SOME NOTES FROM THE PEACE CONFERENCE.
THE Peace Conference at The Hague has drawn up for the approval of the respective governments the series of conventions and declarations that follow:— “Convention for the pacific settlement of international disputes. “Convention concerning the laws and customs of war on land. “Convention for the adoption of laws against the use of asphyxiating or deleterious gases for balloon projectiles and for the prohibition of the use of bullets that easily expand in the human body.” The final act contains five expressions of opinion, as follows:— “The conference considers that limitations of the military charges which at present oppress the world are greatly to be desired for the increase of the material and moral welfare of mankind. “The conference expresses the opinion that the question of the rights and duties of neutrals should be inscribed on the program of a conference to be held at an early date. “The conference expresses the opinion that the questions relative to the type and caliber of rifles and naval artillery as examined by it should be the subject of study by the different governments with a view to arriving at a uniform solution by a future conference. “The conference expresses the wish that an early convention be called to revise the Geneva Convention.” The conference had resolved that questions relating to the inviolability of private property in war on land and the bombardment of towns or villages in naval war be reserved for future conferences. A mere casual reading of the foregoing abundantly discloses the idea that the acts of that august body at The Hague savor more of war than of peace. And the more the work of the conference from first to last is studied the more abundantly does this appear. The conference was called to arrange a program of disarmament. But instead of doing the work for which it was convened, the conference busies itself in defining the methods by which the preparations for war may be continued. It is more properly a war conference, rather than a peace conference. The following despatch from Washington emphasizes the spirit of war that has possessed the delegates of two of the most enlightened nations who send representatives to the conference:— “WASHINGTON, July 24.—The United States will not be bound by the reported decision of The Hague conference to prevent the use of the dum dum bullet in warfare. So far we have not been obliged to resort to the use of this bullet, but the ordinance officers have been making experiments to secure an increased “stopping” effect for the small caliber ball used in the Krag-Jorgensen, and these experiments have proceeded somewhat on the lines of the dum dum ball. “The specific reason why Captain Crozier and the remainder of the American delegates voted against the proposal to prohibit the dum dum bullet was because their general instructions forbade them to pledge this government in any line of action that would retard the development of inventive genius in war. Adhesion to the protocols is voluntary. Great Britain also refuses to prohibit the use of the dum dum bullet.” If the United States and Great Britain are not willing to lessen the barbarities of war, what may be expected of some of the other nations that are considered less advanced in civilization? “The development of inventive genius in war” must not be “retarded.” And as the new inventions are developed there ever will be, as there always has been, a feverish desire to put them into actual use. The idea that these modern weapons, so terrible in their destructive power, will deter men from war is one of the greatest delusions of all time. The soldier is nothing if he is not brave. And the greater the danger the better his opportunity to display his bravery.