New Iberia enterprise and independent observer. (New Iberia, La.) 1902-1944, 1916-05-06

There is difference Of Opinion
as to the employment Of force t
compel any signatory nation t
submit its ca Sc to an interna
tlOnal tribunal before going t,
war. Your committee, however
believes that the great majorit,
of the practical men of the Unit
ed States who hold themselves re
sponsible for reasonable proeres,
see the necessity Of the employ
,ment of an adequate pressure OF
force TO compel signatory nations
to bring their cause before an In
ternatiOnal Court or Council OF
Cancellation before going to war:
because however desirable it may
be theoretically not to use force
yet 6e history of the last one
hundred years, the many wars
during that time and the events
Of the present war have made APP
parent the fundamental need of
an ir4 4ernational power to enforce
the admission Of international
disputes to court The alterna-
tive constantly recurring wars
and. " the interval between these
warsH Che increasing absorption in
prepSaations for war of the re-
soura6sof the principal halions of
the world.
YoeF committee does not sug-
gest that the world can do with
out armies. We do not think
that, itsean.. at the present stage
Of civilization, any more ttan We
can dsNithout militia But
just aEswithin the state, there are
manyliings we use, besides the
militiHald before we use the state
militflsH n eall upon Federal troops
for. the enforcement Of law or
the exscntion of a court s iudg-
mentss - there are forces we can
use Internationally before we en-
ploy p1N armies and navies.
ThA9e tsxces can he summarized
in th teF1 ac0nomic pressure, by
which we s11ehn the commercial
and fnaneied shoycott of any na
tion thatnEpe1 to war without
submisl:ng its dispute to judg-
mat q Mahiry.. Our. plea is that
in the first instance the use of
economic force be clearly indi-
Gated. and that military force
should be resorted to only if eco
nomic pressure proves ineffective.
If military force is to be used
between nations, it is incompar-
ably preferable that it shall be
used for the enforcement Of rec
ognized international law, which
ultimately would, by this means,
replace war.
Your committee believes that
citizens, realizing the
worlds imperative need of the
substitution of law for war, if |
is not to dominate, are
ready, nay feel it the clear call of
DUTY to take their share of the
work and responsibility necessary
to establish this substitution. We
cannot escape if we would. We
would not if we could. The call
IF women and children, of the
helpless and the weak, suffering
ndescribably from needless war, I
S an irresistible compulsion to all
americans, and not least to Amer
can business men.
Your committee believes that
he time is ripe as never before
or the fundamental advance in
civilization that the establishing
# an international Court and
1ouncil represents. We know
hat the hope and the best and
anest thinking of the world have
een in that direction.
The time must inevitably come
rhen the world will provide some
etter method than war for deal
ng with the questions that arise
etween nations. Your commit
ee believe that it is practically
ossible that the time has arrived,