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Show THOUGHTS PROVOKED j BY PEACE CONGRESS i Recent Wars to Establish Sovereignty of the Strong Over the Weak and Justify the Right of Might. (Written for The liitorniountain Cat hoik-.) ' 7 lie assemblage in Roston mxutlv of interna- li-nal peacemakers .-houl- have the encour- agenent of slH civilized nations. Its initio,, was peace, which means arbitration as a substitute for ihv sword, hvrry Christian nation that adopts ihe principles of ,1.,. Good M!t,u.r Jls ,loir If- 'r liu1,1 "lf peace their watchword, an.l be ' compelled by tlie law of nations to settle quarrels I'.v ubnntting to the decision of a court of arbi- , tration, rather than appealing to ihe sword. Might i Js not 'always ripht. Adopting Christian prinoi- , ; rvs H ,,K- liais of international arbitration we , 'j' ? imd lhat peace, not war. is ,,ur Christian inhori- ' la ihv. "My j .choc I leave you; niv peaee 1 give I , unto you. Not as-tin- world giveth do 1 give unlo All peace congresses, under the influence of modern eivtlizat ion, aspire 10 the Christian ideal. J J'lil will ihey succeed f Yes. in proportion to their I ; ;!opt, ,,f ChnsTian principles and submission ! 10 lw f right and justice. In all international ' contests, espeeially modern European contests, th,. I moral law, which should decide what is right and I vh;if ls wrung, has been. completely ignored, and f instead of being guided I'.v the principles of Chiis- T i 1,;ni "vili.atioii all modern warfare has been van-' ? I .luotcd on barbarous principles, i. e.. ihe right of 1 Might, or brule force. Any nation that claims the f - ripht, regardless of moral principles or justice, to K',UI weaker nation of its natural and inher- 5 ')," .ri1fi."a"t claim either true civilization or 5 ( ''fi.-ti.-fii sanction. Civilization and barbarism are f ' opposed; but neither knowledge nor ignorance of I J1"' ar,s anJ f-oiences constitute ihe real difference IetM-ecn civilization and barbarism. I A nation that de.ends on its strength rather I its reason, and is swayed by brute force rath- I . , r ,na,, u.v moral power, is not progressing in J "'W of Christian civilization. European wars f 1,1 i"P;last -entury show, liot only a lack of moral rcstrflinf. but open and avowed rubbery. ve give a lew ntances to demonstrate the na t lhat. not for any national insult, or to reair ;iny national insuft. hundrels of thousands of hu-V hu-V In;1" ,,vrs llilVf' l"' sacrificed. Twice the British government entered the Afghan territorv to secure for itself a desirable frontier -in the far. east. The I '! "f K,1r,i minister to his Christian sol- I diers was to slaughter the innocent inhabitants vith all possible speed. The plea for the first in-I in-I vision M-as a tictitious entry in a parliamentary t'ine bo,,k. The second invasion occurred Iveeause J Shore Ali wonld not receive an armed military em-. ba.-sy. Hut all Englishmen did nor sanction this j war of pree.1 for spoils. Hence Lord (Jrev. in ar- ! jiament. alluding lo ihe injustice. saidrXXo one '"tempted to j.rove lhat the sovereign of Af- t ; ghanistan had not ihe right lo relWfn receive i ; ''"r ""'lied embassy" The next morning the Eon-' ; ' in an editorial, said, in defense of ihe government's unjust an.l brutal war, that "an un- eivilize.l stale lias never boon hold lo have a right I 1 "'h''1' u' '"fly lerni the full -omity of nations." Then Shore Ali miisl have been uncivilized accord- j ing i., il. h,-i,. f Times. ;! must vield lo .Engli-li civilization, which at all periods meant ihe bayonet. What a niockerv of real civiliza-iion! civiliza-iion! The war in Egypt was (he same. The people , VVn' 'nviug io be free men, but their struggles j were set at naught by English guns, nol in the in- icreM of Christian civilization, but in the interest of bondholders. A still mow.' recent example was ihe I;,,,.,- war. Its history is still fresh in ihe j- f imnds of all. The little republic strove to defend f : 5,s xisteji.-e, which was wiped out' by brute force, ! makinj: might t'he rule and law of right in inter nal lonal controversies. Xo one doubts that greed i ior earthly possessions was the primary cause of Jthe lo r war. We shall not confine ourselves to England, but lake Kiissia also. It .is certain that in i her war with Turkey ihe only plea was lhat some ' Kussian Christians were treated harshly by the Turks. These, harsh treatments, or; as they were icrnied, atro-ii ies inflicted on Bulgarian ' Chris-liaiis," Chris-liaiis," were brought about by Kussian agents, to' j i retext for war. What was the conse- lucncef Thousands of human beings were slaughtered slaugh-tered like wild beasts. Can our peace congresses find a just caue for :uiy of these late wars? Where were the injuries committed and not atoned for? Neither England nor Kiissia gave time to the weaker nations whom iluy attacked 1 make any recompense for supposed sup-posed wounded national pride, or to make an ;:i nde honorable by petitioning for pardon for : 1n' sii.osed offenses, which the law of nations re- ! iuirs. It al-o requires that no nation shall make Iwar mi a weaker nation for the sake of greed, or removing the boundary line of the weaker nation. IJ lie slake lines of Venezuela would have been moved, and that territory would have been greatly redueod. had not the United Slates insisted on the i .Monroe doctrine. J . 1 hit 'all this, by the way, is to show how futile 1 ) ? Utopian will be the labors of our )cace coii-; coii-; grosses when there is n0 morarl power to decide W'"H is right and what is wrong. The ideals of all 1 peace congresses are truly Christian, and if ear- l ried oui in practice would' lead to true eiviliza- j 1'nn- Ihit .what great power isoing to initiate 1m- grand sentiment by disarming? Russia was most prominent in the tirsf international peace congress. known as The Hague tribunal,-yet tribunal,-yet she was unwilling lo forego - the luxury lux-ury of slaughtering, in the present war, all the Japanese soldiers whom slit' could reach, and of destroying all the warships that her hidden mines ; ' rould blow up. Viewing the civilized world as it j i. 11uf ;ls w- would wish it to bp, the fact remains re-mains tliat nations loday take tho same delight i iQ flaugliiering their fellow beings as they, did in . 'if - j! the days of Clcnseric, king of the Vandals. Hence the large standing armies in every European country, coun-try, apparently for self-defense, but in reality as threats to the weaker nations. Neither England, Russia, Cermany, France nor the United .States will await the decision of a peace congress when they may decide to let loose "the dogs of war.'' If, however, an international court could be established, es-tablished, and all the great powers' give it their ." allied sanction, then the cruelties of war would be lessened, and Christian civilization would be built on the foundation laid by Christ, namely "peace to all men." F. D. 0 |