Remeiv of RetHeu'K, IjrjOtj. 



Character Sketch. 



SI 



money to be had, and the whole cost of entertain- 

 ing the Japanese sailors ft-ll upon the Japanese 

 business-fimis of the City of London. 



Two years ago, when the Inter-parliamentary 

 Union met in St. Louis, the American Congress 

 voted ;^i 0,000 for their entertainment. The Inter- 

 parliamentary Congress will meet next year in Lon- 

 don, and adequate provision for the fitting reception 

 of the representatives of the Par!i?.ments of the 

 World ought to be one of the first charges upon the 

 Hospitality Fund of John Bull. But if there be no 

 Hospitality Fund ? Fortunately there is no need to 

 contemplate the altemative. 



IV.— A CAMPAIGN FUND FOR PEACE. 



The Icelandic Govermnent, which allows no 

 spirits to be manufactured on the island, is never- 

 theless so profoundly impressed by the curse of 

 drunkenness that it votes every year a substantial 

 sum from its scanty estimates tO' be spent in the pro- 

 paganda against strong drink. The British Govern- 

 ment might with advantage take a hint from this 

 example and spend, say, ten per cent, of the pro- 

 ceeds of the Decimal point one per cent, of the new 

 Budget in an active campaign of peace propaganda. 

 It is now abundantly clear that no Go^venmient can 

 trust to the Press as a sufficient, or efficient, ally 

 of peace. By suppression of news, by the distor- 

 tion and misrepresentation of facts, and by the 

 ]">ersistent malevolence with which some editors at- 

 tack their neighbours, the newspaper has become 

 the most efficient stirrer-up of strife. This is not 

 due by any means to the fact that editors have 

 more than their fair share of original sin. It is 

 due to the far more serious fact that, as the im- 

 mortal Dooley put it, " Sin is news, and virtue isn't." 

 A quarrel between nations makes copy. There is 

 not a " stick " of matter in the mere absence of 

 q arrel and the existence of goodwill. 



The time has come when the Govenmient must, 

 through its Imperial Council for Peace, take up ' 

 the promotion of friendly feelings between the peo- 

 I)le and the abatement of international animosity 

 as one of the most important of its duties. The 

 work which the peace societies have failed to per- 

 form, owing to lack of funds and of authority, must 

 now be taken in hand by the Imf>erial Council of 

 Peace, acting through its nominated executive com- 

 mittee or affiliated intelligence department. 



To begin with, it is clear that we must take a leaf 

 from the example of our neighbours, and use the 

 7)lacard as a means of app-aling to the people. In 

 France they placard a verbatim report of the more 

 important speeches of great party leaders through 

 e\erv Commune by order of the Government. In 

 G.-rmanv the Na\7 League puts up in all restaurants 

 and places of public resort elaborate bills setting 

 forth with the utmost detail, and with striking, illus- 

 trations, their case for the increase of the German 

 Navy. It might be well if we were to use the same 



weapon as a means of attack upon the Jingoes. A 

 speech by the Premier setting forth the impossibility 

 of getting Old- Age Pensions or any other great social 

 reform until the War Budget is reduced, and the im- 

 possibility of reducing the War Budget so long as 

 we indulge in Jingoism and treat our neighbours as 

 if they were foes, instead of regarding them as 

 friends, might do great good if it were placarded 

 on every hoarding throughout the three kingdoms. 

 By this or by some similar means the nation ought 

 constantly to be reminded that it cannot bluster 

 without heavy loss, and that every indulgence in 

 Jingo temper weakens the Empire and impoverishes 

 the people. 



The Committee should place the Government in 

 much closer relations with the Press than it at pre- 

 sent can command. The climax of the present sys- 

 tem was reached during the Dogger Bank crisis, 

 when for a whole week Lord Lansdowne and Mr. 

 Balfour allowed the entire Press of this country to 

 go raving mad for war by concealing from them the 

 fact that from the very first Russia had done every- 

 thing that we ourselves could have done if we had 

 been in the Russians' position. We do not suggest 

 that the Government should corrupt the Press or 

 should nobble the Press. But it is imperative that 

 they should inform the Press, and that whenever 

 any newspaper takes up an attitude calculated to 

 endanger good relations with any Power, its con- 

 ductors should be promptly and clearly told as to 

 the effect which persistence in their policy is likely 

 to have upon the maintenance of peace. At present 

 no attempt is made tO' appeal either to the heart, 

 the conscience, or the intellect of newspaper men. 

 They are left to fling about firebrands, arrows, and 

 death without ever being reminded by anyone quali- 

 fied to speak on behalf of the responsible Ministers 

 of the Crown that no worse service can be done to 

 the realm than by exciting ill-feelings against our 

 neighbours. 



If the Campaign of Peace be decided upon and 

 its prosecution entrusted to the Imperial Council of 

 Peace and its executive committee, every district, 

 or class, or section of the community that is subject 

 to outbreaks of Jingoism ought to be scheduled as a 

 plague district and made the subject for scientific 

 examination. The abatement of the Jingo fever is 

 much more important from the point of view of 

 humanity than the abatement of an epidemic of 

 typhoid or smallpox. When in any such scheduled 

 district an agitation has been .set on foot in favour 

 of war against anv Power, or for the excitement of 

 popular hatred against anv nation, a local inquiry 

 should be instituted by the orders of the Govern- 

 ment, and evidence taken as to the causes of the 

 outbreak, and as to the rcs|Kinsibility of those who' 

 brought it about. Not until the propaganda of ill- 

 feeling, of suspicion, and of all uncharitableness is 

 recognised as being so dangerous to the welfare of 

 the p<:>ople that it must be combated bv all the 



