The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1917-02-22
UNFOLDS PLAN TO GOVERN
WORLD IN HIS SPEECH
Congressman Lewis Sings Swan
SOng-WOuld Put End
to War;.

which was before the House. His ad-
dress was plea for the avoidance of
future international catastrophies such
as now faces the world, and his remedy
was an international government with
an international legislature. an interna-
tional court and an international police
force to execute the mandates of the
court
His address aroused the hveliest in
terest, MANY of the members asking
questions suggested by his novel pro-
position. The Constitution of the
United States, he said, could be adopted
as the ground work of this new govern
ment almost without striking 100 words
or adding 80 words to that remarkable
document. His legislature would con-
sist of a senate and of a house. the
senators to be appointed by the rules of
the different governments as ambas
sailors are now appointed, the members
of the lower house to be appointed by
the popular house of each governments
party.
One of Mr.. Lewis most attentive
listeners was Senator Blair Lee, who,
like Mr.. Lewis, retires from public life
with this Congress. 1t was because he
entered the primary to succeed Mr.. Lee
that Mr. Lewis declined a denomination
to Congress from his district.
What is the cause of war?' asked
Mr.. Lewis. What is it that govern
ments themselves. organized with the
principal functions to preserve peace,
are themselves in our day the only OBJ
vous violators of that function? | will
answer that question by saying that the
cause of war is state of anarchism in
the international community
Whenever you have peace and order
you have government. The township
has peace and order. It has govern
ment. The county has peace and order.
1t has government. And finally, the
great interstate community in which
we live as the country of George Wash
ington has peace and order because it,
too, has a government to procure that
peace and order. We came to the in
ternational communities where nations
meet as individuals meet in the do
nestle community, and what do you
find? You find state of Undesirable
anarchy at this very moment, but you
also find community where govern
ment has never obtained. We are
citizens in domestic communities, but in
an international community we are
anarchists, pure and simple. | use
that expression as a term of descrip-
ton.
Peace and order in an international
community can be obtained only as it is
obtained in other communities by adopt
ing the agencies of government, to wit,
a legislature to prescribe the rules
of conduct in advance and a court to
take care of disputed questions of law
or fact, and, finally, a force in the
background to give sanction where
needed for that kind of agreement. "
How would you have the interna-
tional legislature constituted?" asked
Representative Emerson of Ohio.
"You need not go any further than
the Constitution of the United States
for your model and your copy" re-
piled Mr.. Lewis. 1.-The thirteen states
when they divorced themselves from
Great Britain became independent SOW
ereigns. Each could make treaties
with all the other nations of the world;
each could make treaties with each
other. You had then an intercolonial
community; we call it now an inter-
state community, but actually it was an
international community between the
thirteen colonies in which the same
causes for interneclne strife and blood
shed existed that now exists in the in
ternational community itself.
The fathers of their day were wise
with the genius that Americans have
for institution building in the political
field, and they sailed forth upon the
ocean of experiment. The result was
the Constitution of the United States.
under which the AZ great states, each
of them having more causes for quar-
rels than the SO nations of the world,
are now bound together IN peace and
eternal amity."
Mr.. Lewis then proceeded to describe
the proposed international community
form of government, saying:
1.-The way of enforcing the DEGREES
would be just what you have here.
You would have an international legis-
lature, constituted from among the
nations as our legislature is constituted
from the states, the Senate represent
ing the soYereigns and the House rep
resenting the population of the globe.
You should have court to enforce its
legislative ordinances. You would have
police or an executive government to
do what the court had failed to do.
Humanity in all times and in all
ages has adopted this institution to
secure peace and order in domestic
communities. The history of the world
is sustained bV APPLYING the best rea-