the human family this benediction:

Glory to God in the highest,
Peace on earth, good will toward men.

And at last, in the beginning of this twentieth century, nations seem
to be visibly approaching that unity so long hoped and prayed for; and
that nation which shall precede all others in the abolition of war
will be crowned by history with everlasting honor. The risk will be
very little, the gain incalculable.

We are coming to believe that the most significant fact about man and
his civilization is their improvability. Individual inventive genius
has added improvement after improvement until it would seem that man's
mastery over nature is to be well-nigh complete as these ideas and
inventions are socialized and extended to benefit all. We are now
entering the era of social achievement when mankind unitedly
undertakes by organization and cooperation mightier tasks than ever
accomplished before. Many dreadful diseases are disappearing before
preventive medicine, and sanitary science is eliminating many plagues;
pestilence is coming to be a thing of the past. Human welfare is now
the concern of cooperative mankind, and social science will condemn
and banish war or fail to establish itself as an applied science. It
_can_ be done! It _ought_ to be done! It _will_ be done!

And although this consummation seems to many far away, it may be
accomplished by very simple methods. It only waits the time of
concerted action on the part of the leading nations when the
principles of arbitration can be invoked more fully, and a world-court
established with plenary powers for settling all disputes between the
nations.

International legislation has occurred repeatedly, though no
world-court has as yet been established. In the case of the Universal
Postal Union we have what is tantamount to world-legislation, in that
all civilized nations have entered into a formal agreement regarding
the delivery of mail. Another instance of practical world-legislation
is that of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. Many
other examples might be given in which several nations are parties to
an agreement regarding some important measure, such as the respect
paid to the flag of truce, the regulations concerning commerce on the
high seas, and the etiquette of diplomacy. Paramount in
world-importance has been the agreement of the leading nations of the
world in the establishment of the Hague conferences for the
amelioration of war.