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Page 1: THE UNITED STATES AND THE GENEVA ARBITRATION

World Affairs Institute

THE UNITED STATES AND THE GENEVA ARBITRATIONSource: Advocate of Peace (1847-1884), New Series, Vol. 13, No. 1 (FEBRUARY, 1882), p. 6Published by: World Affairs InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27906220 .

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Page 2: THE UNITED STATES AND THE GENEVA ARBITRATION

6 THE ADVOCATE OF PEACE.

might easily be cut down not only one-third, but more than one-half, and still leave ample force to

police their territories. Altogether, the people o^

Russia, Germany, Austro-Hungary, France and

Italy are supporting armies at this time on what their rulers call "a peace footing," aggregating three million two hundred thousand men. The

half, or even the third of this stupendous military iorce, ought to be sufficient, and would be but for the schemes, intrigues, jealousies and mutual sus

picions of the five or six personages referred to. Each of them keeps up an enormous military estab

lishment to eat up the substance of the people, be cause the "other fellow" does?that is, because

they cannot trust each other. But it is not alone

in European politics that whole peoples are the

pawns in the games played by "six men." If six

Americans, that could be named, would heartily agree to drop personal ambitions, there would be less of faction politics in our Federal affairs, and

more government exclusively for the people.?Phil

adelphia Public Ledger.

THE CHURCH AND WAR. A la}r member of the church of England writes

as follows :

It is to the pulpit that I wish to speak. Yon, the ministers of the Church established in this land, lead }7our people to pray for Unity. Peace and Con cord amongst all nations ; how is it that you never exhort them to practise for this desirable object, but. often the reverse? For fifty }Tears I have been a hearer of sermons from Church of England pulpits, and have never, except on one solitary occasion, heard a word from any pulpit against the practice of war, and I find this to be the experience of others ; you preach against all kinds of evil, except the monster evil of war, against which you have not a word to say ; one act of which violates all the com mandments of the Decalogue, and as I read it, all the teaching of the New Testament. If peace is so desirable in the reading desk, why is it excluded from the pulpit? If the ambassadors of the Prince of Peace in all lands and of all denominations would, in the Pulpit, in Congress, in Conference, and in other ways, make peace part of their teaching, it would be attained the sooner; surely this is not too much to expect, if peace is their Master's cause ; but while they continue to encourage and pet the fighting spirit, to flatter and glorify the military calling, it will come later.

The Peace Society has been at work many years striving to bring about, first, the partial, ultimately, it is hoped, the entire uprooting of the present

method of settling ( ?) the questions which will arise between nations as between individuals ; as

yet most of the ministers of the Gospel, of all de nominations, withhold their help and countenance ;

surely the object is one that should commend itself to your approval. Encouraging fruit has appeared,

international disputes have been settled withgut shedding the blood of thousands of innocent men, who had no interest in the ofttimes trivial quarrel. Then, look at the different results following from the two systems : France and Germany quarrelled and fought^ leaving a legacy of mutual hatred and

deep-seated revenge ; England and America quar relled and arbitrated* leaving a" legacy of mutual love and good will. Oh, will you longer withhold your valuable help? Let it not be said, as has been said of some other movements ?the Anti-Slavery, to wit?that the clergy refused to put their hands to the plough, but came in when the harvest appeared. Tell the people that it is righteousness, and not big guns, that exalteth a nation. Multitudes of good Christian people only need their attention drawn to the subject to become disciples of peace. To pray for peace is surely a solemn mockery unless we use

the means in our hands to promote peace. Think what a mountain of wickedness is involved in even one unjust and unnecessary war. It is often an as

tonishing thing to me, that men and women, who have known the agony of death partings, can speak and act in the callous, often glorifying manner they do, when the wanton death of multitudes in the battle-field is concerned. There may be a sweetness,

loveliness, sacredness, on the face of death, when

the bed is surrounded by loving relatives and friends ; but death on the battle-field knows nothing of these. There, on every countenance, hangs the distortion

of rage, every hand wields a murderous weapon to

slay his brother, and, anon, the field is strewn with lacerated and mangled men. If 3'ou think that arbi tration would be a better way of settling interna tional quarrels, and thus put an end to this devilish carnage,

" Come over and help us ! "

THE UNITED STATES AND THE GENEVA ARBITRATION,

In a speech at Bristol, on Nov. 12th, Sir Thomas

Brassey, M. P. (of the Admiralty), said: The generous homage paid to the British flag at

Yorktown, and to the star-spangled banner in the cen

tre of our own metropolis, are incidents full of bright augury for the future. The United States and Great Britain now stand shoulder to shoulder as they have never stood before, and we number together one

hundred million people. I may, perhaps, remind

you that the generous reparation which was offered to the United States at Geneva was the work of the Liberal party. It was denounced at the time by our

political opponents as a national humiliation, but we

accept to-day with deep satisfaction the results which have followed from a policy of justice. Something yet remained to be done which was beyond the scope of politicians and diplomatists.

" One touch of nature makes the whole world kin," and Her Majesty was enabled from her exalted station to express what England felt on the death of General Garfield. Our message of sympathy was conveyed with a true

womanly tenderness, which has won the heart of America for the Queen and her people. The friend

ship between Great Britain and the United States, which has been steadily ripening, and is now, I trust, secured to us forever, is more to England than

a hundred ironclads ?Herald of Peace.

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