THINGS AND THOUGHTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2647, 7 December 1904, Page 77

THINGS AND THOUGHTS.

By John Christie.

THE SUPEPtCESSION OP WAR. Wars still happen with distressing frequency, antd yet. surely the time cannot now be far distant when they will no longer ] be resorted to as means of wreaking racial \ antipathies, settling international differ- j ences, or effecting geographical ' adjust- ] ments. Buckle mentions a plan which, according to monkish chronicle, was adopted with admirable results once upon » time during the long conflict between ■the Moors and the Spaniards. While two mighty armies were pitted against each other, it occurred to some bright genius averse to bloodshed that, instead of settling *he issue by arms, they should try to do so by means 'of argument. Accordingly it was agreed, after much parleying, that the Moors should select their keenest logician, and the Spaniards theirs, and that the matter in dispute should be decided %n favour of the side, whose champion irrefut- j ablj^- proved ior irretrievably overthrew ai given dogma in the polemics of the day. The., graceless Buckle scoffs iiTeverently at this- prdceedfing, 'and yet modem peoples might do "wofse than imitate' it. ' There, could be no lack of things to argue about ; polemical politics teem with ihem. , .». Republicanjsm versus Monarchy,-- Individualism versus-Socialism, -andl many other .subjects jmight be debated to a finis ; the best reasoners/ or at least the reasoners who could" secure the greatest number of votes, to be declared victors for' their country or race. Some grave. persons may perhaps ascribe this way of looking at .the matter to mere levity, or to inability to realise the contingencies of war in all their terrible vastness and tragic horror. But if they do this, is itnot because they- have accustomed themselves to a, certain set "of reflections i and images in connection with strife due to [ international differences? Is- it not because I in connection with those differences they j picture to themselves a struggle which, no j matter which side, may win, will leave all • parties engaged in it in. a condition of j weakness and desolation ; and because they j think of .those" "differences as being beyond • settlement, except by means of bloodshed } and' slaughter? But are there not other ; means which are already- well within the power of general apprehension- and comprehension amongst the majority of politicallyorganised peoples? Does it act seem likely that science in machinery must soon -make military strife .'in impossibility on account of the foregone certainty of irreparable' loss; ta both sides, and. science in- statecraf t reduce it -to the. level of, a farce, in- consequence \of its barbarous, crudeness; and that" nations which persist in having differences .will, ,have' to. devise other means of settlement?" - Why, therefore, should they-not resort to^some modificafcidn or-.de-velopment, of the method mentioned by Buckle?-^' Arbitrament by logic would, be' far more in keeping with common sense and , the claims of humanity than the-inexpress-ibly' barbarous method of arbitrament by bloodshed. Indeed, are the nations that" 1 resort' to war as a means of settling disputes and differences not,- intellectually, - spiritually, ' -?t^ *i3<yraijTv T as nations, on the plane of tire* uncouth, blockheads," 'yno w iitm tke^"^w*=| rel shriek at each, other ; "Come and strip, you miserable dog ; come and I will give you one in the eye that will mark you for life,- and let you see nothing but blue light-" ning for a fortnight." That is jukt about it. ,Of .course, these fools? when the police can get hold of them t are taken Defore a magistrate, lectured, fined, and' sometimes even imprisoned, for taking the law into their own. heads. When shall we have some great federal court to deal similarly "with nations that presume,- on their own account, to break the peace of the world ; cr, rather, when shall nations in these*matters have risen-i.as nations above the level of drunken fools and swaggering bullies? ' ' . No.reflection-is-'here-made-on the brave - Soldiers and resoui«efur commanders — some of -them very- highly-gifted , arid 1 "-- greatminded men-^rwho^figh^the battles of their' country. Th-3 courage," the endurance, and self-sacrifice \of soldiers on the ' field of, battle are almost 1 ahvays such as to make the heart swell with' admiration ; and the--skill exhibited by- commanders often testifies to , intellectual powers which, when combined'with personal' OTavery and moral integrity, prove them to possess the genius and the heroism which raise human natuire to its high places, and must stir it to its depths while men continue to have souls. T-Eherefore, let no ungenerous thought be entertained, no depreciating word uttered, about these bravo and brilliant men. Yet j none the less^nay, rather, all the more — let us turn the flashlight of scorn on the national ineptitude, the imbecile statecraft, .which, when .peoples differ, still seeks a settlement by turning those very men loose upon each other in the arena of, some campaign, with bloodier and more barbarous results than ever disgraced human, nature in a Roman amphitheatre. It is this that is so discreditable to mankind at the present stage of its history. ■Why, then, should we not turn to something in the nature of an international Parliament as a constitutional medium for the settlement of all international troubles, just as national Parliaments have b-ecome substitutes for civil war in the settlement of -social and political differences amongst civilised pep.ples? Or would an International Court of Judicature, where wit- j nesses could be heard, barristers could ©lead, and international judges decide all issues be -better than a Parliament? Lst men think either or both of these proposals «mfr in the light of past and present times, ■ and they may see that they are not so very Utopian after all. That martial spirit which prompts the human heart to xevolt against wrong and defy tyranny will «evei> let us hope, die till wrong and

tyranny cease to manifest themselves on the planet ; but perhaps its active use will ere long become unnecessary amongst civilished peoples, except in cases where these have to act unitedly against hordes of savages who cannot be kept within their own bounds or brought to reason save by means of overwhelming force and unsparing bloodshed. But while recognising this ! as a contingency which must yet for many ; a day be kept vigorously in view, and proi perly provided for, surely the noblest ten- : dencies and best interests of human nature ! justify a belief that the civilised nations of the earth are Hearing a time when all their differences will be settled by peaceful discussion and legal readjustment ; and peoples shall have occasion to say, in a sense, and with a significance not anticipated by the Hebrew palmist: How are the mighty fallen, And -the weapons of war perished!

— Note. — The substance of what has jusfc been said ■was written in the year 1893. Since then there has been, in various countries, a genuinely practical movement towards arbitration as a substitute for war in the settle- ! ment of' international misunderstandings j and differences. The Hague Arbitration which was initiated by the ;,Czar "of Russia' in 1898, and signed by Great Britain and 16 other Power's in 1899, is, so far, the chief result of the movement. So far, too, the most noteworthy testimony, that has been borne to the wisdom • which gave rise to the convention is the judgment which has been exhibited by King Edward VII and his Ministers in referring the .Russian fleet Dogger Bank trawlers' .incident to the Convention's jurisdiction Till this" course was taken a calamitous war seemed to be imminent ; and, perhaps, when all the issues come to be v considered, the action of the monarch and the statesmen whose judgment has averted) that catastrophe will bt* deemed to be not less ; "memorable than the. genius that triumphs < in a great nrfvai or military contest. Peace ! indeed has its victories, and when' these \ are on the grand scale, spring from national j insight, and strength, and promote international amity and equity, what can ex-j-ceed their beneficence? Perhaps not even j the results of a Marathon, Trafalgar, or 4 Waterloo. - • Even,- while- these words are ; being written" there is much to show, notf withstanding the Russo-Japanese war, that I this^view is becoming refreshingly general: in j;he signing of arbitration treaties by i various nations ; in King Edward's I- assiduous efforts to foster , throughout Europe a feeling favourable* to international conciliation; and -in the momentous and persistent endeavour of President Roosevelt and his Cabinet to induce prac- . tically all the great countries of the world to' agree permanently to peaceful methods, of settling' their differences. Only the other day. in Dunedin, here in our own .country," a high note was struck in this connection -by Sir Joseph Ward, who, while recognising the value of the martial spirit and- the need for provisional military preparedness,, "expressed horror at the present .barbarous methods of settling international disputes, and hoped that ere long means more rational than an appeal to the sword would! "be found by the. civilised countries of the world." Jlhe" seed of all' tms was sown long ago — ages before any •man now breathing wag born ; but surely the thoughts and efforts of worthy men r^s^gh^ej^^hrs^ghojit, the world now show more tliafi ever tir^^^s^^s^sawinE. nearer" and ""nearer to the time "of the harvest. December 1, 1904. i