The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1889. ARBITRATION V. WAR.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1862, 7 March 1889, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, MARCH 7, 1889. ARBITRATION V. WAR.

His Excellency Sir William Jeetois has during his term of office in this colony, and, indeed, throughout his long and useful career, proved himself to be a thoroughly practical and capable man. He is by no means a visionary; he takes sound, sensible views of all questions, and his opinions are generally the result of mature deliberation. It is only natural, therefore, that his utterances should have great weight, more especially when the" subject under discussion is that for which Sir William has been specially trained. When, therefore, His Excellency said at a lecture over which he presided recently in Wellington, that it was hopeless to settle international disputes by peaceable arbitration and that nothing less than the Millenium would effect such a change, we are bound to accept such an opinion with great respect. Still there is no reason in the world why we should regard it as infallible because it is the opinion of Sir William Jervois, nor can there be anything extraordinary in our doubting its accuracy. Sir William has been trained for the military profession, in which he rose to distinction, and naturally the current of his thoughts turns in that direction. He is doubtless a great authority on military matters, hut the question involved is not of a military nature, but the very opposite of it, and consequently there is nothing more natural than that he should not he sound on both sides of the question. It is generally admitted that a lawyer cannot state the case of the plaintiff and defendant with equal fairness, and from this it can be argued that a soldier cannot look on peace and war without being a little prejudiced in favor of the latter. Be this as it may, we certainly do not agree with His Excellency in the matter under review. We are hopeful that the day will come when not only will international - questions be settled by peaceable arbitration, but that international disputes will get fewer and fewer till they vanish altogether. The present generation will not see it, nor probably the next, hut we are fully satisfied that the day will come when war will be a thing of the past. History will, we think, bear us out in this conten-

tion. Ancient history shows that nations were continually at war, but that as they became more enlightened and the power of kings diminished, a more peaceable spirit overspread the earth. Kings have chiefly been the cause of wars. The war between France and Germany was the result of kingly intrigue. Napoleon saw he was losing his influence over the people; he thought to reinstate himself in their,

confidence by means of a successful war, and in this he was completely disappointed, Kingly ambition and kingly despotism are the cause of the present armed state of Europe. The fear of a Russian invasion and the arrogance of Prince Bismarck have caused the whole of Europe to prepare for war. The other nations have no desire for war, but it has become necessary for them to prepare for it, owing to the actions of Russia and Germany. From this, and from history, it can be seen that the more despotic the Government is the more ready they are to go to war, and that it is very seldom war is promoted under a democracy. The civil war in the United States was a battle between democracy and despotism. The despotic slave owner insisted on a continuance of the barbarous system which gave him power to buy and sell the poor slaves; the democrat felt ashamed that such an institution should exist under the protection of a flag which boasted of being the freest in the world, and resolved to remove the disgrace. Thus it is that tyrannical despotism has always been the cause of war, but every year its power is weakening, and the time is not far distant when autocracy will be a thing of the past. As the power of despotism weakens nations will realise that man has come into the world for some end other than to butcher Ms fellow man, and that war is a crime. It is quite evident that the tendency is in that direction at present, and that every year only increases public abhorrence of war. We may therefore safely expect that international disputes will be amicably settled, but whether we shall be blessed with the Millenium before that time arrives or not is a question which we shall leave to the future to decide.