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CHAPTER XXVII.

THE PEACE SOCIETIES.

There are three very strong societies working for peace, arbitration and the observance of our treaty compacts: the American Peace Society, Washington, D. C., the Carnegie Peace Endowment, New York City, and the World Peace Foundation, Boston, Mass. The peace organizations were critisized by Congressmen on the opposite side for their course in the tolls controversy, and their actions taken for world peace and disarmament. These associations are composed of men of mental and financial strength and are a power in any cause by them espoused.

The finances are in a powerful way aided by the Carnegie endowment of $10,000,000 for the advancement of peace. This produces the annual revenue of $500,000. The American Peace Society gets the yearly sum of $31,000 to distribute among the auxiliary societies. But the World Peace Foundation depends on its own resources. The trustees of the Carnegie Endowment, given in the Senate Interoceanic Committee's report, 1914, are:

Trustees: President, Elihu Root; vice president, Joseph H. Choate; secretary, James Brown Scott; treasurer, Charlemange Tower. Robert S. Brookings, Thomas Burke, Nicholas Murray Butler, John L. Cadwalader, since deceased; Cleveland H. Dodge, Charles W. Eliot, Arthur William Foster, John W. Foster, Austen G. Fox, Robert A. Franks, William M. Howard, Samuel Mather, Andrew J. Montague, Henry S. Pritchett, George W. Perkins, Jacob G. Schmidlapp, James L. Slayden, Oscar S. Straus, Charles L. Taylor, Andrew

D. White, John Sharp Williams, Robert S. Woodward, Luke E. Wright.

The following are the trustees and directors of the World Peace Foundation as given in the Report of the Trustees issued in 1914:

Trustees: George A. Plimpton, president; A. Lawrence Lowell, William H. P. Faunce, Joseph Swain, Samuel T. Dutton, Sarah Louise Arnold, Edward Cummings, Samuel W. McCall, Samuel J. Elder, George W. Anderson, George H. Blakeslee, Albert E. Pillsbury.

Directors: Edwin D. Mead, chief director; David Starr Jordan, James A. Macdonald, Hamilton Holt, Charles R. Brown, William I. Hull, George W. Nasmyth, Charles H. Levermore, secretary; Albert G. Bryant, Denys P. Myers.

Treasurer: Arthur W. Allen, 40 Mt. Vernon Street, Boston.

From the aforesaid Senate Committee's Report we are able to give the following officers of the American Peace Society: Senator Theodore Burton of Ohio, president; Dr. Benjamin F. Trueblood, secretary; Mr. Arthur D. Call, executive director and joint secretary.

Since peace and harmony among nations depend largely on the observance of treaties the peace societies very obviously were brought into the controversy over the Panama tolls. Their position was: that the English treaty should be observed by us without any favor or distinction if its import was clear that there should be no discrimination; and that if the treaty was at all doubtful the question should be arbitrated. They believed that the violation of a treaty would cause serious complications and lead to disturbance in international harmony.

Peaceful men could not think of national action, which might induce or encourage hostility or war. War is barbarism and should be relegated to the dark past;

and disputes between nations should be settled, not by wager of battle, but like private controversies by civil proceeding or by arbitration. Some very prominent members of the peace societies favored the repeal bill. Without the aid of these able men it is doubtful if the bill would have been enacted. More than 700,000 copies of Senator Root's speech delivered in the Senate in 1913 were circulated.

Such work could not be consummated without the expenditure of money. This was liberally donated and was the cause of violent censure by those opposing. If the cause were just, the money was morally spent in this crusade of education for the world's uplift. Having faith in their propaganda, why should these associates not go forward with force and energy? It would be difficult for an advocate of peace to be over-zealous in the work. So far as is known, these associations are doing a noble work and should not be subjected to condemnation. What more noble and altruistic than the promulgation of the doctrine of peace and harmony?

These societies are largely voluntary associations. The great financial institution is the Carnegie Endowment. The work of these heroes is not so much political as educational. They operate through the schools, colleges and churches. They teach the young idea how not to shoot at their brothers of the human family.

Peace is a matter of education, of culture, of morality, of religion, of civilization, and is the foundation of Christianity. Then why should not money be expended copiously and the best of man's ability be given in aid of this most righteous cause?

War is diabolical and in no way justifiable except in case of attack and in self defense. So long as the evil of war infests the world nations must protect themselves against violence and destruction. There is yet

no means of protection against a ravaging nation only by being armed for the emergency. Every one has the right to protect himself against an armed highwayman or bandit. But it will be impossible to obtain disarmament among nations by the action of one nation alone; there must be a concert of action brought about by education and agreement.

Civilization has placed the ban on bull-fights, prizefights and the duel. These are minims of evil compared with the flood of crime perpetrated on the field of carnage. How inconsistent to prevent, by law, cruelty to animals and to children and punish simple assault without battery, and at the same time go to war, with the most deadly appliances, and destroy life by hundreds and thousands, and whole cities including schools, hospitals and churches.

It is far easier to be drawn into war than to get free from its entanglements. Peace is the normal state, war is abnormal. Peace is conservation, war is destruction. The end and result of war is to attain peace. That is, nations carry on war and excruciating carnage to complete exhaustion, to gain peace. Why not secure this end by some rational process and forever abolish war? There is every reason that nations should be restrained by some educational process or peace propaganda from committing the grossest wrongs by wholesale.

Nations properly use heroic measures to drive out plague and pestilence for the saving of human life, yet will go to war for the express purpose of a far greater destruction of life. One very effective rule would soon end war: Place all who propagate, or urge on unjustifiable war, in the front ranks and in the firing line; but it often results that those who fight the battles are unoffending people who have no part in bringing on the

strife. The world's crisis is upon us and it is now high time to vigorously preach and enforce the doctrine of peace!

After the preceding paragraph was in print we observed in the public press the following most apt and corroborative stanza:

"But all the world should be at peace

And if kings must show their spite,
Let those who make the battles be

The only ones to fight."

It has been customary from the birth of history for nations to loudly proclaim that God is with them in war and supports their side in the struggle. They may delude themselves, for it is beyond the power of man to clearly perceive and interpret the designs of Providence. There is a wide expanse, often, between a fostered belief, and positive, assured knowledge. We may proclaim our belief, but how can we know that it is verified fact and reality? It is impossible for the Supreme Power to favor both sides in battle. In most cases, perhaps, it is on the side of neither.

The champions of peace in their efforts to limit world armament and to abolish war, and in their work for the observance of our treaty obligations have been guided by conservatism, logic, intelligence and wisdom.

"Oh, peace! thou source and soul of social life;
Beneath whose calm, inspiring influence
Science his view enlarges, Art refines

And swelling Commerce opens all her ports;
Blest be the man divine who gives us thee."

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