Widnes Examiner. — 1906-05-05 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

THE GROWTH OF ARBITRATION.  Miss THOMPSON then delivered an interesting address. She said all honoured the bravery, &urage, self-denial and heroism of our ioldiers, but when it was asserted that because s .r brought out those great qualities we should, to a cerZain oxtent, suppori. it, they were ready to say "What about our doctors, our clergy, our nurses, our policemen, and firemen, who showed, in private life, heroism of the most exalted kind in what was called cold blood." (Idear, hear.) Since the Boer war a nave had been sprea ling over the land in favour et arbitration for the settlement of interrational disputes. During the last three years forty-three arbitration treaties had been arranged between nations, and since arbitration came into vogue in 1798 there had been no fewer than 540 cases of stkccessful arbitration. At present, though there were certainly storm clouds on the horizon in some directions. we I were at peace, and yet this time of all others was ' chosen by Lord Roberts to bring forward his szheme for a million men in the services and the training of the boys in our schools in military exercLes. Miss Thompson contrasted the objects of Boys' Brigades with those of the 170 Life Brigades which bad been formed. While the ideal of the first was to Vo ready if necessary to take life that of the Life Brigade was on every possible occasion to save life. Soldiering was only one of ninny professions, and why give special time to that in schools any more than to teach elementary law, or medicine, or any other , technical knowledge? She thought the higher ideal was to telch to save life, and not to he ready to take life, and military training given to children would tend to implant the seed of jealousy, and possibly envy and hatred of other nations, instead of a cosmopolitan generosity to the world at large in accordance with the idea of universal brotherhood. (Applause.) Whit she wanted to see implanted in the children were thoughts' of the goad that there was in all the nations and the feeling that by combination and federation the various' qualities bestowed upon the nations could be so used I that everything we wanted to see in the world could be I brought about. If we were to go back to the ape and tiger stage and encourage fighting instincts we would bmoving back the fingers on the dial plate of time. It seemed to her that anyone who believed in a real religion must admit that it must go through the whole of their lives. She was utterly unable to understand' how anyone could declare that it was right on one occasion to speak the truth and be honourable and on another it was to3bo diametrically opposite. If the\ killing of ono man was murder, the killing of a thousand men was a thousand murders, and moreover they were killing innocent men. She felt that present day ideals were moving up to a higher plane hut on the 1 one question of militarism we were ignoring the very points we were endeavouring to carry out in other directions. If we followed the teaching of Christ it was utterly impossible to condone war. If only the Churches of England came over to the peace side there would be an end of war. (Applause.) Mr.