THE ABOLITION OF WAR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5655, 28 August 1896, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE ABOLITION OF WAR.

The Lord Chief Justice of England, hi done humanity a service by using th

talents, his eloquence and the weight of hi* high position in furthering the cause of to ternational arbitration. His oration at Saratoga on Friday last is described as

" impressive and luminous," and from the brief outline supplied by cable it appears that he has argued the subject on denned and easily followed lines. Lord Russell, oi Killowen, recognises the limitations of thi

principle of arbitration when he says than it would not apply to disputes affecting thel honour of nations. That is, in effect! another way of saying that arbitration ia only practicable to the extent of the! popular education, intelligence and free 4 dom from prejudice. Among nations] truly civilised, it ought- to be iin-l possible to go to war' for any other] reason than to repel the attack of a bar*] barous or semi-barbarous horde, because no truly civilised people would make; unjust claims, or would insist upon con-« ditions that were offensive to another's sense of honour. We can hardly .believe, in, the; absence of full information, that his Lordship '• deprecated" a permanent Court of International Arbitration ; for that is ai point upon which most advocates of the; reform are strongly insistent, recognift-l ing that half the victory is gained by> having a tribunal in existence, and not; requiring to be suggested and erected after; the passions of the disputants have been: awakened. Nor can- we agree with the; Lord Chief Justice in thinking it necessary; that the Court of International Arbitration should possess coercive powers; thttt is,] should be able to make war upon Powera to ) prevent them going to war. To trust ' to. force would be to advocate an appeal from Herod to Caesar. The spectacle of' an Arbitration Court setting a powerful army in motion would be as incongruous as the ; satirist's description of the Irish people as Fighting each other for conciliation Joid hating each other for the love of God.

Probably, when the full text of Lord Russell's address is available it will be found that he did not utter some of the sentimentsascribedtohim,andwhich,inthe meantime, seem self -contradictory. If, for example, peace is to be enforced at the point of the sword, why Bhould there be any exception in favour of national honour This deference to "honour " savours of the. ethics of the gambler and duellist.

The great truth that the abolition of war must be brought about by rational and educational methods is fully recognised by an organisation that has lately been started in Europe under the title of "The International League of Women for the Purpose of General Disarmament/ This movement owes its origin to some burning and eloquent words written by M. Camilla Flanunarion, the celebrated French astronomer, in his recent work, "The End of the World." The uselessness, the horrors, the stupidity of war were so vividly pourtrayed that a number of French women. started the League, which is spreading rapidly over Europe. Princess Wisznie-: wska, the President of the League, says : — "What we women claim is that we have the right to protect our sons against the barbarous law which takes them from us before they have really reached the age of manhood, and which, in case of war, only gives them back to us dead or mutilated. All the women of our League look forward to a bloodless civilisation, and this is and will be the constant dream of all the mothers, wives, sisters and sweethearts in Europe." By means of literature and addresses these women hope to convert Europe to their views. It is a hopeful sign that such a movement should originate in the most warlike of European countries. M. Frederic Passy, President of the French Society of International Arbitration, and author, s of various books on the abolition of war, does not believe that the great European Powers will disarm until they are certain that a* universal peace can be maintained, but he thinks the women have undertaken an excellent work. " I have," he adds, "long looked forward to a general reduction of the military forces of Europe, but I think that this reduction will not take place until the peoples and the G-overnments learn to regard each other with kindlier feelings than they do now." That is exactly what we believe on the subject, and explains why we look askance at any proposal that includes coercion or even the threat of force. We earnestly hope that something practical may result from the efforts now being put forth to obtain an arbitration agreement between England and the United States, and that these great nations may be seen in the act of leading the world to the consummation of universal peace.