On the first day of the new year a meeting was called, to convene in the principal theater of Portland, at which a thousand citizens were present, for the purpose of adopting resolutions to be forwarded to Congress through Oregon's representative in the Senate. Through these resolutions this city desired to go on record as favoring international arbitration of all questions of vital difference that may arise between nations.
Among the speakers who addressed the gathering were several Protestant ministers, a Catholic priest, who came to represent the archbishop of Oregon, a Jewish rabbi, an attorney, and President Jordan, of Stanford University (California).
The first speaker dwelt upon the natural combative nature of the race, and expressed the view that the only hope of a reign of universal peace is in the conversion of the world; that, until the coming of such a time, nations and individuals will be at enmity and constantly at war with one another.
Another speaker declared that the constantly-increasing expense of war will compel all nations to disband their standing armies, and cease their development of navies, and thus will be ushered in a reign of universal peace.
War's Curse upon the Race.
President Jordan, by a brief review of the history of several European nations, demonstrated the loss to the world, occasioned by war, in the destruction of robust men, leaving the infirm, the crippled, the decrepit, and the imbecile to perpetuate the race.
By way of illustration he drew a parallel to the results of war upon the race, referring to the deterioration of a herd of cattle, if the best physically developed animals in the herd are constantly selected to be driven to the abattoir for slaughter, leaving the physically inferior for the perpetuation of their kind.
As a case in evidence, he referred to a certain portion of France, where nearly the whole male population are idiotic, from the fact that for generations war had slain the well-favored among them, leaving the imbeciles to preserve the population from extinction.
A very unsatisfactory explanation was offered by another speaker of the strange spectacle presented by the rulers of nations in calling for international arbitration one day, and perhaps the next giving orders for vast increase in their respective armies and navies.
"Peace, Peace, when There Is No Peace."
One minister made the very doubtful statement that "capital and labor are uniting for the peace of the world."
The concurrent opinion of nearly all of the appointed speakers was, that the tendencies of modern civilization indicate the approach, altho distant, of a reign of universal peace, when war and bloodshed will eventually cease.
Truly, the desire for universal peace is a laudable one. Every right-thinking man certainly deprecates the horrors of war, and craves permanent peace and freedom from war's dread scourge and molestation; not only for himself and family, but likewise for every other household.
However, this blissful state can not be brought about by the conversion of the world: for the world will never be converted. The Scriptures hold out no hope to encourage such belief, and the progress of all the churches in Christendom does not indicate it. Six thousand years has failed to produce this result, and each succeeding century brings three billions of people upon the stage of action for conversion. The wheat (righteous) and tares (wicked) will grow together till the final harvest of earth, and "the harvest is the end of the world." At this time the "wheat" is gathered for eternal life, and transplanted into the kingdom of glory, while the "tares" are gathered and burned in fire. Matt. 13:37-43.
One who disbelieves in the possibility of a reign of peace under conditions existing in this present world, is counted pessimistic; but, of a truth, the person who believes in the nearness of the second coming of Christ, in reality takes the truly optimistic view of the final condition of this world, which, for six long millenniums, has been the scene of war and bloodshed.
The only way by which a reign of universal peace can be ushered in is by the second coming of "the Prince of Peace;" for, opposed to the idea of the conversion of the world is the Scripture statement that, just prior to His coming, the nations are angry (Rev. 11:18), and the kings of the whole world will be gathered together in battle array (Rev. 16:13-16). This is the sequel to the present unprecedented war preparations.
The True and Undeceptive View.
The only hope for the final solution to the capital and labor question is in the same event (James 5:1-10).
The hope that nations will cease to learn the arts of war, and abandon its pursuit for the arts of peace, based upon the decadence of the race, produced by the most vigorous falling in war; the delay of the arrival of the dove of peace until the nations shall abandon war because of the financial ruin wrought thereby; the approach of international amity, based upon the unscriptural doctrine of the conversion of the world; the combined hope offered by all of these views, is a gloomy survey of the dark side of the mental picture. Faith in the heaven-born, prophetically-inspired doctrine of the near-coming of the Prince of Peace, affords a hopeful and undeceptive view of the bright side of the picture.
A vivid illustration of a frequent cause of war, and also of the
Hopelessness of the Idea
of a reign of peace this side of Christ's coming, was developed in this same arbitration meeting. A minority of the audience held opposite views from those presented by the chosen speakers. These asked for opportunity to express their views. Immediately numerous voices of the peace arbitrators (?) were raised, demanding that the men of opposite opinion be ejected from the room, and forthwith the meeting was thrown into a state of confusion and turmoil, closely akin to war, which continued for half an hour.
The ruling passion that controlled the meeting during this period was the genuine war spirit, whether manifested by nations, churchmen, or worldlings. The furious spirit that would hurl a fellow citizen out of a meeting for candidly expressing views contrary to those held by the majority, is the same spirit, which, for slight offense, or fancied insult to dignity, leads a strong nation to rush to arms, to blot a weaker one out of existence.
Thus the convention itself demonstrated that the world is not upon the threshold of a reign of universal peace.
The only prevention of war is to be found in that divine incarnation of love which controlled Him who, when suffering an appalling death at the vile hands of unjust persecutors, found expression in the words, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."
The indwelling Christ will conquer the desire for the destruction of even a deadly enemy. The enthronement of the great Peacemaker in the soul temple will supply conquering power over the inborn spirit of envy, hatred, malice, revenge, war; and only those who possess His Spirit will meet opposition, calumny, insult, persecution, in meekness; and such will be in readiness for the home-gathering by the Prince of Peace to His eternally-pacific kingdom.
