Dec. 5.
President Roosevelt's speech when opening the Pan-American Peace Conference at Buenos Aires is one of the most important contributions that have been made to the cause impossible to take too alarmist a view of the situation, for, unless humanity can acquire a' greater {wisdom than it apparently has at the moment, the time is not histon cally far off when it will be plunged into @ greater madness than the catastrophic insanity of 1914. And madness it certainly is, for the nations of the world, or at least a portion of them have not yet learned that in war there is no profit, but the risk of enormous, incalculable loss, President Roosevelt is correct in his assumption that, even it America were not involved in war, must nevertheless suffer, America's good can be harmed in a hundred ways by the existence of warfare, and it is the realisation fof that fact which has led him to show the way towards means to avert the impending catastrophe. He suggests that the nations of the two American continents shall devise a lasting peace amongst themselves, that, the rule of law shall be set up in place of the rule of the sword, that the processes of democratic, constitutional govern ment shall be strengthened, and that the preparations against war shall partake of the nature of a positive preparation for peace. 'They should, he contended, strive to prevent the creation of' conditions giving rise to war, at the same time making it clear to the whole world that other nations, driven by war madness or land' hunger, secking to make aggression against them will find the nations of the western hemisphere ready to cooperate for mutual safety. What he in effect is suggesting Is that North and South America should adhere of pence for a good many years past. The American family of nations has embarked upon a straight discussion of contemporary war psychosis, the President has given it a lead of such widespread application that deserves to be read by everyone who cares about the sanity of the human race and the peril in which it stands by reason of the warlike ambitions of certain nations of the world, To the old hatreds have been added new fanaticisms, the ancient restraints of international morality are fast being swept aside, and it is apparent that there are in the world movements led by men who see in war the only means attaining their own aspirations. It is not necessary that they should be more particularly identified, nor the reasons for their attitude towards peace investigated, but it is clear that, no matter to what school of political thought they adhere, they still believe in the doctrine of to the winner the spoils. Tu an unrepentant belief of the old closely to the doctrine of interna tionalism as distinguished from the arrogant, narrow nationalism which animates the policies of too many the European statesmen, and he expresses the hope that the example set by the Americas will spread throughout the world for its ultimate benefit. It is good to hear the old faith reasserted. It is on internationalism that the peace of the world is to be based, ina realisation of common difficulties, the willingness to come to a common solution of problems that the greatest safeguard against war is to be found.
It has to be remembered, however, that, though much of the present unrest is the result of overweening national ambitions and the consequent national hostilities, the seriousness of the problem which confronts Europe arises out of the fact that simultaneously with this national struggle, there is rapidly intensifying a combat of creeds, in Which the remaining saying that might makes right they democracies of the world may be are proceeding to pile up strength' lined up against the two types of upon strength, endeavouring to tell the world that their preparations are all for peace, and yet knowing full well that they can be conducive only of hostilities of such appalling magnitude that the civilization of world stands in the most imminent peril.' It is impossible to paint the picture too darkly, almost totalitarian state which have in fact }locked horns in the Spanish arena. It might be possible to do that "justice between nations which President Roosevelt rightly claims to bbe the real basis of peace. Obviously' some sort of compromise should be possible to reconcile conflicting interests, but where creeds clash.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.