The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-07-16

the tribunal of peace, so far as it re- lates to these grave and important mat ters. The discordant thought of the people at home relates to question Of the future, and not to the issues of the present. The foremost question in the mind of America today is the future preservation of the peace of the world. and well may this be so We were a peaceful, industrious nation, living without the desire to despoil our neigh bors. content within ourselves. seeking only after high ideals of justice and right in all the affairs of national life patient to an extreme degree with those who affronted us, endeavoring always to keep the peace. and yet. without fault on our part without the desire for war, ruthless foe fired on our flag, sank our ships, and, without our having any opportunity to avoid it. drove us into the bloodiest war that the world has ever known. We were compelled to sacrifice many thousands of lives of our brave and gallant sons In carrying on the war. we have spent millions of dollars that will be bur den on our lives and our resources for more than a generation to come we profit nothing as the result of the war, except that profit which comes to all men who stand courageously for the right and strike down the wrong-the profit that comes from the honor and respect of the people of the world well may we say: Has the world gained anything by the destruction of the bar barous Hun, if the conditions that he created in this war may come again ?' And, therefore, thc question that IS foremost in the t9ughts of our people is whether or not it is possible for man to establish a rule of law and justice as a substitute for the rule of power and force.
 LEAGUE OF NATIONS
 From these sentiments has come the desire for a league of nations, com ing together of peoples of the earth to establish a high court of justice Tor the final arbitrament of the disputes or men that have heretofore carried their peoples to the battlefields of the earth I hear no one dispute the fact that it is far better to settle national disputes by arbitration rather than the sword, and it appears to me that the sole con tention in reference to the approval of those clauses in the pending treaty of peace that establish constitution for a league of nations is whether e proposed plan is strong enough in it. self to accomplish the desired end, or whether the strength of the plan may lead to the destruction of national in dependence and interfere with the great principle of self ,f-determination in the inner life of the nations of the world.
 There have been many causes of war in the past but the dominating causes of war among the great nations Of the world have been the desire for the pos session of land and colonies, commer- oial concessions and expanded mar kets the enlargement of national do- main that appeals to the sense of greatness and power, and the desire of each particular nation to dominate and rule the internal affairs of other nations These great causes of war may, be paraphrased in two words, 'National selfishness." Untn the civil iza tion of the world is prepared to de- throne it's own selfish ideals and to recognize the rights of other peoples, the inherent causes of war must con- tinue to exist.
 COURT OF ARBITRATION
 I am not prepared to say that the adoption of the present treaty car ries within itself the elimination of these causes of war, or that in the end there will be no more wars, but do say that within the folds of this treaty we find an agreement between the great nations of the world that will probably in the ruture carry the questions of national dispute to a court of final arbitration, and in many, if not in most instances, avoid the hor- TOTS and injustices of war. For my purposes, in this argument, it is not necessary to refer to the clauses af fecting the organization of the league of nations. The league is a form of