And then it will fail unless given power to enforce its decrees.
That power will never be vested in it by the nations, not in this generation at least.
All plans for arbitration rest on the same insecure foundation.
Arbitration voluntarily of any one controversy between nations is practicable, where consent is expressly given to arbitrate that particular controversy.
But a general plan based on an agreement made in advance to arbitrate all future unknown controversies would be unenforceable and would afford no assurance of peace.
The plan for an international force, either army or navy, is too remote a possibility to be depended on now for practical results.
Agitation of these projects is commendable and should be encouraged, but we cannot wait for their adoption to set our own house in order and insure its safety.
In framing a national policy of peace for the United States, we must constantly and clearly draw the line of distinction between the deep-seated original causes of war, and causes which are secondary, or merely precipitating incidents.
The assassination of the Austrian Archduke in Sarajevo precipitated the present war, but it was not the cause of the war.
Fundamentally, that cause was the check imposed by other nations on the expansion of the German Empire. The necessity for that expansion resulted from the rapid increase in the population, trade, and national wealth of Germany.