Emergency Peace Federation
There are nearly eight hundred peace societies in the world if we count the branches of some of the larger organizations. Many of these societies are international in character. It would seem that this would be a sufficient supply, but notwithstanding the number already formed, there are new societies continually coming into existence. For instance, after the breaking out of the European war, citizens of Chicago who were in favor of peace met in what they called an “Emergency Federation of Peace Forces.” After holding several meetings, and considering ways and means by which the cause of peace could be advanced, they called a national conference in Chicago, February 27 and 28. Influential men and women of the nation attended this meeting. Resolutions were passed calling upon the president and Congress of the United States to call a conference of the neutral nations of the world for the purpose of mediating in the European struggle. This conference, according to the resolution, must not “endanger the neutrality of any nation; it should constitute a voluntary court of continuous mediation, at least so long as the war should last. It should invite suggestions of settlement from each of the warring nations, and submit to all of them simultaneously reasonable proposals based upon the principles: “1. That peace must not mean humiliation to any nation; and “2. That it must not involve compromise which might result in a renewal of the war. Such a conference should exert every possible effort to prevent any of the neutral nations from becoming involved in the present war.” The convention recommended a “nation-wide discussion” of these suggestions. It believes that these discussions should be aimed toward breaking down the “balance of power” idea among the nations, and that instead there should be a “concert of nations”; that this concert of nations should provide (a) “an international court for the settlement of all disputes between nations,” (b) an international congress with legislative and administrative powers over international affairs, and with permanent committees in place of present secret diplomacy, (c) an international police force. The conference also recommended “the gradual reduction and final abolition of national armaments,” and that “the manufacture of armaments for private profit should be prohibited;” that “the democracies of the world should be extended and reinforced by general application of the principles of self-government and of universal adult suffrage”; and furthermore, that “no treaty, alliance, or other arrangement should be entered upon by any nation, unless ratified by the representative of the people; treaties for securing delay before commencing hostilities, and adequate machinery for insuring democratic control of foreign policies, should be created.” A permanent organization was formed at the conference, and to it was given the name “The National Peace Federation.” All sensible people will do everything within their power to counteract the spirit of war that is in the world. They will speak against it whenever they have an opportunity. War is the most senseless thing in which human beings can engage. But we have had war ever since sin started in this world; and the divine Book has been telling us, all through the centuries, that “there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” Isa. 57:21. And the Book also tells us that this earth’s record of sin will reach its climax, just before the second coming of Christ, in the great war of Armageddon. And while we are to favor peace, and work for peace—and especially should this be true of those who are under the banner of the Prince of peace—yet we are to know, both from the experience of history and from the prophecies of the divine Book, that there will be no permanent peace to this world until after the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven.