al
Court, established by the Hague Conference in 1899, actually lives,
and has already adjudicated four important controversies.[1] But
arbitration, you say, will never succeed because the decisions cannot
be enforced. You forget that already some two hundred and fifty
disputes have been settled by this method, and in not one instance has
the losing power refused to abide by the decision.

[1] From October 14, 1902, the date of the first decision,
up to the end of 1913, the Permanent Court has rendered
thirteen decisions settling international
differences.--_Editor._

Yesterday the man who advocated universal peace was called a dreamer;
to-day throughout the world organized public opinion demands the
abolition of war. Yesterday we erected statues to those who died for
their country; to-day we eulogize those who live for humanity.
Yesterday we bowed our heads to the god of war; to-day we lift our
hands to the Prince of Peace.

I do not mean to say that we have entered the Utopian age, for the
present international situation is a peculiar one, since we are at the
same time blessed with peace and cursed with militarism. This is not
an age of war, yet we are burdened by great and ever-increasing
armaments; the mad race for naval supremacy continues, while the
relative strength of the powers remains practically the same; the
intense and useless rivalry of the nations goes on until, according to
the great Russian economist, Jean de Bloch, it means "slow destruction
in time of peace by swift destruction in the event of war." In Europe
to-day millions are being robbed of the necessaries of life, millions
more are suffering the pangs of abject poverty in order to support
this so-called "armed peace." Note the condition in our own country.
Last year we expended on our army, navy, and pensions sixty-seven per
cent of our total receipts. Think of it! In a time of profound peace
more than two thirds of our entire expenditures are charged to the
account of war.

We do not advocate radical, Utopian measures; we do not propose
immediate disarmament; but we do maintain that when England, Germany,
France, and the United States each appropriates from thirty to forty
per cent of their total expenditures in preparation for war in an age
of peace, the time has come for the unprejudiced consideration of the
present international situation. Why do the great powers build so many
battleships? President Roosevelt, Representa