134-3 .' ~^.\ I • ( ■( ill B. p, Cornell University VB Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924007386992 at: a plan and a plea liiil 3 1924 007 386 992 THE PREVENTION OF WAR. ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPAN^^- EDINBURGH AND LONDON THE PREVENTION OF WAR a l^lan anil a plea. POLITY: EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION. EXECUTIVE: A TRIBUNAL. ALSO, ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. LONDON: TRtJBNER & CO., 60 PATERNOSTER ROW . 1871. \^All rights reserued.'\ 1 PREFACE. " Till the war-drum throbb'd no longer, and the battle flags were furl'd In the parliament of man, the federation of the world. There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe ; And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law.'' — LochsUv Hall. " Until it is agreed and enforced that no nation in Europe shall take possession of another, or of any part, international law wiU be no better than quibble and contradiction." • . . . . " A housebreaker is condemned to die ; a city-breaker is celebrated by an inscription on the gate. The murder of thousands, soon perpetrated and past, is not the greatest vi PREFACE. mischief he does : it is followed by the baseness of millions deepening for ages." .... " If the wiser and better of every country were its gover- nors, there would be few wars, few wants, few vices, few miseries." .... " Every chief magistrate should be arbitrator and umpire in all differences between any two, forbidding war. Much would be added to the dignity of the most powerful king by rendering him an efficient member of such a grand Amphic- tyonic Council." — Imaginary Conversations. "Nor will the work of civilisation be complete tUl the nations of the world shall have established an international council— call it what you wiU — with a tribunal strong enough to put down international violence, and to administer justice between nation and nation, as certainly and as peacefully as between man and man."— The Usages of War, Q. E. " All things speak Peace, harmony, and love. The universe, In Nature's silent eloquence, declares That all fulfil the works of love and joy — All but the outcast, Man. He fabricates The sword which stabs his peace." PREFACE. " War is the statesman's game, the priest's delight, The lawyer's jest, the hired assassin's trade ; And, to those royal murderers whose mean thrones Are bought by crimes of treachery and gore, The bread they eat, the staff on which they lean. War, with its million horrors and fierce heU, Shall live but in the memory of Time, Who, like a penitent libertine, shall start, Look back, and shudder at his younger years." — Qixeen Mob. " How diflScult and how noble it is to govern in kindness, and to found an empire upon the everlasting basis of justice and affection ! But what do men call vigour ? To let loose hussars and to bring up artillery, to govern with lighted matches, and to cut, and push, and prime, — I call thisnot vigour, but the sloth of cruelty and ignorance. The vigour I love consists in finding out wherein subjects are aggrieved, in relieving them, in studying the temper and genius of a people, in consulting their prejudices, in selecting proper persons to lead and manage them, in the laboriousj watchful, and difficult task of increasing public happiness, by allaying each particular discontent." — Sydrwy Smith, PREFACE. ix " All Asia was mined and destroyed for the ungovemed lust of one lascivious Paris. Tlie envy of one single man, a de- spite, a pleasure, or a domestic jealousie, causes that ought not to set two oyster-wenches by the ears, is the mover of all this mighty bustle." — Cotton's Montaigne. " Alas ! we have been at war thirty-five minutes out of every hour since the peace of Utrecht." — Sydney Smith, 1827. " King out the thousand wars of old, King in the thousand years of peace." — In, Memoriam. " European society is in a state of transition from Feudal to Federal principles." — Disraeli. " For England and the world, the great lesson seems to be that, on a large scale, Federation is the only mode by which the rights and the progress of the whole and of the parts can be accommodated." — Partridge on Democracy. " What, speaking in quite unofficial language, is the net purport and upshot of war ? To my own knowledge, for X PREFACE. example, there dwell and toil in the British village of Dum- drudge usually some five hundred souls. From these, by cer- tain ' Natural Enemies ' of the French, there are successively selected, during the French war, say thirty able-bodied men. Dumdrudge, at her own expense, has suckled and nursed them ; she has, not without difficulty and sorrow, fed them up to man- hood, and even trained them to crafts, so that one can weave, another build, another hammer, and the weakest can stand under thirty stone avoirdupois. Nevertheless, amid much weeping and swearing, they are selected, all dressed in red, and shipped away, at the public charges, some two thousand mUes away, or say only to the south of Spain, and fed there till wanted, And now to that same spot, in the south of Spain, are thirty similar French artisan?, from a French Dum- drudge, in like manner wending, till at length, after infinite efibrt, the two parties come into actual juxtaposition, and thirty stand facing thirty, each with a gun in his hand. Straightway the word 'fire !' is given, and they blow the souls out of one another; and, in place of sixty brisk, useful craftsmen, the world has sixty dead carcases, which it must bury, and anew shed testrs for. Had these men any quarrel ? Busy as the devil is, not the smallest ! They lived far enough apart, were the entirest strangers ; nay, in so wide a universe, there was even, unconsciously, by commerce, some mutual helpfulness between them. How then? Simpleton! their governors have fallen out ; and, instead of shooting one another, had the cunning to make these poor blockheads shoot. Alas ! so it is in Deutschland, and hitherto in all other lands ; still, as of old, ' what devilry soever kings do, the Greeks must pay the piper.' " — Sartor Resartus. PREFACE. xi " And this is the nineteenth century, and Europe professes civilisation, and France boasts of culture, and Frenchmen are braining one another with the butt-ends of muskets, and Paris is burning. We want but a Nero to fiddle." — Daily News' Paris Letter, May 26, 1871. " It is only by a well-organised system of alliances, or, in other words, intervention, that the bloated armaments of Europe can be reduced ; for States can then club forces, instead of being each bound to maintain an army capable of acting unaided and alone." — Saiv/rday Review, May 27, 1871. THE PREVENTION OF WAR A PLAN AND A PLEA. To THOMAS SINGLE, Esq., Itiy,House, Woodford, who suggested the hading idea contained in these pages. THE PREVENTION OF WAR. The late Franco-German War has been so sympathy for sufffiriiiff vividly placed before us by able and courag- eous newspaper correspondents, and by graphic sketches in our illustrated journals, that cer- tainly no war in ancient or modern times has caused so much mental suffering and anguish on the part of friendly neutral states. Not only have the non-combatant populations of France and Germany suffered and mourned for their lost brethren, but every feeling heart throughout Europe and America has been har- rowed by the events so photographically re- vealed. While the world is satiated with this war. The time , tor federal and its saddening mfluence is fresh upon us, ''"'"'• would be a fitting moment to discuss the possibility of European Confederation, and the establishing of a Tribunal the existence of i8 EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION, which might render such wars of improbable occurrence in the future. cmS"" ^^ ^'^ nation in Europe are civU disputes permitted to be settled by physical force, but laws are established and courts of law consti- tuted for the due adjustment of all such dis- agreements, and the decrees are duly enforced by legalised strength. If a man suffers or is aggrieved by the conduct of another, he does not resort to personal power, but resolves, on a loftier adjudication of his wrongs, which, while being the safer and more dignified course for him to pursue, is equally efficacious in its result. Instances indeed occur of attempts to put legal decisions at defiance ; but society is too strong for the recusant resistance, and fighting between persons or bodies of men is speedily put down by the simple machinery of consti- tuted authority.* Would it not be possible to expand this * At tie present moment we are painfully reminded of the fact that a body of men in France have not been restored to order by the usual legal measures, but that they are fatally combating their right to secede. The rebellion in the French capital would, however, have been subdued at its outbreak had not the entire country been weakened and disjointed by th^ late war. WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 19 system of internal government, and make it ks extension •' D ' to national applicable to the whole community of European '^"°"""''- states, by the establishment of a permanent In- ternational Tribunal for the settlement of dis- putes, and for tihe enforcement of its decisions, when necessary, by armed power 1 — a corporate Tribunal, whose verdict should be final, and the refusal to acknowledge which by any given state should bring down on such state the combined strength of all the other nations so leagued. Just as we have a House of Lords in England, which is the highest tribunal in the land, and to which all the corporate bodies throughout the country are subordinate, so might we have an International Court which should be the highest tribunal in Europe, and to which the various Parliaments should, in their turn, be affliated and yet subject. The proposal may be briefly defined under a Digest ot •t -t J J Scheme. few heads : — 1. The establishment of a European Con- federation, comprising aU nations thereunto agreeing, and having an executive in the shape of a Permanent International Tribunal. 2. That each nation joining the Confedera- tion should agree to place its military force 20 EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION, imder the control of the Tribunal, and to devote its strength to the enforcement of the confed- erate decrees. 3. That each nation should bind itself in the most solemn manner, by large monetary recog- nisances if necessary, to abide by the decisions of the Tribiinal. 4. That the International Tribunal should consist of Eepresentatives from the various nations so leagued, the number from each to be determined by its importance in respect, say, population, manufactures, exports, or other claims. 5. That all disputes or any supposed casus belli arising in the Confederation be referred to the Tribunal, where opportunity would exist for the fullest discussion. 6. That the decisions of the Tribunal, when necessary, should be enforced by the combined military strength of the federated countries. Moral ot In this last clause, the power to enforce, lies physical J i requisite, thc gcrm of these proposals. International con- ference, which is the highest form of arbitration we have yet attaiiied to, invariably breaks down, and, in a few years, most of the solemn WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 21 treaties signed by the associated powers are not worth the paper on which they are written. As soon as a nation's honour is in the slightest degree supposed to be impugned, it bristles up and declares its intention for war, forgetful that in so doing that nation is breaking its honour and the pledge made only a few years previously. A combined power, superior to that of any nation, is required, either to allay disputes by moral suasion, or to enforce obe- dience to Treaties by physical strength. At the close of the Russian War, and chiefly The Treaty •' of 1856. by the ardent advocacy of the late Mr Cobden, England included in the treaty of peace a scheme of arbitration, and this treaty was signed by Eussia, France, Turkey, and Sardinia. The good intentions were, however, speedily forgotten — and why \ Because there was no Tribunal which could consolidate the treaty then made into international law : no Confe- deration which could enforce that law when made, and make it an abiding policy. An International Tribunal would preserve the good intentions displayed at Conferences — would bring all the fugitive Treaties into one focus — would make the various codes of International 22 M UROPEAN CONFEDERA TION, Law coherent, comprehensive, aiad practical ; and from this luminous body of all that was noble, lofty, and cultivated woiild riadiatfe the blessings of justice and peace. Penalties o£ If the various nations of Europe would once secession. -t enter into this federal bond, and pledge them- selves to abide by the decisions of this high civU Tribunal, the penalties of secession might be made so severe as to insure perpetual unity. The first and severest penalty would be the declaration of war against a refractory state ; next, all import and export of the same country could be stopped ; and, as in common law we bind over the pugnaciously disposed to keep the peace, so might bellicose nations be so bound in huge sums of money. In addition to the moral stigma that would attach to a nation breaking its word, and being the first to revert to the barbarous expedient of war, the strength of the Confederation would render such a course utterly futile in its results. Peace pre- It was ofteu Said during the early part of the served by the o j s: Tribunal: rgceut war that, had England sided with Ger- many, France would not have dared to go to war. This is the very principle of federacy, and the extension of which we advocate. How WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 23 mucli more certain than England's intervention would peace have been preserved had the de- claration of war on the part of France, or the proposal of the Spanish HohenzoUern scheme on the part of Prussia, been in direct violation of the principles of a federal Tribunal. Either nation would then have provoked the com- bined forces -of Europe against it, and peace , must have been maintained. Had an International Tribunal existed when Example o( its influence France was aggrieved by the proposal of a Ho- "n/guss'ia. henzoUern for the throne of Spain, how much more dignified, and how much more simple, for her to have appealed to such a Court for the prompt abandonment of the scheme, than that M. Benedetti should have had his flippant in- terviews with King William. The King with- drew his candidate for the Spanish throne, and it then became a question as to his never again advancing his family claims in that direction. This was a question which an International Court could have weighed and speedily given a just verdict upon. Had the verdict been that Prussia should give the desired promise, she would doubtless have done so, or would have had arraigned against her the various 24 EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION, allied nations ,of Europe. Had the judgment been that Prussia was justified in refusing to give the promise, then France would have had to submit, or, in her turn, have had the com- bined strength of the Federation opposed to her. In either case, war would have been prevented. Instead of this appeal to the corporate wisdom of a high court, the vital question of peace or war was decided by two men — one exigent al- most to arrogance, the other construing the request into a threat. Corporate It mav be urged that this was not the real strength ■' ° paramount, gause of the war, but that, from the force of uncontrollable circumstances, it became unpre- ventible. So far as France and Prussia were concerned, this probably was the case ; but had the machinery of an International Tribunal been in existence, their individual grievances would have been operated upon by the whole of Europe, and they would not have been allowed to break the peace. A retrospect. A short letrospcct will show how benefi- cial European Confederation would be. Had a Tribunal existed in 1864, Prussia need not have made her successful raid against Denmark. The Baltic provinces of Schleswig-Holstein WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 25 miglit have been ceded to her by moral right, on her adducing the same convincing evidence by the tongue that she did by the sword.* This may sound Utopian and sentimental in the extreme, but it is only so because our idea of power is associated with that of war, and be- cause moral force has been so long subordinate to brute force. Prussia's quarrel with Austria and her great war with France might both have been averted had an International Tribunal existed, with a strong Federal army to enforce its decisions. How much European misery would have been unification of Germany prevented had these questions been settled by law instead of war it is needless to refer to. The unification of Germany is the grand result of all this bloodshed, and a desirable and noble result it is. But surely a nation of such high intellec- tual prowess might have brought about this desirable political end by loftier means than the old and savage arbitrament of war. Before a Tribunal of Justice she would have found an arena as well fitted to her powers — a mental * " Malthus and Wilberforce : — The last set free The Negroes, and is worth a million fighters ; While Wellington has but enslaved the Whites." — Don Juan, 26 , EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION, arena, where tlie brain-power of Prince Bismarck, the strategy of Count Moltke, and the executive power of her Princes, would have been equally successful ; and if not displayed by the same men, might have evoked stiU nobler champions, applied to This German unity which has thus been the whole of Europe. brought about is of the kind we wish to see applied to the whole of Europe. We hear much of the value this union wiU be to Germany ; from a number of disjointed and weak states she will become a strong and compact empire; instead of petty quarrels she will have concord; in place of divided councils she wiU have cor- porate wisdom ; instead of probable war she will have peace : all these advantages might be secured to the whole of Europe if a Con- federation could be formed. This union of Germany accommodates the differences in re- ligious beliefs which exist in its States, just as a European Union would accommodate the differences of political and other constitutions indigenous to each country.* * " In spite of a mutual aversion, as bitter as ever separated one people from another, the two kingdoms which compose our island have been indissolubly joined together. . . . And why are they so ? The answer is simple. The nations are one for all the ends of government, because in their union WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 27 ■ The present condition of the nations ofDestmctioa ■^ for want of Europe might be likened to that of a number ^°"y- of ships in a dock without moorings. Blown about by the shifting winds of heaven, they come into collision, the larger destroying the smaller by their superior impetus, and the new iron-plated vessels breaking down the old wooden ones. The countries of Europe require mooring-chains, and to be firmly attached to the buoy of Confederation. The present is a most fitting time for aEngiand-s •^ ^ place to Federal movement, and various arguments ^''g™^'^?^^ could be enumerated why England should take the initiative in this noble work. She has striven for years by example and precept to give constitutional governments to other countries : as Mr Bright has eloquently said, "England is the Mother of Parliaments ;" and she has seen her form of legislature success- fully developed in most of the countries of Europe. Her Indian policy may at times have the true ends of government alone were kept in sight. The nations are one because the churches are two. Such is the union of England with Scotland, an union which resembles the union of, the limbs of one healthful and vigorous body, all moved by one will, all co-operating for common ends." — Maoaiday. 28 EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION, been at fault, but tbere also federation under control has been established. A large number of unfriendly and quarrelsome States have been successfully bound together; and the result is a vast empire ruled by the most simple machinery. The attempt to form a permanent Interna- tional Tribunal would be kindred enterprise, and -would be as likely, in coming from England, to be successful as from any other source. Mr Greg, in one of his able " Political Problems," advances the opinion that England's mission for the future is to withdraw from European action as much as possible, and to devote her- self to the great work she has in the East and in her Colonies. In a new work on Canada, the author, Mr Marshall, advocates the same course. But in England's attempting to organ- ise a European Confederation, she would not be pursuing her old policy of intervention, or her more recent policy of mild expostulation. She would be taking the first steps towards that more perfect future in the government of Europe which, in one form or other, must come. Association Would it uot bc posslblc for there to be more in high «»"'• association between the Courts of Europe — WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 29 more interchange of thought and individual courtesy among those " high in the councils of the State" — more friendships formed by per- sonal contact, which, in critical periods, might be remembered to advantage % Might there not be — and we say it with all deference — more fre- quent intercourse between those august person- ages, the Princes of Europe 1 We have states- men, philosophers, and philanthropists, who fight the battle of peace ; but we fail to notice that any of our sovereign potentates take a part in this good work. Louis PhUippe is gratefully remembered for his efforts to keep Europe in peace, and memorable in the annals of history would the monarch become who should at the present juncture take the initia- tive in the noble work of fraternity and peace, and pursue it personally ; ardently advocating that mercy which — " becomes The thjoned monarch, better than his crown " — mercy to the people ; to the simple and obe- dient, who have to risk their lives often for an idea. There is no doubt of the power and the Power ot ■■■ Royal work. prestige which attaches to royal work. Prince Albert fully proved this in his too short career. 30 EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION, And in England taking the initial step to- wards a federation with universal peace for its object, there would be an especial appropriate- ness in such policy proceeding from the Go- ' vernment of a Lady Sovereign.* Good work The recent Conference on the Eastern ques- achieved by arbitration, ^jqq^ although it may not have redounded to England's valour in the opinion of military enthusiasts, has shown what may be done in the way of arbitration. And noble work has just been achieved by the High Joint Commis- sion in Washington ; possibly the prevention of a war between England and America, than which nothing could be more deplorable. We are taunted for our extreme humility in this Washington Conference ; but, after all, it is the humility of conscience rather than fear. A single man does not dread a duel so much as he who * " A second great object which I hope will be impressed upon the mind of this royal lady, is a rooted horror of war — an earnest and passionate desire to keep her people in a state of profound peace. . . , Say, upon your deathbed, I have made few orphans in my reign — I have made few widows— my object has been peace. I have used all the weight of my character, and all the power of my situation, to check the irascible! passions of mankind, and to turn them to the arts of honest industry : this has been the Christianity of my throne, and this the gospel of my sceptre," — Syi,ney Smith's Sermon on the Duties of the Queen, WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 31 has a family. We have more at stake than other countries in going to war, see its futility more clearly, and are more anxious to settle disputes by reason and forbearance. There is an almost universal desire that national dis- putes should be settled by arbitration : all that is wanted is permanent machinery, an active, ever-Avatchful assembly of good and noble men to codify these treaties into compact and in- violable law, and to constitute a Tribunal of Justice. The possibility of European Federation has England and been rendered of more easy accomplishment """^'i- by the late war, A great power has arisen, which, notwithstanding all that has been said to the contrary, must, from the nature of things, be friendly towards England. Germany and England are of the same great Teutonic race, very similar in brain-power, both pro- gressive, and their peoples (whatever individual men in power may be) pf efer in their hearts the arbitrament of reason to that of force. A good deal of the bitterness, almost contemptuous hatred, displayed by the. Germans during the war arose from the innate difference between the Teuton and the Gallic races. During the 32 EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION, latter part of the war there was a temporary feeling of resentment in England against the Germans; they displayed such a lack of gener- osity and chivalry toward the fallen foe, such a savage determination to conquer, that when a telegram announced a German reverse, it was received with gladness by the majority of the people here. And yet this feeling arose from a kindly sentiment rather than reason, for one could not help acknowledging that the Germans were right in taking every possible advantage in a war which was costing them so dear. raTeS" ^® believe in the possibility of an union aiimace. -jjetween England and Germany, more from their common origin than from any dynastic or political reasons. Professor Max Mliller has said : " To these two nations, so bound together by the voice of conscience, belongs the political guidance of Europe in the immediate future. The political guidance of the world is vested in the English, the Americans, and the Germans. If these three Teutonic nations hold together, the world may have peace again, and the other nations, with France at their head, may give up the contest of arms, and take up again the prouder contest of industry, science, manners. WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 33 and character. If these three Teutonic nations are divided by European jealousy and pride, the demoniacal powers of war will never be fettered." Thus may we hope that in the attempt to establish a Federation we should have a firm ally in Germany. A Teutonic Federation would be the most ^^derai com- binations. natural, and perhaps the strongest of all unions. England, Germany, and America firmly allied might secure the peace of the world ; or, at least, would form so strong a nucleus as to command the immediate adhesion of numerous other states. There has been nothing in the conduct of our cousins of the New World to show that they would be averse to such a family union. They have -been- persistent, almost disagreeably so, in the Alabama ques- tion, but that has been only used as an instru- ment to show their strength and their dislike of our patronage,* rather than as a cause for * " Dear old, long-estranged mother-in-law, it is a great many years since we parted. Since 1660, when you married again, you have been a step-mother to us. Put on your spectacles, dear madam. Yes ; we have grown, and changed likewise. You would not let us darken your doors if you could help it. We know that perfectly well. But pray when we look to be C 34 EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION, real war, from which they would shrink as much as ourselves. Germany promises peace, and the last message of her plain-spoken minister strengthens the impression — " Our men," he says, "are longing to be back, and to exchange the rifle for the spade and the mattock." Happy augury ! Well-directed effort could speedily blend these three nations for good. The peace of Europe might be secured by either of the two following com- binations : — England, Germany, and France ; or, England, Germany, and Kussia. Either would form so powerful a Federation as to induce numerous allies. Gradual At first it would be necessary for the nations ofam's™ so leagued to maintain their present forces, but every nation that afterwards threw in its adhesion would, by reducing the opposition, enable the Federation to diminish its arms, until, in a very short time, a mere military nucleus in each country would be all that was requisite. This condition attained, it would be the duty of the International Tribunal, treated as men, don't shake that rattle in our faces, nor talk baby to us any longer." ■ — J. Edssbll Lowell, on a certain condescension in Foreigners. WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 35 by means of ambassadors and agents in each country, to watch carefully and report any preparation for war. The arsenals and dock- yards in each nation are not so numerous but that their actual condition of activity or quiescence could always be known. Thus, as each country has its police, so would the Federation, and any bellicose intentions could be crushed in their very conception. The establishment of a Federation, with Armed force superseded. power to carry out the decisions of its Tri- bunal by armed force, would be the greatest guarantee of safety against the cupidity of nations and the ambition of individuals. The enforcement of decrees by arms would speedily fall into disuse, and be as rare in European government as it is now in domestic govern- ment. The various nations would very soon begin to regard a Court of Reason as paramount ; and any aggressive designs, although such might be conceived, and sometimes justly so,* would have to be brought before the Tribunal in the ordinary legal way, instead of being as hitherto * " Annexation is no crime when it is the substitution of a just and vigorous government for a wicked and wortUess one." — Fkoudb. 36 EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION, referred to the cruel and often unjust' arbitra- ment of war. Germany Let US assumo tHat a Federation has been and Holland. , , , , established with a Tribunal m operation, and the question arises as to the expediency of Germany possessing Holland. Instead of going to war, Germany, as a member of the Federal union, would bring the matter before the Tribunal. This would be done in the most efficient manner possible, introducing aU the arguments for the scheme that could be con- ceived : the smallness of the Dutch kingdom, the a,dvantages it would have as forming part of a powerful and intellectual empire, the im- portance of its sea-board to Germany, &c. Holland would be duly represented by counsel, and it would be the, duty of the Tribunal to decide whether Holland should or should not be annexed to Germany. Should the Tribunal decide that that industrious and courageous little country, which has preserved its exist- ence no less by its military valour than by its engineering skill, should stiU maintain its independence, then Germany would have to withdraw the proposal; and any attempt to disregard the verdict would be as unusual, and WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 37 as futile, as such a course would be in civil law. Or, again, there is the grievous and ,perr manent Eastern question. Eussia stUl holds Russia and •*■ Turkey. the sword of Damocles over the head of the sick man, and recently it oscillated most omniously. Again it has been steadied, and this time without bloodshed. But at any moment it may fall, and the result be most calamitous to England. This would be a great question for a Tribunal, and might be effectively settled. It is not so much the simple possession of Turkey which we strive to prevent, as the increase of power which its conquest would give to Eussia. The existence of that ambitious empire, with its eighty millions of inhabitants, is enough in itself to show the necessity of Federal union on the part of the nations of Western Europe. Once , establish this counter-balance, and the an- nexation of Turkey by Eussia would not be of such vital importance as it now assumes. If Eussia were a member of the Confederation, , she might advance her claims boldly ; and if she could show just cause for the possession of Turkey in the necessity of increasing her sea- 38 EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION, ports, then it might come to pass. Already the almost dead-lock in her finances, and her otherwise effete condition, is producing indif- ference as to the fate of Turkey, except in its political results. The civiiwar Thcu there is the present deadly civil strife in France. The differences between the Ee- public and the Commune are such as could easUy have been settled by a Tribunal of arbi- tration. The greater municipal freedom of Paris, which will most probably be the result of this disgraceful warfare, mi^t have been assured by moral agitation. These and such like questions could come before the Tribunal, and be as effectively settled by civil law as by the sad expedient of war ; much more so indeed, for wars are rarely definite in their results, and often leave political questions in greater confusion than before. Desire in Notwithstanding aU that is urged against England _ ° _ . . for peace. i\^q policy of non-iutervention, there is no doubt but that it is gaining ground in Eng- land, and that there is a strengthening dis- like to wars.' We are almost ready to adopt the policy of peace-at-any-price ; and, whatever WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 39 may be the feeling in other nations of Europe, there is in this country a desire for a long term of peace* — a desire so strong that its nianifes- tation has somewhat degraded us in the eyes of other States. England has been the great pioneer of Teuton bravery and fortitude in all parts of the world ; let her now become the pioneer of a peaceful Federation ; and, as she has been strong and successful materially, let her be so morally. Let her hoist the white flag, and other nations will speedily rally to the standard of universal peace.f A member of the House of Commons stated rnjust war is but legal , the other night that " the noblest of all pro- °"™''- fessions was that of arms." European war, however, can only be noble in so far as it is * " We may safely say that in our country a love of war is, as a national taste, utterly extinct. And this vast result has been effected, not by moral teachings, nor by the dictates of moral instinct, but by the simple fact that, in the progress of civilisation, there have been formed certain classes of society which have an interest in the preservation of peace, and whose united authority is sufficient to control those other classes whose interest lies in the prosecution of war The decline of -the warlike spirit is owing to the increase of the intellectual classes, to whom the military classes are necessarily antagonistic." — Buckle's History of Civilisation. t " By reason of the existence "of some few really free states, will the empire of civilisation, freedom, and with it uni/oerscd peace, gradually embrace the whole world." — Fiehte. 40 EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION; defensive war. In a group of nations, where all are equally civilised, aggressive war ceases to be noble, and the profession of arms sinks to mere legal crime. " Eash, fniitlefis war, from wanton glory waged, Is only splendid murder." "War's a brain-spattering, windpipe-sUtting art, Unless her cause by rigbt be sanctified." The subjugation of India was noble, be- cause, at the cost of a few lives and a short reign of terror, we established for a whole empire a higher and more beneficent mode of life. It is only to accomplish such, work as this that future wars wiU be justifiable, and even iii this function they will, in time, be superseded by nobler methods. War is self- If ouce Europcau Federation could be estab- ciiEfciidsrfid ' lished, war would die of its own inertia. The existence of standing armies and the inven- tion of new engines of war conduce greatly to war itself. Just as a boy becoming pos- sessed of a knife never rests till he has tried its powers, so is a nation with a splendidly equipped army impelled by th6 mere possession to test its capacity. The possession of means is a strong incentive to employ them, and a king WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 41 conscious of this power looks to the formation of new geographical boundaries more readily than if these claims were to be advanced by moral force. There is something demoniacal in the picture presented to us of an amiable man like the ex-Emperor gloating over his mitrail- leuse, and practising it daily in the gardens of St Cloud. He who should be a guardian of life and peace plotting against both, and hoping, by a mere mechanical invention; to pro- long those dynastic claims which a vacillating people fq,iled to appreciate, or which personal virtue failed to establish. The possession of the Chassepot and the Mitrailleuse, the Needle- gun and the Krupp cannon, had much to do with the origin of the late war. The mere existence , of such instruments is infectious, and constitute a military malaria as fatal and much more disgraceful to humanity than the exhalations which cause disease. Their pos- session is igneous, and the flame of war as often breaks forth from petty incidents* as from national grievances. * " He knew that a basin of water spilt On Mrs Masham's gown deprived the Duke of Marlborough of his command, and led to the inglorious Peace of Utrecht — ^that Louis XIV. was plunged into the most desolating wars because his 42 EUROPEAN CONFEDERATION. Every cadet All military schools, though at present un- a new germ of war. happUy necessary, do but engender war, and every cadet is but a new germ. A youth at Sandhurst is daily taught the elements of war. He reads the exploits of warriors, of their dis- tinction, and longs for the time when he too may perform heroic deeds and make a name. His military education being completed, he obtains a commission, and then looks to war as his chance in life. He has mastered the theory, and longs for the practice ; he is im- patient to test his abilities in actual warfare.* minister was nettled at his finding fault with a window, and wished to give him another occupation — ^that Helen lost Troy — ^that Luoretia expelled the Tarquins from Eome, and that Cara brought the Moors to Spain — that an insulted husband led the Gauls to Clusium, and thence to Rome — that a single verse of Frederick II. of Prussia on the Abbfi de Bernis, and a jest on Madame de Pompadour, led to thfe battle of Eosbaoh — that the elopement of Dearbhorgil with Mao Murchad conducted the English to the slavery of Ireland — that a personal pique between Marie Antoinette and the Duke of Orleans precipitated the first expulsion of the Bourbons — and, not to multiply instances, that Commodus, Domitian, and Caligula fell victims, not to their public tyranny, but to private vengeance — and that' an order to make Cromwell disembark from the ship in which he would have sailed to America„destroyed both King and Common- wealth." — Preface to Marino Falie.ro. * " In general it is perfectly obvious that men do necessarily absorb out of the influence in which they grow up something WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 43 As well might we expect an art-student, wlio has mastered the elements of drawing, to have no desire to paint and make a name in art, as a war-student to have no desire to fight and win a position in the world* Thus, a high class in the community of each nation is interested in war, arid the flower of our youth devote themselves to its study. Once establish a reign of peace, and man's ambition will run in other and nobler channels, and his ingenuity be devoted to loftier inventions than new en- gines of death and destruction. The recent notable improvements in these latter prove how rapid would be our progress in an oppo- site direction ; higher and more profitable employment would be developed, which, in- stead of destroying, would conserve the people. If throughout Europe one tithe of the indi- Gradual vidual effort, the corporate action, the monetary''™' expenditure which are now devoted to military which gives a complexion to their whole after character." — Feottde's Skart Stvdies. * " It is the business of every wise and good man to set himself against this passion for militaiy glory, which really seems^to be the most fruitful source of human misery." — Sydney Smith. transfonna- WITH INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL. 45 offer: let it have a splendid central court in Europe, and minor courts in each capital : let it be as permanent in its nature as our own House of Lords : let it be surrounded by all the dignities, and, if necessary, the emoluments, of ofl&ce : let it be (what Paris, in another sense, has been described as being) " the lumi- nous eye of Europe," watchful f6r peace and progress : let it be all powerful, and, while ad- vancing their individual claims, stiU supreme over any and all parliaments. It is only by the existence of a permanent, active assembly that peace can be maintained : a great Tri- bunal, physically, legally, and morally strong, to which weak nations can appeal, and by which strong nations can be governed. Thus, while each country of Europe would preserve its own independence, subject to the inevitable changes brought about by pro- gress and decay, we should have a European Confederation, a governmental perfection, as shadowed forth by our Poet-laureate in these noble, and, we trust, prophetic lines : — " Till the war-drum throbb'd no longer, and the battle-flags were furled. In the parliament of man, the federation of the world. 46 E UROPEAN CONFEDERA TION. There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe ; And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law." TMs is the future to be aimed at, and the future that will come sooner or later. The various peoples are looking forward to it, tired of the "pride, pomp, and circumstance of glorious "war," as bitter as it is disgraceful; and humiliated to think that an ambitious minister, or the exigences of an adventurous dynasty, or the military pride of a single nation, can plunge Europe into war. The hearts of the people are longing for a nobler regime, when the vital questions which now lead to war shall not be decided by this man or that man, be he minister, king, or emperor, but shall be solved by a Tribunal of corporate wisdom and power — an Areopagus to which the nations shall be pledged, which shall be as famous for its justice and impartiality as the one of old, and which shall possess the strength , to enforce its decrees. Edward Hanson. 15 Langham Place, May 20, 1871. ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. By THOMAS SINGLE. ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. It requires time, inclination, and experience in life in order to examine, carefully and ably, the principles relative to electoral qualification in our representative system. I purpose bringing forward a few general prin- ciples and facts relating to tbis subject, with a perfect indifference to tbat wbicb I may prove, desiring only to ventilate tbe now becoming all- important question, to wbom ought to be intrusted the selection of legislators ? First, then, for what portion of the population of a country ought legislation to be directed to benefit ? The whole; the poorest peasant who tills the soil, the houseless wanderer, the widow and the orphan chUd, demand the solicitude of the law- maker equally with the property-holding or monied D 50 ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. and trading classes. The best legislation for the poorest of the poor, equally with that for all other classes of the community, is the proper object to strive to compass. The poor and necessitous, the illiterate and badly educated, are not the bpst class in a community, even for their own interests, to select Members of Parliament. A labourer or mechanic may possess more general knowledge than, and be superior in his habits to, the average run of those of his class, and may feel himself, and may be acknowledged to be, a fit and proper man to have a vote for a Member of Parlia- ment. But this vote is no abstract, nor moral, nor natural right, as it is asserted to be by men accus- tomed to write and to talk but to please. The individual intelligent labourer cannot have that right given to him. If granted, it must be granted to others of his class ; and I contend that the entire body of the working classes indiscrimi- nately to have a voice in the selection of legislators would necessarily, from the very nature of man- kind, tend to bad results. Only men of a high order of ability should be returned to Parliament, and such men cannot be appreciated or discriminated by the masses. ELECTORAL QUALIMCATION. 51 As a body, they are incapable of judging of tbe right order of talent for legislative functions ; and the great mass of those capable of making a reason- ably fair choice are, as we daily see, led away entirely by half-educated, unprincipled adven- turers, stimulated by that self-conceit so bane- ful and so general in this present age, and determined on making political capital out of pleasing promises, and by raising spurious and false hopes. The poor and necessitous, in the nature of things, are easily deceived by false promises, deceptive descriptions of things, and wholesale denunciations . of those who hold the property, make the laws, and, as it appears to them, enjoy more happiness than they enjoy. Test this statement by actual facts. In those districts where the poorer-class votes are all power- ful, we had returned, almost en masse, to sit in the House of Commons, a Townsend for Greenwich ! a Roupell for Lambeth ! a James for Marylebone I a Thompson for the Tower Hamlets. As well give them the power of selecting our judges, or of giving the stamp of worth to a- great divine, or degrees to the medical student, as give electoral power to the lowest classes. S2 ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. Few men pay sufficient respect to honest, manly worth. Too many worship, like all simpletons, appearances. The tendency of men returned to Parliament by poor and populous constituencies is to allow the fear of not heing popular to override their own convic- tions on grave and important matters of legis- lation. I well rememher writing to one of these stultified, dangerous Members of Parliament, re- presenting a large working population, requesting his immediately getting an equitable and most desirable clause, such as I drew up and sent to him, inserted in a bill brought in by Lord John Eussell, and then read for the first time only, and was amused at the reply. He admitted that it was a most necessary and desirable clause, but that he feared to introduce it, because the subject would not please the working population he repre- sented ! Is a legislator to be a mere delegate of the working-men, a class who, although intelligent and skilful and good, are as incapable of dictating wisely on legislation as the scientific men, the scholars, and the learned men of this age would be of constructing and making the various things which mechanics, in their turn, can make ? ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. S3 Good laws can only be made by men above the pressing influences of poverty and daily difficul- ties — by men of higbly cultivated and liberal minds, wbo are above pandering to the temporary panics of multitudes, easily excited by designing and ambitious adventurers in political trading. "Who are the persons fitted to vote for Members of Parliament ? Those only who have an amount of general learning, wisdom, or superiority, mea- surable or definable. To be measured or defined by whom ? Alas I Capacity and merit would be the best qualification if experience and theory were words of the same meaning. But we are driven to a test ; and the greatest philosopher and moralist of modern times, Dr Johnson, has written, that, on this subject, property qualification is practically the best test. As a rule, men who have applied their time pro- perly become possessed of comfortable homes and material valuables ; and, in giving such a class votes, the laws give, more certain than by any other means, power to the right men. We have to do with the rule, not the exception. With the body, not with individual instances. 54 ELECTORAL QUALIFICATIOM So far as good laws and good government go, the interest of this class of men is identified with the interest of all their poorer brethrenwho have no votes. That is to say, the government which this well-to-do class require, and assist to support, if beneficial to them, and the best that can be had for them, that then it is beneficial to, and the best that can be had for, those who have no votes. Thus the poorer brethren in this community are benefited by deputing the class above them to vote. Now, the poorest class require, as the all-impor- tant things, what? Protection to labour — ^labour represented, as the clap-trap phrase goes. Well, the well-to-do, the strong, the hard-working, the sober, the thriving poor, require these equally with their poorer brethren; and are more earnestly endeavouring to obtain them, and will take, and have the power of taking, more trouble to secure the same than their poorer brethren do or can. The one class wants plenty of employment and good wages. So likewise does the other. The one wants good provisions, good beer, good clothing, good dwelling-houses, freedom to work at what trade they please, to live where they like, and to have low taxes. All such things, likewise, are the main desires of the other class. ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. 55 The protection to property and to life. The encouragement of property classes, the expansion of manufacturing, trading, and commercial pur- suits, all of which increase wages, increase the amount of necessaries, luxuries, and the enjoyments of the working population, one class are interested in equally with the other. Away, then, with this unmeaning, and deceptive, this Ulusive political cant, that every man has a right to a vote for men to make laws to govern him. There is no such right, theoretically, abstractly, or in any other way. No man has a right to anything hut that which the laws of the community to which he belongs permit him to have, K the laWs of a country do not provide for universal suffrage, it must first be made clear that universal suffrage would benefit the working-classes, before it can be shown that it is a right to which every man has a claim. The working-classes of this country, and the shop- keepers and tradesmen generally, never were so weU off, never so independent of everything and everybody, as they were, throughout the length and breadth of the land, before the great body of the poor were allowed to elect lawgivers. Never in the history of the world did such an immense multitude of men rise by industry and 56 ELECTORAL ■ QUALJFICA TION. self-denial from comparative poverty to wealth and distinction, as did arise in England before popularity- seeking legislators became too numerous in the House of Commons. Every avenue through which anything can enter to keep ignorant, or to injure the working-man, or to prevent his raising himself in life, is carefully watched and guarded by the property classes of this country. The enormous hospitals, and charities, and all the blessings of civilised life, which have been secured to the poor of this country, have been secured to them by the learned, the wealthy, and the property classes. In France, universal suffrage has been resorted to to elect an Emperor, and the success of it is spoken of daily as an illustration of its excellence. This example is fallacious ! The universal suffrage for electing a king, a permanent monarch, bears no resemblance to that for electing over six hundred Members of Parliament ! A very large number of candidates for Parliament are men who merely make a business of politics, and are therefore governed by no principles, but those tending to self-importance or personal ad- vantage. And if universal suffrage were estab- lished in this country, that dangerous class of ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. S7 adventurous aspirants would be greatly increased ; and their return to the House of Commons would be so numerous as to make them a large majority on all subjects of legislation. Should that ever be the case in England, whatever could be made most promising or pleasing to the least educated and poorest class of the community would become law : for this' class is so numerous, and the self-sufficient, loquacious, and unprincipled demagogues are so gregarious and active, that they would, with the assistance of secret and other societies, be elected in much larger numbers to the House of Commons than sterling, independent men. What would be the result ? A rapid deteriora- tion in our laws and government, inferior treaties and engagements with other nations. And a speedy decline in the prosperity of the country, felt equally by the poor as by the rich. Good natural ability, a first-class education, a high order of mind, ample means, a regular training in the House of Commons for years, is necessary to make a statesman. A great mass of the poorer classes in this country are so numerous that, if every man had a vote, that class alone would govern; and their repre- sentatives would constitute a dangerous clique to be entrusted with power. 58 ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. America is instanced as an example of universal suffrage, but there is no analogy between England and America. England is a small island. America, a large continent. England maintains a large manufacturing population, congregated in a number of populous towns ; and nearly every workman has his mind set against his employers, against the property classes of this country, by cheap publi- cations, edited by unscrupulous, daring, and violent men, who enrich themselves while misdirecting those they pretend to benefit. Remunerative employment for the poor of England; the encouraging and keeping here the enormous capital and property now in the country ; the safe, permanent, and gradually increasing development of our manufacturing, trading, and commercial capacities, require the greatest possible care, and cultivated skLU, and unbiassed and uncontrolled freedom of action on the part of our Members of the House of Commons. Formerly that House represented the interest of the monarchy of this country only, as' a check upon the Lords. Now it represents the people emphatically. ' In America, the population, having regard to its territory, is small, as compared with the population and size of England. In America, that population ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. 59 is not confined, as in England, to manufacturing towns mainly. It has a new country to rove over, vast in extent, unfatliomed in its resources. And industry and labour there must for a time do well, whether the uneducated or the educated select the representatives to govern the country. So likewise will capital. Not so with England. An old com- mercial and manufacturing country, its property would dwindle rapidly, not only by bad legislation, but with the want of absolutely good legislation ! England formerly had a monopolyof machinery : she has not now; other countries are fast com- peting with her. England was once the only maritime power of importance : it is not so now. Such men as I have instanced are not the men to pass the necessary measures for insuring the pros- perity of the complicated interests of this great complex community. There is an idea frequently put forth, that a standard of learning, to be tested by examinations, should be the qualification for the franchise. This would be an inferior standard practically, though it does not appear so, to that of the social position a man occupies. Look at the masses of men learned enough to be first-rate men, but fools in their conduct; men who have no principle, and 6o ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. take as mucli delight ia doing harm as men of good hearts and good hahits take in doing good. Some interesting things in the representative system of government are very clearly seen in the metropolitan parishes. The johhery and shameful proceedings of some of the memhers of vestries are really saddening and painful to think of. Those who put themselves forward, and desire merely to make themselves more known than they are, and who will join and go with a clique, are sure to be put in nomination ; whilst those of sterling merit and valuable talents attend to their own business or professions and walks in life, and rather shun, than desire, to be returned to act with a hetero- geneous mass of manikin legislators. How different a class of men are those appointed as Commissioners of Taxes 1 Why ? The vestry- men are returned by the mass of ratepayers. The Commissioners are nominated by a learned and eminent man. There are of course many very excellent and worthy men returned as vestryinen, possessing honesty of purpose, and well-directed industry. But the system shows forcibly that on the good judgment, ability, impartiality, and inde- pendency of spirit of those who are to elect repre- sentatiyes, depend tl^e kind of representatives who will come forward, and who will be returned. ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. 61 The power of returning Members to Parliament is already too great amongst the poorer classes for good legislation. Good legislation is paralysed almost, through the large numbers of popularity- seeking Members of Parliament. If returned by a more limited, a more educated, a more inde- pendent, and a higher class of voters, there would be a majority in the house, less time-serving, and more fit for grave legislative functions. The Trades Unions which have sprung up since the repeal of the Combination Laws are a striking illustration of the principle that the inferior amongst artisans and working-men ought not to have the power of voting. As a body, they be- come enslaved by any artful, cunning, and needy adventurer, who can glibly vilify his superiors, and flatter the vices and follies of working-men, and please them by describing the landed proprietors and the nobility as having no other qualification than selfishness, and a desire to impoverish the poorer classes. The poor in the country places are well acquainted with the virtues and excellences of the upper classes as a body, for they daUy experience &om them kindly sympathies and pecuniary aids. The poor in towns do not come so much in contact with their 62 ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. superiors. The middle class, and particularly farmers, have experience enough of the conduct of employers of labour and the property classes to know that, as a rule, the higher the position of a man the better employer he is, and the more liberal minded he is also. Wages may have been forced up a little, in some instances, by the demagogues of Trades Unions. But who benefits in the long run ? Most assuredly not the working-men. They have become enrolled in unions. They are joint- partners in subscribing to the dogmas and edicts of the arch-impostors ; and their earnings become, in reality, the joint-property of the whole, including all those thousands who frequently earn nothing, being out on strike for lengthened periods. Capital flies to more genial countries. And if the Legislature do not interfere, and put a stop to the injury the pretenders to political fame are doing to the working-classes, through the medium of Trades Unions, this country will find, when too late, similar results to those produced in Ireland, owing to the possessors of capital preferring other countries to those where the working-men have been trained to hate the landowners and property classes generally. The great Daniel O'Connell lived in wealth and luxury by the wretched pennies drawn ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION. 63 from the pockets of the starving millions, who thought they were benefited by his vindictive abuse of the governing powers. Did anything during this Daniel O'Connell's reign of terror, or of power, injure and impoverish the country and the poorer classes of Ireland so much as his whole- sale and daily denunciations of the laws and government of his country ? Now with respect to lowering the franchise still further, it appears quite clear that the poorer population, whatever be their individual merits, are, as a body, liable to be constantly led wrong, and to be made the tools of impudent knaves or impostors; and therefore they are not the class that ought to have too great a power in returning Members of Parliament. The working-classes are more ignorant of their various occupations now than they were twenty years since. Well-educated artisans are not allowed to earn more, nor to be better oif, than inferior ones, by the " Unions." Cheap publications make them daily more and more ignorant of the things which it is necessary for them to know, and more and more dissatisfied with those who employ them. It is necessary for them to know that their em- ployers, and the educated and ruling classes of this 64 ELECTORAL QUALIFICATION: country, are not their enemies. They do not know this ; they believe otherwise. The cheap press, while doing infinite good, has also set up a large number of vile publications, that have an immense sale amongst the thoughtless, improvident, and uneducated classes — ^men who can read, but will not think. These wretched periodicals tend more than any other cause to set class against class, and to encourage that general animus which is too prevalent amongst poorer classes -against those who have toiled, or whose predecessors have toiled, successfully for wealth or distinction. The numbers of readers of trash, and exciting and foolish description of unreal things, are enormous ! The trade created by those pub- lications pandering to vitiated tastes is large indeed ; and the publications tend materially to weaken and distort the working-man's powers of exercising his franchise. PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY EDINBURGH AND LONDON