Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1918-10-11

pairing of our defenses. Uncle Sam
must. in the last analysis. rely on him
self for his safety and not on scraps
of paper signed by others.
We all would welcome the time
when there would be no more war;
Till the war-drum throbb'd no
longer, and the battle-flags were
furled
In the Parliament of man, the FEEDER
alton of the world
There the common sense of most
shall hold a fretful realm in awe,
And the kindly earth shall slumber,
lapt in universal law"
But We must insure good founda-
tons before we begin to build an edi
flee. If peace and safety are the ends
in view, the first thing is not to es-
tablish any sort of nominal league of
nations. That question, though of
dairy stage, is a question of super
structure.
There could he no stability unless
the foundations of the old world were
well and truly and broadly relaid. I'm
less we look first to the whole moral
and practical basis underlying any
scheme for working federation of
mankind-that and nothing less, is
what is meant--there will be more
wars and worse.
The root of the idea strikes deep
down in history. The papacy, when
headed by such powerful men as
Hildebrand and Innocent III, would
fain have made the Truce of God"
permanent in order that united
allied against the Mohammedans.
But the conflict of internal interests,
plans, passions within Christendom,
was too strong. The medieval centuries
passed in tunlult until western relig-
ion split asunder.
After more than half a century of
hdeous strife and chaos following the
reformation came what was known as
the grand design" devised by Henry
" and Sully, of a tsliberate Euro
pean resettlement and understanding
to prevent the troubles they foresaw.
But the antagonisms tf Catholics and
Protestants, complicated on both sides
by material ambitions, brought on
the frightful cataclysm of the thirty
years war
Even then there was but a short
breathing-space. Louis XIV. bid for
universal ascendancy, and caused
forty more years of war. Then came
another plan for universal peace and
the writings of st. Pierre on that sub
But that effort was not strong
enough to prevent the wars of Fred
rick the Great, and more than any
thing else the writings of Rousseau,
aimed to bring about universal peace,
produced the French revolution and
its consequence of twenty years Of
Napoleonic wars.
Following Waterloo the Holy ALI
ance was genuinely meant to be al
league of nations for the enforcement
OF peace, domestic and international,
under monarchial and orthodox aus
pices But it turned out q most un-
holy combination, and there was more
od-letting.
Since the Amphyctonic council of
the Greek states, these are in brief
the efforts made to bring about a
league of nations for the prevention
of war All have failed. But times
have changed. Nothing is now as it
ever has been before. Analogies no
longer hold good if they ever did.
Much as we may expect from viz
tue and wisdom freshly fortified by
its present experiences, we must reck-
on firmly with the part that weak
ness and fear, folly and fantasy, in
trigung covetousnous and ambition,
incalculated accident and some ele-
ment of sheer wickedness, will con-
tinue to play in human nature.
Therefore, as Colonel Roosevelt
points out, we cannot rely on senti-
ment and paper compacts. The United
States must continue herself in a po-
sition to defend her rights by her own
might The theory of league OF
nations to follow the crushing of the
military power of the central empires
is fine but we must be sure that we
shall not allow ourselves to be found
naked before our enemies, as we were
at the beginning of the world war IN
1914.
Hindenburg is alive all right, put
not greatly enjoying the privilege