdtuen powers must and will
demand is a mutual guarantee OF each
others national lights and interests. Be-
fore they can be sure of acting unanimous
~ as a league they must be sure of not
quarreiing among themselves. But they
cannot be sure of doing this UNI
less they are sure that there will be no
lnlef1erence-no attempt to curtail their
own possessions and alter their own sys-
tenn of government. Hence any kind OF
international league is always bound to
guarantee the status quo, But the status
quo may In some particular country be
the 'negat on of God erected into a sys-
tenn. This first stumbling block, the holy
aillaice tried to some extent to remove by
means Of periodic International confer
ehceS which We're to meet every three
wears and keep the various states of the
world in good order. For example, the
siNth article of the holy alliance bound
me hlsh contracting powers to hold at
fNed intervals meetings consecrated to
great common objects and the examlna-
lion OF such measures as at each one OF
lhese epocns shall be Judged most salu-
'a"N Tor the peace and prosperity of the
nations and for the maintenance of the
peace of Europe The first of these meet
lnSs, the conference held at AiX-la-Cha-
pe'le, can hardly be described as a success,
except that it produced a perfectly adj
inifah!c memorandum from Castlereagh in
which he, like a true Briton, tried to find
a sensible via media between the two ex-
tre1nes, and, while not attempting the inn
possible. to do something practical for the
cause of peace. The words in which he
discusses the Emperor AleXander's idea of
a universal union of the powers are so
gcod that We cannot resist the tempta-
tton To quote them:
The problem of n universal alliance for
the pence and happiness Of the world
the m~emorandum runs. has always been
one OF speculation and hope. but it has
never yet been reduced to practice, and
T. an opinion may he hazartled from it's
diifl.uity, 1T never can. gut you may in
practice approach towards it. and per-
MAPS th@ design has never been SO far
realized as iii the last four years. During
ihat e%Ventful period the quadruple al
!.ance, formed upon principles altogether
limited, has had. from the presence OF the
soVcro3gns and t.Ie unparalleled unity of
design with which the cabinets have
acted, the power, of travelling so far out
81 the sphere OF their immediate and prir
1--WE oDls2tlons, without at the same time
~ "t ~ Ss9iii5 alS 9i tne AWs OF llatlohs
to Inc ri2ghts Of othnr o., w ~. et te 80
more extended alliances ! TO in.
terpuse their good offices for the settle
rlent of differences between other states,
10 take me initiative IN Watching over the
49, " GuloPe. .sl" liiia,N IL securing
Of ~ aH aI H q - % y ! .eahe H., me iueh
state shall he found 70 srnnort tbn state
of succession, government and possession
within all other states from violence and
attack. upon condition of receiving for
llsel1 u Sl'nllar guarantee, must be under
M vi 81, -, m,a lao'atis in1i'a'ns me previous es1
feoyernn,ent as NAY sac,,re and e e
upon all kings ana nations an internal
system of peace and justice. Til the
mode of constructing such a system shall
=, N'''A
slole, as holilihS WouIa pc more lmnlora!
~ snovnrn ,7ont ;auera liz ~ ,b ~ IN Ina a. !.
their force was rollectivelv IN he I,nstis
tuted to the support of established power.
without any consideration of the extent
to when IT was abused. Till a system Of
admllilsterlnS Europe by q general al
sanee ol Az is states can DC reduced 10
eral and Innnaiifind r,arentae " a Va
abandoned. and the states nIst no ,aft
to rely for their security upon the justice
and wisdom OF their respective system.
ana the ald or other states according to
tie "a" . ha'iohs.
before we leave the subject OF the con-
ference AT A1x-la-Chapeiie we must not
forget to mention the curious. but no
douol inevitable result Of the attempt to
mitigate the hard logic of the guaranteed
status quo me conference was, in effect,
asked to act. and attempted to act, as u
KIND OF European supreme court which
heard appeals and received petitions Of all
KINDS from soVerelgns and subjects alike.
fof example, the elector or Hesse asked
70 be allowed to exchange his meaning
less lltle Tor that OF King a request