Press enter after choosing selection

Honor To Washington

Honor To Washington image Honor To Washington image
Parent Issue
Day
24
Month
February
Year
1897
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The animal addrese before the etudents of the law deparhment, was given thia year by President Henry Wade Boge-rs, of tbe Northwestern L'niversity, tra Waehing'bon's birbhday, in tibe main hall. Tbe subject chosen wias "Int-eriiational Arbitration," and lt was hiamfled io a masterly way. The great hiall was filled with people, and ttoey all anjoyed the exerc.ises vevy muoh. President Rogéis was introduced tw-iefly by Dean H-utcihins, wlth au allusion to luis work in the law department and whiat he liad accomplished elsewhere in advaJQclng the standard of legal educatdon. Dr. Hogers began hiis address wilth a trtbute to the memory of Washington and with a referenoe to the appropriateness of the celebrattan of AVashington's bñíi-thday at the uná-nersitiee of this He eontiauied by saying : ■'And in oommemoi-ating this day, the uináversities shouad ot forget that Washington was 'anE patrón of learnliDg and vea-lized fully that nattonal pi-osperity and reputation depend in great measure m the educatiioaial instit"utioní of the country, and that iluthe ïirst and last of hls anmuil addreases to oongress he advocated the establishment oi n natiomU university. "Xothiug ttoat Washington did was more credltable to hira thaa the policy which he pursued respecting loroign affaire. He so adnninistered the govérmmeat during -che war between England and l'ranoe tliat lúa administration is regarded as making an era Ln the deveiopmerats of the rfehts a-nd obHgations ot neutral powers. H mat onCy eleva'ted tlie law o{ neutuality to a higher píame than had before been occupled, but he estobïished thJB nation a wlse policy resp?ctAng our reüationfl wibh other powers whách has subsequeiïtiy been consistentjy adbered to and irom ■which, let us ho:pe, we shall never depart. We can do do better on this commemorativiB day tiian to turn our thoughts to the desiirabiïity of cultiviati-ng peace a.nd luirmony with the nations, remembering that there is no better way by Whloh thls can be done than by submiitting our intenmtikm-al differences w-hen they arise to tribunal of arbitration. The theme oi international a.rliitration is appropriate to the day wc celébrate, for it was du'rimg Wa-shington's administrataian tliat the Uwited States ïirst submitited lts ditferences to tliat met,h,od of adjustment. It i also appropriate to the p;aoe, ioasmuch as tlie viO'ice of the represenbative ol tuis university bas spoken in its favor. In the Amerdoan conference on international arbitration, held in Waabing-üon in April, 1S96, the principies of arbiMration liad no inore eloquent advocate thian thO president oí the University of Michigan, and as ehairman. of a coinniibtee of eminent genttemen ive had the honor to report tihe resolutiioms adopted by the conierenoe." Dr. Hogers 1-eviewed the history of settlement of private wrongs from pTlmiitivo metJiiOds of coaflict through tihe establishment of oourts of justice and saW : "The Mstory of civilizar tion is a hisbory of tlie supp'Janting of force by law. The next loglcal step would eeem to be the withdrawal of international disputes from the arbiti-ament of war and their submisston to the decisión of some properly oonstdltuted tribunal. Tliat lime will come -w-heu-ever people recognlze that there is not one moral luw ïor men and ano Uier tor n&tions, and thiat a state's responsibxity fcwkeepïng peace wtbli o'tlier natiojis is not uiïüke .that of the individuáis respcmstbility tor keeping peace with his ieHlows. "Soine people talk highly of war and appear to think that a war spirit is sumethiug to be eucouraged. They seem to regurd peace sentirueut as an evidence of uational degeneracy. A day or two a;;o, a prominent meinber of tlie senate of the United States announced that lie liad no use for any arbitration treaty : war was a good thing, that lie 'loved the bloody revolution,' and he calli d attention to the fact that the American senate had uever pronounced war unjnstiñable. In an address delivered at Harvard College on Decoration Day, 1895, Judge Oliver Wendell Holmes, of the Suprenie Court of Massachusetts, declared that the ideáis of the past, for Tiien, had heen drawn from war and that he doubted if we were ready to give up our inheritance. He announced that the message of war was divine, and that some teachei of this kind was needed to breed a race fit for leadership and command. It seems to me that such sentiments are to be deplored, and that it is a grave nstake to incúlcate the doctrine that we are likely to become (Contlnued on 4th Page.) HONOR TO WASHINGTON, (Continúes from Ist Page.1 degenerate unless we occasionally kill sonie one or stand up ourselves to be killed. "The arbitratioii of international differences is biing made uecessary, whether men will or uo, by the burden imposed on the people by militarism. Already Greece is understood to be baukruptand Spain, Italy aud Portugal iré tliouglit to be last tending to similar eondition. How much better would it be for civilization and tlie well-beiug oí society to devote the vast suua ot' nioiiey tliu.s expended to the cause of eduuation ! War can never be impossible, only the sbadow of a possibility. W'hen that condition is reached it will nol long thereafter continue to be said, as as it is now said, that one-tbird of the taxes of Europe go to pay war debts, aud another third to pay war uruiauients." President Rogers further said that international arbitration liad becotne i necessity through the efiectiveness of modern weapons. He also said that organized labor is on the side of international arbitration. He reviewed at length tli e history of arbitration and said that the agitation in favor of arbitration in modern times had its origin in this country. Continuing, he spoke of the treaty of arbitration bttween Englaud and the United States, of whicli he said : "It rellects the highest honor on our diplomacy, on our race, and on the age in which we live. It eertainly will be a very great disappointinent to the people of two ronutries if i he opportonity oí setting so splendid au example sliall be lost because of the failure of the sonate of the United States t ratify the treaty now in its posseasion. It is incredible to believe that senators of this United States will hetray so great a cause of international arbitration on grounds sopetty and ianoble as those which have been assigned as likely to influence thpir action. Men trirle with the hiccliest interests of mankind who hang up the treaty or amend it iu the hope of indirectly defeating it, in order to rebuke a of state whom they may not admire, or a president whom they may dislike. "It cannot be doubted on which side of the question George Washington would Ve could he return and move once more among his couutryuien. On this anniversarv day may the pure and lofty spirit of the Father of His Country anímate the men who determine the policy of the nation which he established. Then may w confldeutly expect to see a splendid example set, which shall be, in Lord KiissrII'r words, 'of lasting influeuce to the world. "

Article

Subjects
Old News
Ann Arbor Courier