TOPICAL PORTRAIT SERIES

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 179, 29 July 1905, Page 2

TOPICAL PORTRAIT SERIES

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT.

THE GOOD HE IS DOING THE WORLD AS A PEACEMAKER.

The official title of the President of the United States is, in this country f seldom accorded him, and yet no man ever deserved it more—"His Excellency the President." Both by virtue of his rank and through the rank of his virtue he is " excellent" in the truest sense of the word, a fact which it brought very prominently before us by his efforts to stop the sanguinary conflict in Manchuria, and therein do the best work of Christianity. It may safely be written that no nation has absolutely clean hands except by atonement, and the United States is no exception. It countenanced slavery, but repented, and its compulsory penance is not yet over, and it assisted in a savage attack on China for an act which was immensely exag« gerated, and atoned by returning its portion of the indemnity as money to which it was not entitled. This in itself establishes its claim to rank as a just nation with high ideals of equity; but in regard to Russia and Japan it has three additional claims to act as the healer of their terrible differences* First America has always been a great friend of Russia, and Russia has al* ways been a great friend of Amerioa} and second, it was an American admiral who first broke down theisolation of Japan, thereby opening to hej the gates of civilisation; third, the United States of all the Powers of the world is the one that can be least sus« pected of territorial desires in the Far East, if it is open to any suspicion at all, and in fast conjunction with this is the certainty that only Amerioa of all the Powers has maintained an absolutely dispassionate attitude in regard to the present awful war. England is Japan's ally, France is Russia's, Germany is more Russian than Japanese, and Austria and Italy are in alliance with Germany, and just as they sympa. thised with Spain .in the latter's wa« with America because she is a Euro* pean Power, might be expected to sympathise with Russia for the same reason. For these reasons His Excellency the President is an ideal peace* maker in tbe present great crisis, but whether he will succeed in bringing the two great antagonists together with any practical result remains to be seen* Ib could not be within the power of the Commissioners of Russia and Japan to conclude a peace at Washington, as this would be contrary to all precedent, as any student of history must know* All they can do is come to an agreement among themselves and recommend it for the endorsement of their respective Governments at St. Petersburg and Tokio. And history shows that la other great wars where there has been so much give and take, war may go on ill' ','ia time and even a great battle be luught after the ratification. Thus when England and the United States were both of them heartily sick of the war of 1812-14, and when peace commissioners from both had met at Ghent and recommended a peace which both London and Washington had accepted, the battle of New Orleans was fought, resulting in great carnage on both sides. Bat the distance of time between the signing of peace and that regrettable battle was largely the result of lack of communication, as the cable—perhaps the greatest peace* maker we have had—was then undreamt of, a mystery not to be revealed until after the passing of more than a genera* tion.