The New Zealand Tablet. Fiat Justitia. THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 1899. THE PEACE CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVII, Issue 22, 1 June 1899, Page 17

The New Zealand Tablet. Fiat Justitia. THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 1899. THE PEACE CONFERENCE.

fT last, after many preliminary hitches and hindrances, the Peace Conference has gob fairly under weigh. The outcome of its proceedings will be awaited with keen interest by the whole of the civilised world. Needless to say, the general feeling towards this important gathering is one of earnest and cordial good-will. It is, perhaps, equally needless to add that amongst no sections of the peoples of the world is this feeling more heartily shared in than among the children of the Catholic Church. In all ages and to all peoples the Church has been, like her Divine Founder, the herald of ' peace on earth to men of good- will.' The Pope, both 'by virtue of his high office as the representative on earth of the Prince of Peace, and in consequence of the splendid service he has rendered as arbitrator and mediator among the nations of the earth, can fairly claim to be the warmest friend and the most natural gnardian of universal peace so far as the present Conference is concerned, the Holy Father gave it from the first his blessing and his hearty support. As soon as the Czar's intention to summon the Powers together became known His Holiness, without waiting for the official communication of the ukase to reach him through the Russian .Legation, immediately wired to St. Petersburg warmly congratulating the young Emperor on the important step he had taken. And yet, through the churlishness of the Italian Government, the Papal representative was excluded from the Conference. * * * It is small wonder that the Powers have at last agreed to make some sort of serious effort to ease the tremendous strain which the present condition of things imposes upon them. The outlay necessary to keep up the preseDt vasb military organisations is 'grinding the face of the nations. According- to one competent authority the cost of keeping the whole of Europe on a military and naval footing works out at considerably over 212 millions sterling. The Navy and Army of Russia costs at present over 51^ millions annually ; Great Britain, without colonies or dependencies, 38j> . millions ; France 37 millions, and Germany 26|millions. The Treasuries or Europe have grown almost bare for any purpose except keeping the huge machinery going. Even such wealthy countries as Russia, Germany, and France stagger under the burdens. As to smaller nations like Italy and Austria, they are simply beiug bled to death. All this cost represents merely what is incurred by way of preparation for war. What the cost of war itself will be, when it next breaks out between any of the great Powers, it is impossible to forecast. But a glance at the cost of some of the great wars of the century is sufficient to show that it will reach to an enormous sum. According to the Daily Neivs the late war with America cost Spain £120,000,000 sterling. The Crimean war cost £340,000,000 ; the Franco-German war at least £500,000,000 ; and the great American Civil war .of the sixties cost the Northern States £960,000,000, and the South £460,000,000. The blood bill for these great wars is, of course, still ' more terrible. It is estimated that, taking together all the wars of the last fifty years, there has been a total expenditure of about £3,000,000,000 and about 2,260,000 lives. There is practically no limit to the dimensions which a war between the Powers would now attain, and as explosives are becoming yearly more deadly it is certain that the loss of life would be appalling. The folly and wickedness of it all are admirably depicted by Carlyle in a characteristic passage from Sartor Resartus :

Straightway the word ' Fire 1 ' is given ; and they blow the souls out of one another ; and, in place of sixty brisk, useful craftsmen, the world has sixty dead carcases, which it must bury and anew shed tears for. Had these men (thirty on each side) any quarrel ? Buey as the Devil is, not the smallest ; nay, in so wide a

universe there was even, unconsciously by commerce, some mutual helpfulness between them. ITow then ? Simpleton' their governors had fallen out ; and. instead of shooting one another, had the cunning to make these poor blockheads shoot. It is high time that the rulers of the world saw the necessity of putting their men to some better use that to ' blow the souls out of one another.'

It was at first regarded as rather suspicious that the proposal for discussing the question of disarmament should have come from the Czar, the member of a dynasty whose traditions had always been in the direction of spreading and consolidating in every possible way the dominion of the Russian Empire. People began to wonder what was behind it all. There is a good deal of truth in the view of the peace question expressed by an intelligent costermonger. ' When me and my old woman 'as a row,' said the coster, ' I allus notice that the one wot propoges peace is the one wot 'aint got 'old o' the poker.' It was not, however, the want of the poker that inclined the Czar to peace. He was anxious for disarmament for the simple reason that it co3ts Russia far more to keep up the present state of things than it costs any other country. The Czar possesses, and has to maintain, the largest standing army on earth. Every year 280,000 conscripts join the Russian forces, which, in time peace, stand at 1,000,000 men. On a war footing this would be increased to 2,500,000 men. The calling out of the reserves would bring it to fi,947,000 welltrained soldiers. The maintenance of its present military system costs Russia 51? millions a year, and that item is sufficient in itself to make the Czar sincerely anxious for a change. He has shown himself energetically determined on peace. His good faith in the matter is now practically beyond question. It is to his energy and perseverance that the Conference owes its very existence. It is he who prepared the proposals to be discussed at the gathering. The programme under consideration comprises the following sections : international disarmament, the laws of war, mediation, and arbitration. We learn from the cables that the last two subjects, probably as being debatable, are to be placed in the forefront. When they are disposed of, the more knotty questions regarding the laws of war and the reduction of armaments will be tabled for discussion.

What will be the outcome of it all ? We must say at once that we cannot share the sanguine hope of those who think that the Conference will usher in an era of universal peace. We do not believe that the Congress will bring about disarmament, still le^s that it will devise a scheme which will prevent or put an end to war. But it may do good work, even though it fail to accomplish all that our benevolent dreamers expect. Although gencu! disarmament is out of the question, there is no reason why the representatives at the Conference should not arrive at an understanding not to increase for a fixed period the present effective strength of the armed military and naval forces, and at the same time not to increase their military Budgets. It is practically certain that the laws of war will be materially modified in the direction of mitigating its horrors and in the direction of abolishing pri\ atcering and maintaining the absolute neutrality of merchandise which is not contraband of war. It is perhaps impossible to form any international tribunal which would serve as a substitute for mighty armies and the copious blood-letting of a modern war. But some scheme may be devised for referring small, but irritating questions (such as those connected with boundaries, fisheries, and the lesser disputes arising from breaches of treaty obligations) to a regular court of arbitration. If the Peace Conference accomplishes even tins much it will have done useful work. It will have brought us at least a step nearer to the good time coming when ' nation shall not rise airainst nation, neither shall they exercise war anymore.'