Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 40, Number 58, 18 January 1915 — Page 9

Nations Munsft Be: Made to Rg&t

Own

on Their 11 emroinies

"A: new International Law will come into force which will give neutral nations the right to kick the fighters out of the way if they interfere with them, and to say whether a band of ruffian nations shall disturb the peace of the world or keep their quarrels within their own territory." By Professor George W. Kirchwey, of Colombia University, in Address at Cooper Union, -r

1AM not going to Inquire Into tbe causes of tbe war nor try to fix the responsibility. Tbls Is not because I have no definite opinions upon tbe subject, or take too seriously tbe President's warning about being neutral. I do not see bow anybody wbo uses bis Intelligence can be neutral as to the causes of this war. I do not see how anybody with moral perceptions can be neutral as to th9 wrongs committed. I do not believe a worse misfortune could befall tbe men and women of the United States than to shut their eyes and take an attltuda of clam-like Indifference and allow this great calamity to go on without giving expression to their feelings and wrath. We are bound, as a moral people, to have opinions and we are bound, even obliged, to express them. We are deluged with newspaper and oratorical arguments in regard to the documents given out by the great powers the orange papers, the red papers, the white papers, and all the rest of them. We are expected to get our ideas clarified and see into the heart of the matter by examining these always onesided and partial explanations. We all know, particularly those of us who have come from any of the powers engaged In this war, that back of these papers there lies the great force which has .paralyzed the statesmanship of Europe for a whole generation the system of militarism which has resulted in converting the industrious citizens of these states into warriors and tbe peaceful fields Into arenas of battle. The military "caste Is essentially a part of the military regime of Kaiserlsms and Czardoms, which represent political ideals of national glory, national predominance and hug9 servilo empires. Along with these things go secret alliances,' balances of power, and so forth. The world has become an Industrial world and therefore of necessity a peaceful world. We have come to discover and realize that war is not only a horror, but is also an extraordinary dislocation, of ordinary life. Men and women must toll that they may live and bring up their children in the ways of peace and honor, but they are not permitted to do this. These Insatiate and Irresponsible diplomats and others at their will, throw the world into chaos. The political organization of the world has not kept pace with Its social and. and industrial organization. The Industrial world calls for a democratic, socialized organization, and we have Instead a military diplomatic organization which controls the destinies ut the workers of the world. When two men get into a fight, it it is a serious one, they become totally Indifferent to the rights of the bystanders; they shoot at each other not caring whether they hit an innocent outsider or not. They do not care how much they disturb the traffic or interfere with the. rights of others. In their selfcentred rage they are entirely oblivious of the rights of others. So it is with belligerent nations going to war. They assume that the earth belongs to them. If two powers, from purely diplomatic reasons, with which their citizens nave no real concern, conclude that the only way to settle a disputed diplomatic question is by fighting they Immediately take possession of the earth for that purpose, and the peaceful citizens of the world are expected to take what Is coming to them a-; part of the game. Neutral Citizens Are Being Starved and Killed. In the present war, the belligerent iiver were not content with devastating one another's fields and killing one another's soldiers; they have found It necessary to assume that it was their right to occupy neutral territory to carry on their quarrel and to interfere with the commerce of the world. What is the result? There are misery, unemployment, starvation, and death, not only In the countries engaged in the fighting, but in the neutral nations which had nothing to do with the quarrel. Our own sufferings in this country are insignificant compared with the sufferings of the inhabitants of countries In Europe not concerned In the struggle. There is famine in Palestine, famine on the frontiers of the populations throughout South America. We tro having, and are likely still more to have, an unprecedented condition of unemployment In the United States this Winter as a result of the war. Everywhere on the face of the earth peace-loving people are caught in this vise and are having the life crushed out of them. Wo are told all tbls is strictly in accordance aith the rules of International law law which was framed by belligerents and for belligerents, and not by neutral powers nor In their interest. When I contemplate the situation in Europe, with its contemptuous and Intolerable disregard for the rights of other nations. I feel ashamed of the poor, craven humanity here and in other nations whicb tolerates that abuse. When George Bernard Shaw recently wrote to the President of the United States, suggesting that he be so good as to ask the fighting powers to fight on tbeir own territories, he seemed to be perpetrating

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a rather ghastly Joke, but be really went to the very heart of the matter the rights of neutrals in the face of this revival of barbarism which we call war. I am sot prepared to say that if two men want to fight, they should not do so;' but I do Insist that they shall not occupy my parlor and break up my property In their struggle. The rights of neutral nations could be put into a thimble; but their obligations would fill a 'hogshead. Belligerents, apparently, have the right to inflict all these horrors and misery upon neutral powers under the laws of the game regulated by International law. A new International law which will sooner or later come into force will give neutral nations the right to kick the fighters out of the way if they interfere with them, and to say whether a band of ruffian nations shall disturb the peace of the world or keep their quarrels within their own territory. What can we do? There is no principle in International, law or international morality better settled than the one that the territory of a neutral power is sacred. This does not rest on the Hague Convention; for a hundred years it has been the law of nations that the territory of a neutral power is inviolable. The United State May Be Treated-Like Belgium. Suppose Canada is to be invaded by Germany and she discovers that the forts of Canada are too strong to be brokea down, and that the best way to reach Canada is through the United States by way of Boston and Maine, or up the Hudson River. Suppose Germany brought a fleet of transports to New York and demanded that we permit them to sail up the Hudson River. Or' Suppose again that Germany should descend upon Cana by way of the St Lawrence, and Great Britain sent a fleet of transports over here to fight the German invaders, and decided the best way to get at them would be to send her troops up the Hudson. What would be our duty in the matter? We are not protected by any Hague conferences, no nation guarantees our neutrality. We would stand upon our simple rights as an independent nation and say to both Great Britain and Germany: "We cannot permit you to use our territory for an attack upon a neighbor with whom we are not at war. If you insist upon making the attempt we shall use whatever force Is necessary to prevent you carrying out your plan." Suppose the Kaiser should say to us: "So much the worse for you, then, we will go through your country, and your ultimate fate will be decided at the end of the war." This is exactly what happened to Belgium. As a result that innocent and unfortunate :ountry is in ruins. Under the rules of international law and morality a grave crime was committed against this nation, and this country, as the greatest of the neutral powers, should have uttered Its protest. It was our duty to do so. What is this whole system of international (aw about which there is so much talk at the present time? That body of principles represents a long struggle of the international mind, the long struggle of European culture and civilization to raise itself out of savagery and barbarism. These principles of international law and morality are the highest achievement of our civilization in the last two hundred years. We had come to rely upon these rules to mitigate the horrors of warfare. For many years we have made efforts to get more things neutralized, to neutralize the Su;z Canal, the Panama Canal; to neutralize shipping at sea, and so on. Yet there is this curious thing about international law. Lawyers say it is only a system of morality and

When By Gerald Arundel AFAR more saddening prospect than that of the end of the earth is that ot. the gradual extinction of mankind or ot all animal life while the planet is still in its heyday. Disturbing influences in elemental natu-u, causing changes in every climate and consequent changes in vegetable life, might lead to the weakening of the cells and tissues of the body. This, of course, would be fatal to new births, and the existing generation of mankind would then obviously be the last What a strange, deep, inexpressible feeling of dejection would take possession of tbe rapidly dwindling human race! No prospect of a grand posterity no wonderful forecasts born of hope and aspiration and the passion for progress! Nothing but the sad, silent end ot the drama of Man, now in the last scene of the last act Better the sudden dissolution ot earth than this dreary, lingering decay of an Impotent humanity! Is it likely that the iarth will come to an end very soon? Neither the astronomer nor the geologist furnishes us with sufficient data from which to judge satisfactorily. The astronomer cannot assure us that no new comet will suddenly appear In our system at any particular time and approach the orbit of earth; he

not law. Law,' they tell you. is a body of rales with a power behind It tor enforcement. If nothing is law' but what baa force behind It, then we must admit that international law . Is only International morality. But whether law or morality, it has, up to this ; year, been a living thing, growing In strength year by year. It has had one backing; one support the publlo opinion of the civilized world. !" Perhaps the most potent thing in the world Is public opinion. In every community we know that the publlo opinion is more potent than the law of the community. It is the opinion of the peoples of the earth that supports the structure of International law and' morality, which has been so long In building up and to which civilised states have pledged their allegiance. We have called a state civilized when it bound Itself to take cognizance of these laws, and barbarous when it ignored these laws. Where is the public opinion of the world to raise Its voice against this violation of Belgium's neutrality? Where was the Government of the United States, which represents the will of tbe people, at the time when the great powers rushed into war without first submitting their differences to calm Inquiry as tbe rules of International law require and their own agreements had pledged them to do? Where was the will of the people of the United States, where did It find expression when the Integrity of the soil of Belgium was violated? Where was our voice of disapproval when bombs were dropped Into unfortified towns to kill and injure women and children? Where was the public opinion of America . when the North Sea was sown with dangerous contact mines, first by Germany and then by England, threatening destruction to neutral commerce? Every one of these acts Is a palpable violation of the rights of neutral nations and the principles of International law and morality. It was tbe duty of the United States to maintain the integrity of the principles of international law by filing a prompt and firm protest, first against the rashness of the nations involved in plunging into war without first allowing time for the points at issue to be fairly considered; second, against the violation of the neutrality of Belgium; third, agoinst the criminal offense of dropping bombs into unfortified towns, or without first giving the inhabitants warning, and fourth, in placing contact mines In waters traversed by neutral shipping. The United States '"T Should Have Protested. Some people say It Is grotesque to protest unless you are prepared to back up your protest with force; others say that if we had protested we would become Involved in the war. This is not true. It is a common practise of nations to make protests against what they consider violations of international law, and it is never considered an offense to do so. It we had made early and dignified protests to the warring powers, it might have had some good effect; if our protests had been ignored, we should, at any rate, have stood up before the world and given notice that there is at least one power on the face of the earth which 6tands for public right and for fair play, and is prepared now and hereafter to maintain that right. We shall have an Important duty to perform when the time comes to consider the terms of peace which will follow this war. I have heard it said that it is none of our business, and that when the warring powers decide to talk peace they will settle it themselves without bothering about our opinion. We and our opinion have come to stay In International affairs. The neutral nations and their opinions are now, and will be more so in the future, big factors in international affairs. None of the big powers at war think our opinion a negligible quantity. Everything we say about the war concerns them greatly. If it were not so these governments would not be maintaining .in this country press bureaus to influence our opinion. The Kaiser would not appeal to us, nor' would the President of France, unless they believed that our opinion was potent. The discredited, bankrupted statesmanship of Europe will not undertake to settle this war without taking the neutral powers into conference with them.. I doubt if this, worthless, disreputable European statesmanship has any more confidence left in Itself. We still have a public opinion, voiceless

the Last Man Is cannot assure us that the whole cosmos will not have to face very perilous situations in the course of its progress; he cannot even explain the meaning of motion; nor has he ever suspected that there might be countermotions in the system of systems to nullify the motions of each revolving sphere. The geologist, again, cannot possibly forecast the results of tbe present rock system; he cannot say what the next system will resemble; what destructive forces are at work underneath the Archaean system, and what other forces are silently engaged in counteracting their effects. He has not yet succeeded in explaining the possibilities of radium, in this connection; nor can he tell us whether there are other substances - In earth tbe properties ot which are more far-reaching than radium heat To be able to make any reasonable conjecture or sound suggestion, we must look at the subject from the mental or moral point of view. If we regard the earth as an expression ot the Unknown, and consider its various stages ot development, from the first rude forms ot life on the bed of the primeval ocean to the rise and progress of paleolithic man, we cannot help coming to the conclusion that our planet is tn its youth, perhaps oven In Its infancy, that It has not yet fulfilled the purposes and accomplished the designs within and behind-it

George W. Kirchwey, Kent Professor of Law in Columbia University.

though it has been. We still have a code of international law and morality, we still have a statesmanship that has not gone into the hands of the receiver. Wnat shall we Insist upon as the terms of settlement of this war? We shall have a right to demand that they make something less of a hell and more of a paradise of this world; that we, too, may live in it as well as they. In tne first place, the peace must be a decent, honorable one, and not a thieving, rascally, diplomatic makeshift, such as we usually see. Thero must be no tearing apart of any great yower limb from limb. No degradation of any power, great of. small. It should be an honorable and magnanimous peace. It must be the kind of peace that wil be a guarantee against future wars. I do not know of a better guarantee than general disarmament Heretofore people who have talked about disarmament have been regarded as lunatics, as too chimerical to be listened to by sensible people. But the time has come when the thing looks very sensible. Six months ago I would have laughed in derision had anybody talked to me about the possibility of a confederation of European states; but to-day that is the talk of men who have not been thrown into thu bankrupt class, into the discard of civilization. After the War of 1812, with Great Britain, we began to build forts on both sides of the Canadian boundary, and started to train men to defend them. But the American Minister to England thought that all this waste and preparation for fighting were unnecessary, and

Left Alone on the Earth

When we compare the age of the earth, as geology gives it, to the completion of sixty minutes by the finger of a clock, dividing each period into so many minutes and seconds, what do we find? The first two stages, apparently the most unproductive the Archaean and the Laurentian have lasted about half an hour; the others, from the Cambrian to the end of the Pleistocene, which is part of the Quartenary, have lasted about twenty-nine minutes and a half; and human existence has lasted, up to now, only about thirty seconds. The sixty minutes are complete, and man has not yet had a single minute for himself. It seems clear enough, then, that If there be any purpose, any design connected with Earth and Time, man has yet to continue tens of thousands of years before he reaches his goal as a planetary being. What changes will take place within and around him before the day of his full maturity as a biped and a reasoning entity we need not now inquire. It is our conviction that there have been many changes in the race within eight thousand years, that faculties anJ instincts once active have become dormant; that others, hardly noticeable up to the present are being slowly but surely developed. We are also deeply convinced that the Future belongs . to Mind and Soul, that every fresh marvel die i

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he used his Influence to have drawn up treaty which did away with the boundary disputes entirely. It made a natural and not a military boundary ' The Good Example of ' " jgQjETl the United States and Canada. !rrt For over a hundred years tnere has teen as trouble with England in regard to this boundary line. Four thousand miles of - boundary without a gun to keep it Intact. This disarm ament on the part of England and the United States along such an extensive stretch of boundary was brought about merely-by mutual agreement If it, has worked so well In this case, why should It not work equally as well elsewhere? The peoples of Europe after this war will conclude that It Is' unnecessary to fight one another over every trifling dispute ' that comes up. and from this readjustment ot Ideas we nay hope for disarmament 0 There should.be a United States of Europe. It may not be called by this title, but it will be the same In substance. It may have the more modest title of the concert of powers, but it must have something to hold it to gether no matter what the title may be. It must have a conductor or leader to make It play in tune and in harmony. There must be a supreme court of Europe where all questions may be carefully and peacefully considered. This country must use its Influence to bring these things about There is no need for war and there is no question that ceases a dispute which cannot be better solved by calm Judicial consideration than by mad violence and force of arms. closed by physical science will be out-marvelled by a fresh revelation in psychics. But the observation may be made that It Is a mistake to speak ot the; present geological period as the most fruitful, to speak ot the Archaean, Laurentian, Cambrian and other systems as less wonderful, less startling, than the system that has seen the birth and development of man. It may be urged that -though the Devonian Age, seen by the physical eye, would Indeed have been the age of sea-scorpions, diplocanthi and other strange fishes, we do not know, we cannot say, what marvels lay beneath those manifestations of life. It may be urged that we do not know what the algae signified to tbe comprehension of some higher, non-sentient being, and that there might have been uses and meanings in the megatherium which the scientist does not remotely suspect . Furthermore, it may be observed that the Inherent superiority of man does not necessarily indicate a very lengthy duration. "Ten thousand or fifteen thousand years may be the exact length of time sufficient for his full development and the transition to- a higher stags) ot existence may necessitate the destruction of the planet and the re-combination of Its component elements. Be this as It may, the true phOosopher t looks forward to ever higher stages ot nrosrress. and. confidant fn ) hum..!.. i uuipus ui nuiu, aruui Boi even UvUl IU

lempiaiiou oi wona-aesirucuon,