The Tupelo journal., 1917-08-24
THE WAR CAME
AMERICA.
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Conference. A project vas submit
ted there for the formation of q
world court. And a few years later
Mr.. Root, our Secretary of State, in
instructing our delegates to the Sec
ond Conference at The Hague, laid
especial emphasis on this same inter
national ideal.
We have taken a particular pride
in being in the vanguard of this
movement for the ~peaceable settle
ment by process of law of all disputes
between nations. And these efforts
have not been without success. For
although the last few decades have
seen this principal time and again put
under a terrific strain, no nation has
dared to go to wal against the award
of a court Of arbitration. The stu
pendous possibilities that lie in arbi-
tration for solving international prob
lens, promoting liberal principles,
and safeguarding human life had
been amply demonstrated before the
present wan began.
But in the discussions at The
Hague, largely through the resistance
of the German Empire and its satel-
lites, the efforts of our delegates and
those of other governments to bring
about a general treaty of compulsory
arbitration had failed. And there
fore this nation, having been thwart-
ed in its attempt to secure a general
agreement, began negotiations with
all those nations which like our own
preferred the methods of law and
peace, with the purpose of effecting
dual arbitration treaties. And be-
fore the end of 1914 we had signed
~far-reaching treaties with 80 nations,
20 of which had been duly ratified
and proclaimed. But in this work,
too, we were made to feel the same
opposition as at The Hague. For
while Great Britain, France, Russia,
Jnd Italy cordially welcomed our
overtures, the German and Austro-
Hungarian Empires were notlceably
absent from the list of those nations
who desired by specific agreements
in advance to minimize the danger
of war.
On the eve Of the present conflict,
our position towards other nations
might have been summarized under
three heads:
/. The Monroe Doctrine-We had
pledged ourselves to defend the New
World from European aggression and
we had by word and deed made it
clear that we would not intervene in
any European dispute.
2. The Freedom of the Seas-In
every naval conference our influence
had been given in support of the prin-
ciples that sealaw to be just and
worthy of general respect must be
based on the consent of the governed.
8. Arbitration-As we had Sc
cured peace at home by referring
interstate disputes to a federal tribu-
nal, we urged a similar settlement of
international controversies. Our
ideal was a permanent world court.
We had already signed arbitration
treaties not only with great pow
ers which might conceivably attack
us, but ever more freely with weaker
neighbors in order to show our good
faith in recognizing the equality of
all nations both great and small. We
had made plain to the nations u
purpose to forestall by every means
in our power the recurrence of wars
an the world.
The outbreak of war in 1914
caught this Nation by surprise. The
peoples of Europe had had at least
some warnings of the coming storm,
but to us such a blind, savage on.
slaught on the ideals of civilization
had appeared impossible.
The war was incomprehens,bie.
Either side was championed here by
millions living among us who were of
European birth. Their contradic-
tory accusations threw our thoughts
into disarray, and in the first chaotic
days we could see no clear issue that
affected our national policy. There
was no direct assault on our rights.
It seemed at first to most of US a
purely European dispute, and our
minds were not prepared to take sides
in such a conflict. The Presidents