THE ANGLO-AMERICAN TREATY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 1035, 26 August 1911, Page 4

THE ANGLO-AMERICAN TREATY.

On the Anglo-American Arbitration Treaty, which has been signed by the American President, Mr Roosevelt made a vigorous criticism in the New York Outlook. He holds that: “Between Great Britain and the United States it is now safe to have a universal arbitration treaty, because the experience of q 6 years has shown that the two nations have achieved that point of civilisation where each can be trusted not to do to the other any of the offences which ought to preclude any self-respect-ing nation from appealing to arbitration. But . . the United

States ought never specifically' to bind itself to arbitrate questions respecting its honour, independence and integrity. Either it should be tacitly understood that the contracting Powers no more agree to surrender their right on such vital matters than a man in civil life agrees to surrender the right of self-defence; or else it should be explicitly stated that, because of the fact that it is now impossible for either party to take any action infringing the honour, independence and integrity of the other, we are willing to arbitrate all questions. Hypocrisy never pays in the long run. Even if the indifference of the majority of the nation should permit a specific agreement to be made to arbitrate such vital questions, that same majority would promptly (and quite properly) repudiate the agreement the moment it became necessary to enforce it. No selfrespecting nation, no nation worth calling a nation, would ever in actual practice consent to surrender its rights in such matters. . . . , Let the treaty either keep silent entirely about such questions, it being tacitly but with entire clearness understood that of course the two contracting parties do not surrender those rights which lie at the foundation of all that makes national life worth having; or else let it make use of a preamble which will show that they agree to arbitrate all things only because certain things have now become unthinkable and impossible. But the treaty should make no exploit declaration of a kind which would brand us with cowardice if we did live up to it, and with hypocrisy and faith if we did not live up to it. Also, it is well to remember that as there is not the slightest conceivable danger ot war between Great Britain and the United States, the arbitration treaty would have no effect whatever upon the armaments in either.”