The Arbitration Treaty 193 



evident that the policy of isolation which our coun- 

 try has wisely pursued for the century past can- 

 not be maintained perpetually. When Washing- 

 ton wrote his Farewell Address, the danger of our 

 getting dragged into the mighty struggle then 

 raging in Europe was a real and serious danger, 

 against which we needed to be solemnly warned. 

 Since then times have changed, and they are 

 changing still. From a nation scarcely stronger 

 than Portugal we have become equal to the strong- 

 est. Eailways, telegraphs, and international in- 

 dustries are making every part of the world the 

 neighbour of every other part. To preserve a pol- 

 icy of isolation will not always be possible, nor 

 will it be desirable. Situations will arise (if they 

 have not already arisen) in which such moral 

 weight as the United States can exert will be 

 called for. The pacification of Europe, therefore, 

 is not an affair that is foreign to our interests. 

 In that, as in every other aspect of the Christian 

 policy of " peace on earth and good will to men," 

 we are most deeply concerned ; and every incident, 

 like the present Arbitration Treaty, that promises 

 to advance us even by one step toward the sub- 

 lime result, it is our solemn duty to welcome and 

 encourage by all the means within our power, 



February, 1897, 



