Note and Comment

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Dec 29, 1904

A MASS-MEETING to promote the cause of international peace was held in New York City, December 6, under the direction of the New York executive committee of the American Conference on International Arbitration. A number of speakers were heard, but the only speech reported was that of Archbishop Ireland, who uttered a eulogy on peace, but closed his address by saying:—

Meanwhile let us be practical. We are yet far from the ideal. America may strive for the best, but until the best is secured beyond peril, she must be ready for the worst, and so long as war is still possible, so long as it remains the sole arbitrament in defense of vital interests, so long must America put faith in her army and navy.

The thing which the nation is urged to do just now, therefore, is to provide an army and navy which can be depended on to do good service in case of war. To get ready to fight is, in spite of all the peace talk, the practical thing. The nations of the Old World started out on this pathway to peace a long time ago, but peace is still far off. They created armies and navies to be “prepared for the worst,” and to-day Europe is likened to a powder-magazine which requires only a spark to produce an explosion. The equilibrium of peace in Europe is exceedingly unstable. America, it would seem, might learn from Europe the lesson that armies and armaments do not tend to put international peace on a secure footing. They do tend, on the other hand, to make a nation feel ready for war, and therefore more likely to trust to the arbitrament of the sword.