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The Commoner
SEPTEMBER, 1914
39
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The Bryan Peace Treaties
Mr. Bryan'a peace treaties, which
the senate ratified the other day,
havo been subjected to much taunt
and ridicule by men who, if they have
no lust for war, have neither that in
stinctive horror of it which com
mands encouragement for any pro
posal that offers hope, however
feeble, of averting warfare. These
'treaties are simple in their provi
sions, and easily understood. That
is one of their chief merits; for being
so simple, it would be correspond
ingly difficult to invent pretexts for
violating them, so that the nation
which did violate them would stand
forth nakedly exposed as a defaulter
on its deliberate promises. They pro
vide merely that in casetwo nations
parties to these treaties become in
volved in a controversy that does not
yield to diplomatic treatment they
shall refer their controversy to an
international commission, binding
themselves to commit no hostile act
meanwhile, up to the limit of nine
months' time. The commission is to
inquire into the merits of the contro
versy and report its conclusions.
Neither party to the controversy is
obligated to accept its findings. If it
wishes to reject them and resort to
war to enforce its contention, it is
free t do so, or at least free to the
extent of its readiness to scorn the
judgment of disinterested men and
go to war to enforce a contention
which they have held unjust. It is
questionable if there are many na
tions which would have the temerity
to incur the reproach they would
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Many people marvel at the effects
of leaving off coffee and drinking
Postum, but there is' nothing marvel
nuc phnnt. it onlv common sense.
Coffee is a destroyer Postum is a all others, it has been the eagerness
bring on themselves by making war
to enforce a contention judicially
held to be unsound and unjust. But
even if the treaties did not have the
full effect of enforcing acquiescence
in the judgments thus rendered, they
would at least, in every human prob
ability, stay an outbreak of hostil
ities for the proscribed time, and
thus minimize greatly the chance "of
war.
The News' faith in the efficacy of
this simple expedient is at least great
enough to embolden it to express the
opinion that if Austria and Servia had
been parties to such a treaty, the j
woriu wouia not now oe witnessing
the spectacle forced on its gaze. That
controversy, infinitely petty when
measu-ed by its consequences, would
iave been easily susceptible, The
News believes, to the treatment pre
scribed by these Bryan treaties.
What, in that case, would have hap
pened? The diplomatic negotiations
began with the demands made on Ser
via by Austria All these demands
were acceded to except one, and that
one was denied only conditionally.
Assuming then' parties to such a
treaty, the moment the diplomatic
negotiations came to this impasse,
the question of whether Servia was
und. duty to make the one further
submission to the will of Austria
would have been referred to an in
ternational commission. Regardless
of what might have been the judg
ment, does any one imagine either
nation would have begun hostilities
pending the rendering of the judg
ment? An'1 does any one imagine
that, at the end of the .nine months
of enforced " contemplation of the
dancer confronting not only thosw
two nations, but every other in
Europe, the party against whom the
judgment -went would appeal to war?
This titanic war resulted from the
impulsive decision of a passionate
moment. Not months, but only a few
days of deliberation, would have been
enough to preclude a decision so in
sensate and fateful as that which was
actually made. But there was no
provision in the scheme of diplomacy
to assure that deliberation or even
encourage it. There was no obstacle
in the path that led to this abyss of
war, nor even a convention that
needed to be observed. A decision
whose consequences a century will
not repair was the issue of a few
frei zied hours. The time required
for making it was only long enough
to bring angry passions to the climax
of madness.
It will be said, of course indeed,
has already been said, in effect that
the passions which were capable of
this crime would have been capable
of breaking such restraints as these
treaties would have imposed. That
view, it seems to us, is not supported,
but, on the contrary, refuted by the
circumstances that marked the pro
gress of this frightful tragedy. For
that is a view which implies that the
most civilized nations are utterly des
titute of decent respect for- the opin
ions of mankind, and if there is one
feature of this whole matter which
stands out mor conspicuously than
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of every one of these nations to jus
tify its conduct in the opinion of man
kind. They showed none of that con
tempt for the judgment of society
which the argument made against
the Bryan treaties implies they are
guilty of. On the contrary, they
manifested a lively fear of it, as is
witnessed by the arguments all of
them have mad 3 in the attempt to ac
auit themselves of responsibility.
They have made arguments that are
more or less admirable as feats of
casuistry. ,gome of them arguments
which, though they have not per
suaded those to whom they were ad
dressed, have succeeded perfectly in
deceiving those who made them.
There is not a nation at war that is
not profoundly convinced that it has
the justification of being the ag
grieved, and not the stigma of being
the aggressive party. This self-deception
was made possible by the
complexity and ambiguity of the cus
toms and conventions which existed
for their observance. They lend them
selves readily to any reading that
serves convenience, and that Is pre
cisely the fault that is happily avoid
ed by these Bryan treaties. Their
cardinal virtue is their simplicity, a
simplicity so perfect casuistry itself
could conceive no two readings of the
obligations they Impose, so that the
nation violating those obligations
in these Bryan treaties that ought to
enlist the active support of every man
who is a sincere lover of peace, and
a virtue which, wo believe, will come
to be Mr. Bryan's best claim to the
gratitude of the world. Dallas (Tex
as) News. ,
REPRESENT
ACHIEVE-
SOLID
MENT
Secretary Bryan's eighteen peaco
treaties, now ratified by the senate
with incomparable ease, are strongly
indorsed by the editorial In the July
number of the American Journal of
International Law. "Mr. Bryan is to
bo congratulated," it says, "upon,
having secured the discussion of all
disputes between the contracting
parties, not otherwise provided for,
bv the annarfuitlv simnlp vnt offooilvn
could not deceive even itself as to the ; device of an inviRHsMon and rpnnrf
treachery of its conduct. Even if it ! wnich is believed to be tantamount
he admitteu tnat nations are as cyn
ically faithless and duplicltous as the
critics of these treaties charge by
to settlement."
These treaties represent solid
, achievement, and they are the more
implication, it could still be contend-. valuable because they are so simple
ed that these treaties defy their tal-, m tneir purpose. The most acrimon
ent to excuse their wantonness. A J iously criticised secretary of state in
nation which should make war dur- , many years, Mr. Bryan has now some
ing the forbidden time marked by .thing that will make his tenure of
these treaties would stand before the ofnce memorable In the future. For
world In self-confessed contempt of
the opinions of mankind, and it has
recently been demonstrated to us
that not the most arrogant and de
spotic war lord of Europe is capable
of that hardihood.
There is a simple but cogent virtue
the normal condition of nations is
peace, not war, and when Europe
again settles down to peaceful pur
suits these treaties will be recog
nized as possessing real value in the
maintenance of amicable internation
al relations. Springfield Republican,
11
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