The Great Pacifist. 



>i7 



THE RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR. 



On the eve ol the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese 

 War Sir VV. R. Cremer asked me to join him in sending 

 a telegram to the Tsar of Russia and the Mikado of 

 Japan, reminding these potentates of the existence 

 of the Hague Tribunal, and urging them to submit 

 their disputes to arbitration. It was a forlorn and 

 belated attempt, in which I confess I took part merely 

 to oblige my colleague Sir W. R. Cremer. It produced, 

 as might be expected, no result. I afterwards learned 

 from Mr. Maartens that months before the outbreak 

 of the war he had drawn up a memorandum for the 

 Emperor pointing out that the points in dispute with 

 Japan were quite capable of judicable settlement, and 

 suggesting that they should be referred to the Hague. 

 The Emperor wrote on the margin, " I agree that this 

 should be done."' Unfortunately, he put it oflf. The 

 Japanese did not put it ofi ; the chance of finding 

 Russia unprepared was too good to be lost, and war 

 followed. 



FIRST VISIT TO SOUTH AFRICA. 



When the Boer War was over I paid my first visit 

 to South .\frica in 1904. My health was broken down 

 in an attempt to found a daily paper, and I was ordered 

 to South Africa by the doctor. As soon as I arri\ed 

 there I began an active propaganda among the Boers 

 in favour of a policy of peace and reconciliation. I 

 do not think I am claiming too mu<h when I say that 

 my public speeches and my private conversations 

 contributed considerably tor' the ultimate settlement 

 by convincing the Boers of the good faith of the 

 British Liberals and their sincerity in promising the 

 Boers full contrf)l in South Africa if only they would 

 accept the grant of independenc e and self-government 

 under the British flag. My conduct was violently 

 denounced by the Jingoes; Lord Milner cancelled his 

 promise to receive me, and my action in inducing the 

 Boers to resume the singing of their old Volkslied 

 created much scandal. But I maintained that it was 

 my mission t<» interpret to the Boers the privileges and 

 the liberties whii li everyone enjoyed under the I5ritish 

 flag. That was in 1904. I had not to wait long for 

 my vindication. .\s soon as a general election took 

 jjace .Mr. Chamberlain and his friends were hurled 

 from power, and Mr. Campbell- lianncrman came back 

 to ollii e, and in the programme' the restoration of sell- 

 government to the South African States occupied a 

 promment place. Seldom has an impatriotic: action 

 such as that of the pro-Boers during the Boer War 

 been so triumphantly and speedily vindicated. 'I'he 

 oi)position which the pro- Boers o(Ti:red to the Torv 



Go\ernment that made the war was perhaps the mtjst 

 striking illustration that has been afforded us of recent 

 times in which the citizens have carried their 

 opposition to a war in which their Government was 

 engaged' to such extreme lengths as that of holding 

 meetings, publishing books, making speeches, and 

 writing letters in support of those with whom they are 

 at war. No such freedom of action would have been 

 allowed in any other country but ours ; but the result 

 has singularly vindicated the liberty which was per- 

 mitted by the law, although it was somewhat severely 

 modified by the violence of the mob. 



THE RUSSIAN EMPEROR AND THE DUMA. 



The year after I came back from South Africa 

 the Tsar proclaimed his intention to establish a 

 representative assembly in his country. I went over 

 to St. Petersburg and saw the Emperor. I pointed 

 out to him that the granting of a representative 

 assembly without the concession of the liberty of public 

 meeting, liberty of association, liberty of the press, 

 and a Habeas Corpus Act, was granting a horse without 

 any legs. The Emperor told me that he intended to 

 concede the four legs of the Duma, and on that basis 

 I undertook to address meetings throughout the 

 country, setting out what I considered to be the 

 English point of view, and pleading for the acceptance 

 of the Duma as a pledge of peace and reconciliation 

 between the people and their dictators. It was a 

 forlorn hope which ended in failure. But, as M. l\Iilyu- 

 koff said when I returned to Russia some years 

 afterwards, " The secret of the failure was not in the 

 lack of wisdom on the part of the man who ga\e the 

 advice ; it was due to the lack of wisdom on the 

 part of those who ought to have received it." A general 

 railway strike and revolutionary moverhent followed, 

 but ultimately, when the revolution was suppressed, 

 the Duma came into being. I only mention this 

 episode to show that my desire to maintain peace has 

 not been confined to international questions, but that 

 I went boldly into the revolutionary centres of Russia 

 on the eve of an outbreak of revolution in order to 

 plead with them to accept the offer which seemed to 

 me to afford a basis for a pacific settlement for the 

 internal trouble of Russia. 



UECIMAI, POINT ONE. 



The ne.\t service which I endeavoured to render t.. 

 the cause of international peace was the promotion of 

 what I called " Decimal point one," which, being 

 interpreted, means a proposal that lor every £1,000 

 spent by the nations on the army and navy they ' 

 sliould spcncl [t for ii.ternatmnal hospitality and the 



