World Affairs Institute

The Fifth British National Peace CongressSource: The Advocate of Peace (1894-1920), Vol. 71, No. 8 (AUGUST and SEPTEMBER, 1909), pp.189-191Published by: World Affairs InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20665785 .

Accessed: 15/05/2014 22:09

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

World Affairs Institute and Heldref Publications are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to The Advocate of Peace (1894-1920).

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 193.104.110.58 on Thu, 15 May 2014 22:09:13 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1909. THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE. 189

complete justice to the individual first saw full dawn in the United States, so the eyes of the world are turned toward us to see the dawn of world peace, and full justice to all the nations. It is ours to lead. The example of the

United States will do more than a century of argument and conference. America should begin the disarmament that will eventually mean the triumph of world peace. We have naught to fear. We are far distant from the

storm-centres of the world. We have no foes within that demand a large standing army, and there are no enemies without that are anxious to try conclusions with us on land or sea. Then away with war talk and war scares and "

jingoism." In time of peace let us prepare for peace, that all the world may enjoy peace. Ameri can disarmament will be a tremendous stride toward the

accomplishment of the world's desire ? the cessation of international warfare ; a great world's court, to settle all international differences ; an international police force to

give effect to the decrees of this court ; and the end of the burdens of armies and navies under which the whole world is groaning. Let heart and voice and pen, pulpit and press and platform, soldier and statesman and private citizen ask for peace, and not for war.

This is a part of the world's larger hope. Pessimists there are who say that human nature is belligerent, and that war will never be abolished. But international war fare has already seen the handwriting on the wall. Mars has been weighed in the balances and found wanting. The fruitless slaughter of the millions is not to be for ever nor for long. Let us hasten the day when the roll ing war drum will be hushed forever, the bugle-note no

longer call to carnage; when "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any

more." Love shall take the place of Hate, and Justice sit on the throne instead of Greed. Some day in the not distant future the nations that have all these centu ries bowed before the god of war shall own eternal

allegiance to the Prince of Peace. And " of the increase of His government and of Peace there shall be no end."

7. Remember that the race in armaments involves not only crushing financial burdens and consequent grave neglect of social legislation, but a perpetual restlessness and suspicion which paralyze economic enterprise, en

gender bitter feelings and precipitate war. 8. Remember how many wars have proved unjusti

fiable, how frequently might has triumphed over right. 9. Remember that sensational foreign news is gen

erally based on irresponsible rumor. 10. Remember that militarism feeds the spirit of

violence and creates powerful anti-social interests. 11. Remember the horrors of a campaign and the

harvest of hatred and misery it leaves behind, and ask

yourself whether it is not criminal to let passion, igno rance and self-interest decide the issue of peace or war.

12. Remember your responsibility, and labor at all times for a good understanding between nations, espe cially if you are a politician, journalist or preacher.

Hars fi?st Die! by lyman r. bayard.

Up the Olympian height proclaims a great and bitter cry To startled gods, that Mars is not immortal, and must die !

For so the mighty Fates have willed; though still the thread they ply,

The shears are ready-lifted now, and surely Mars must die !

No more shall myriad hate filled men his murder ranks supply, Nor give their flesh to feed his life, for guilty Mars must die !

Prepare a monstrous funeral-pyre?great cities, flaming high? Libations pour of bitter tears and blood, for Mars must diel

Behold the mourning cavalcade of warriors passing by ! Robbers and kings and captains grieve that mighty Mars must

die! Hark to his fitting funeral song resounding fierce and high

?

Wild battle cries and oaths and shrieks and moans ? for Mars must die !

But all earth's brothermen unite in one harmonious cry Of joy supreme, that war at last shall end, for Mars must die!

Elgin, III. ? From the Independent, June 24.

A Plea for Calm Reflection in Inter national Affairs.

Issued by the International Union of Ethical Societies,

1. Remember that reason and justice alone decide the merits of a case, be it in personal, social, or political

matters.

2. Remember that when passion rules, each disputant is easily convinced of the other's guilt and rea*dily be lieves all manner of evil about him.

3. Remember that all nations are naturally impressed with their own peculiar genius, and that we respect a

people when we have entered into its life and thought. 4. Remember that no nation should be judge in its

own cause ; for self-interest, anger and fear distort and pervert truth.

5. Remember that, since ours is now an industrial civilization and friendly international relations are of vital importance, the time is fully ripe for arbitration to super sede war.

6. Remember to press upon the government the urgency of concluding pacific treaties, and of regarding the Hague Tribunal as the court to which all serious international disputes are to be submitted.

The Fifth British National Peace Congress.

Condensed from the Herald of Peace,

The fifth National Congress of the British peace workers was held at Cardiff June 29 and 30. Sir William Collins, M. P., presided.

On the preceding Saturday and Sunday various meet

ings were held in the churches and elsewhere. Among the speakers at these preliminary meetings were Dr. W. Evans Darby, secretary of the Peace Society, Mr. J. F. Green, secretary of the International Arbitration and Peace Association, Rev. F. W. Aubrey, Mr. R. Edward James, Professor MacKenzie and Rev. W. Cadwalader

Parry. On Monday evening, June 28, the delegates were

given a reception by the local committee in the Assem

bly Room of the City Hall. The welcome to Cardiff was extended by the Lord Bishop of Llandaff, who said that since peace and war were often decided by public opinion, it was therefore important that every effort should be made to cultivate a sound, healthy opinion. Nations should learn to understand each other. Mis

understanding was almost invariably the cause of war.

This content downloaded from 193.104.110.58 on Thu, 15 May 2014 22:09:13 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

190 THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE. August and September,

Sir William Collins, M. P., T. P. Newman, chairman of the National Peace Council, Prof. Stanley Jevons and H. S. Perris also took part in the exercises of the evening.

When the Congress opened at Cory Hall on Tuesday morning, a large number of delegates were present from all parts of the country. H. S. Perris, secretary of the National Peace Council, read messages of sympathy from

Right Hon. Robert Spence Watson, Lord Courtney, the

Bishop of Hereford, Right Hon. David Lloyd-George, and others.

Sir William Collins, M. P., in his opening address, as

reported in the Herald of Peace, said that he was not a

peace-at-any-price man, but the school of thought that bid them look to the piling up of armaments and the in tensification of their deadly range and precision as the best and surest foundation for the amity of the nations and the peace of the world was getting a little antiquated and discredited. The very possession of these bloated armaments, especially when statesmen indulged in the

language of swagger, was apt to precipitate a conflict where no casus belli existed. Some of them had taken

part in ententes cordiales and mutual hospitalities between the democracies of Europe and our own people. As a result of those visits and interchanges alike of opinion and courtesies, they had a growing conviction of the good fellowship, mutual respect, community of interest in social development which possessed the best minds of the middle and working classes of the states of Europe. They believed that by these rapprochements better under

standings were being developed and a truer vision of in ternational relations was obtained than through the dis

torting media of a costly and cynical diplomacy. Were

they not entitled to ask in return that the powers of statesmen and the mighty power of the press should be directed wholly and solely to removing, and not creating, the causes of international misunderstanding ; to allaying, and not fomenting, occasions of international ill-will ; to

avoiding, and not seeking, opportunities for arrogant na tional claims ; and that the potent instruments for weal or woe of speech and pen should be always directed to

creating and keeping unity of spirit in the bond of peace ? The president then quoted from several speeches made

at the recent Imperial Press Conference, and said the imminence of the Armageddon, rather than the inaugura tion of the millennium, appeared to possess the minds of the orators of both political parties who welcomed and lectured the distinguished Pressmen of Greater Britain. There was talk of spending our last shilling on Dread

naughts, of universal military service, and Mr. Haldane fell on the neck of Mr. Balfour and Sir Edward Grey agreed with every word of Lord Rosebery's when it was a question of augmenting and improving our munitions of war. A salutary check to this general tendency was, however, given by the Colonial editors themselves when an endeavor was made to hustle the conference into a resolution in favor of conscription. They saw no neces

sary relation between a sane imperialism and compulsory military service, and the resolution propounded in the

presence of Lord Roberts was discreetly dropped. While statesmen, the press, the stage and other influences had of late been engaged to an unwonted extent in fanning the martial spirit, municipalities, universities, deputations of working men and of Christian churches had by the

reciprocation of international courtesies and expeditions

done what lay in their power to bring about a better

understanding, born of personal contact between the

peoples of Europe. No shadow of international ill-will, or at any rate of a cause for such, existed at present be tween England and the great German Empire. Among the influences which would in future make or mar the

peace of the world was the training, physical, mental and

moral, given in schools and colleges, and they must, of course, look to a relief of international tension and the cultivation of good and trustful relations abroad no less than to a return to sanity and self-respect at home.

They would call down blessings upon the head of the monarch or minister who would proceed to take the first

step towards practising what was now so abundantly preached. Apart from those commercially interested in the manufacture of the means of warfare, a large and

dangerous class, the democracies were ready to be led in this crusade of peace. If the soft words of affection

which were interchanged by the heads of states at their

frequent meetings were not an imperial imposture, if the

messages of pacific intention from minister to minister were not conceived in the spirit of Nicolo Machiavelli, and if international entertainment, now happily so com mon and so lavish, were not to be comparable to the feats of Caesar Borgia, ought they not to be welcoming the advent of that League of Peace which the late Premier heralded in his great speech at Albert Hall?

Addresses of welcome to the delegates were then made on behalf of the Council of the Free Churches of Cardiff and the Cardiff Trades and Labor Council, the latter

representing nearly one thousand organized workers. After the annual report and accounts of the National

Peace Council had been presented by T. P. Newman, and approved, Dr. Darby offered a resolution, which was

unanimously voted, expressing gratification at the Casa blanca arbitration between France and Germany, at the

frequency with which the principle of arbitration has been applied to the settlement of international disputes, and appealing to the British government to give prefer ence to the form of treaty adopted between Denmark and Holland, stipulating the reference to the Hague Court of all differences whatever that might arise.

The afternoon session was devoted to a discussion of the best methods of carrying on local propaganda. It was opened by H. S. Perris and participated in by Arthur G. Enoch, Mrs. Louise B. 8wann, Felix Moscheles, J. F. Green, Mrs. Dryhurst and many others. Among the methods advocated was that of a peace group in each

parliamentary constituency, to look after the candidates. Mrs. Dryhurst suggested an anti-enlistment crusade. Mr. Moscheles proposed the cooperation of all existing peace organizations in an effort to secure the repudiation of the immoral principles to-day tolerated or sanctioned in both national and international relations.

At the close of the afternoon session a number of ladies and gentlemen met in Cory Hall and organized a Peace and Arbitration Society for South Wales and Monmouthshire.

In the evening a great public meeting was held in Park Hall. Every part of the large hall was filled by a "well-dressed and serious-minded audience." The an

nouncement that a local peace society had been organized in the afternoon was received with loud applause. The

speakers of the evening were Sir William Collins, M. P.,

This content downloaded from 193.104.110.58 on Thu, 15 May 2014 22:09:13 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

1909. THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE. 191

A. Gordon Harvey, M. P., George Barnes, M. P., A. J.

King, M. P. A resolution was introduced by A. Pon

sonby, M. P., late secretary to Sir Henry Campbell-Ban nerman, and carried by acclamation, expressing approval of the efforts being made to improve international rela tions, to extend the application of the principle of arbitra tion to the settlement of all classes of disputes, to reduce

expenditure on armaments, to discourage the spirit of militarism and to unite the democracies of the world in the cause of peace.

On Wednesday morning, June 30, the Congress dis cussed, first, the relations between Great Britain and

Germany. The speakers were A. G. Harvey, M. P., A. J. King, M. P., Miss Alison Garland, G. H. Perris, Walter G. Hales and Prof. Stanley Jevons. The resolution in troduced by Mr. Harvey, and unanimously adopted, ex

pressed " deep regret that the improvement of relations

between Great Britain and Germany during the past year, which had been promoted and strengthened by in ternational visits, should have been checked by a. succes sion of panics, calculated to raise the demand for increased

expenditure on armaments.

Another resolution moved by Mr. Ponsonby, M. P., and supported by J. F. Green and Professor MacKenzie, was adopted,

" recognizing the evils that flowed from the

subordination of civic ideals to the doctrines of militarism, and urging constant vigilance against the encroachments of such doctrines upon the liberty of the people and the

enlightened education of the young." The afternoon session, the last of the Congress, was

given to the consideration of the relations of the churches to the peace movement. The discussion centred around a resolution moved by Rev. Canon Buckley of Llandaff, urging the various religious bodies to support the peace movement in an effective way, to teach its principles wifh all the weight of their influence, to ally themselves with the National Peace Council, and to establish, where practicable, peace organizations within their own com munions. This resolution, which was finally adopted, gave rise to a spirited discussion, which was participated in by T. P. Newman, Arthur Guy Enoch, G. H. Bibbings, Rev.

Spriggs-Smith, John E. Southall, R. K. Williams, Canon

Buckley and others. Much enthusiasm was also aroused on the discussion

of a resolution offered by Professor Jevons expressing thanks to the Parliamentary Labor Party and other friends of peace in Parliament, to the leaders of Trade Unions and other workmen's organizations, for their

steady support of a policy of international peace and goodwill. Professor Jevons in a strong speech showed that the present enormous preparations for war consti tuted a serious obstacle to the welfare of workingmen as a class. Mrs. Bruce-Glasier of Manchester supported the resolution in a speech which aroused great enthusiasm. A number of other speakers took part in the discussion*, some of them declaring that the labor movement had always been faithful to peace, and that it was the only party that

always stood firm against militarism. It was voted to send cordial greetings to the eighteenth

International Peace Congress at Stockholm and that the next British National Peace Congress be held at Leicester.

" We do not need the army and the navy to insure us peace."?Justice David ?7. Brewer.

New Books. American Supremacy. The Rise and Progress of

the Latin American Republics and their Relations to the United States under the Monroe Doctrine. By George W. Crichfield. In two volumes. 600 pages each. New York: Brentano's, 1908.

Mr. Crichfield believes that it would be well for the world, and particularly for this country, if the United States should take control of certain lawless states in Latin America. And he does not mean Venezula alone, but even hints that some supervision might be well for them all, Brazil and Mexico included, the latter more

especially in event of the death of President Diaz, which he fears may be followed by anarchy. He speaks not

only from an extended study of these countries, but from experience as a business man in them. He en deavors to prove his case by a collection of facts, embrac

ing long lists of revolutions, sketches of revolutionary leaders, descriptions of outrages, instances of legal op pression, and the decisions of commissions of arbitration, of which he cites many and at some length. His evidence shows that serious inequalities and hardships have been suffered by foreign residents at the hands of Latin Amer icans. These people, he says, profess great respect for international law, and seek its protection when in trouble, but fail to live up to its spirit themselves. The local laws, in some places more than others, are to the disad

vantage of the foreigner, and the local courts, to which the laws oblige him to resort for justice, deny him his

rights. His home government is prevented from inter

fering in his behalf because of the Monroe Doctrine which is supported by the United States. Mr. Crich field would discard the Monroe Doctrine because by preventing foreign intervention it promotes these local

wrongs. He condemns the Calvo and Drago doctrines because they tend to sanction the already exaggerated importance of national sovereignty, in the name of which so much harm is being done. He would like to see American imperialism, with a high sense of responsi bility for local order and development, take the place of these ; its extension to Latin America being in

evitably demanded by the situation. Imperialism would protect the Americans and other foreigners who want to settle and to trade there, and who, for their success,

must have conditions of peace together with equal rights with the natives under the law. And, until the United States can take charge of the less civilized Latin American nations, he suggests provision for exterritorial consular courts, the use of consulates for our people to flee to when in danger, and the presence in them of a United States military force for their defense, irritating and obsolete methods which we associate with systems that have passed or are passing from this stage of international

history, and which it is hoped will go out forever. Mr. Crichfield's book, biased as are the views and

ambitious as are the policies which fill its pages, ought, by its exposures, to rouse the United States and other nations to a full sense of their international responsibil ties in Latin America; but this does not mean more

imperialism, or what are sure to go with it, more wars and more militarism. Conditions in Latin-America are to be improved not by battleships and armies, but by

This content downloaded from 193.104.110.58 on Thu, 15 May 2014 22:09:13 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions