NATIONAL HONOR FREDERIC R. COUDERT Taken from an address on "International Arbitration," delivered before the Union League Club of Chicago, Ill., February 22, 1897. Printed by permission. It is proposed to abolish homicide as a test of international right, by submitting causes of dispute to the calm judgment of wise men; a solution so simple and so economical that it requires great ingenuity to assail it with plausible reasons. All concede that in theory the plan is admirable, that in practice on a limited scale it has proved of priceless value, that it is infinitely more likely to produce rational results than the only other alternative,—the resort to war. But, say the objectors, what if our national honor should become involved? In what one of our many disputes with Great Britain has our honor become so involved that the delicacy of its constitution required a prompt and vigorous régime of blood and iron? And yet we have had hot and long disputes where honor might have been called to the front by either nation, and made the pretense for a refusal to arbitrate. A nation's honor is never compromised by temperance nor injured by forbearance. A nation's honor is not served by rash counsels nor by violent impulses recklessly indulged in. It is indeed a frail and delicate possession if it cannot live in an atmosphere of peace; it is a dangerous one if it is tarnished by friendly discussion and by a disposition to hearken to the voice of justice. NATIONAL HONOR 135 National honor may perhaps shine all the brighter when a great nation is slow to admit that her just dignity may be imperiled by the act of others. The honor of a nation is in her own keeping, not in that of others; it cannot be lost save by her own act. A nation's honor consists in fidelity to her engagements, in carrying out her contracts in spirit as in letter, in paying her just debts, in respecting the rights of others, in promoting the welfare of the people, in the encouragement of truth, in teaching obedience to the law, in cultivating honorable peace with the world. How can our national honor be so grievously invaded that there can be no room for remonstrance, no time for discussion, no opportunity allowed the aggressor for amendment? We seized British ships in the Behring Sea and condemned them in our ports, a most grievous insult according to the sensitive and self-constituted custodians of British honor; but Great Britain adopted peaceful counsels, and a wise court heard, examined, and decided the case without apparent injury to British honor. Why is war a more reliable defender of our national honor than arbitration? Readiness to fight may serve to prove that our country is not afraid to fight, but the world knows that to-day and needs no proof. War may prove that we have a gallant people behind our government, ready to spend life and fortune for a good cause, but the world knows that of old. As with men honor often means pride unembarrassed by scruples, so it may be with a nation. Men resort to the shot-gun, the revolver, the bowie-knife, or the club, to heal or defend their honor, and lose it as often as they mend it. The effort of civilization has been for years to teach them that violence is not the safest champion of offended dignity; that the methods of the bravo, the manners of the ruffian, or the tyranny of the bully may best be dealt with by a firm court and an officer of the law. Why should nations be prompt to seek redress through force, so long as reason may be heard and reason's voice is still respected? Bluster with nations as with individuals is dying out. It is heard at times, but its voice squeaks, and shows senility. It cannot as of old arouse a nation into unthinking wrath, or drive it from its propriety. The wisdom and the experience of the world are against it. WHAT THE FLAG STANDS FOR BENJAMIN HARRISON Taken from an address which General Harrison delivered in response to the toast "Our Country" at the Banquet held in New York City, April 30, 1889, as part of the Centennial Celebration of Washington's inauguration as first President of the United States. The ceremonies of Washington's inauguration took place where the Sub-Treasury Building now stands in Wall Street. This extract is printed by permission.* I congratulate you to-day upon one of the instructive and interesting features of this occasion: that these great thoroughfares, dedicated to trade, have *This extract was carefully revised by General Harrison only six days before his death. The speech had been imper WHAT THE FLAG STANDS FOR 137 closed their doors and covered the insignia of commerce with the Stars and Stripes; that your great Exchanges have closed, and that in the very heart of Wall Street the flag has submerged trade. In that old historic mart the men who give their great energies to trade, have given these days wholly to their country, to patriotic memories, and to aspirations for the honor and development of the Republic. I have great pleasure in believing that the love of country has been intensified in many hearts here; not only of you who may be called, and of some who have been called, to witness your love for the flag upon battle-fields by sea and land, but in these homes, among these fair women who look down upon us to-night, and in the thoughts of those little children who mingled their piping cries with the hoarser acclaims as we moved along your streets to-day. I believe that patriotism has been blown into a higher and holier flame in many hearts. These banners with which you have covered your walls, these patriotic inscriptions must come down, and the ways of commerce and trade be resumed again. I will ask you to carry these banners that now hang on the wall into your homes, into the public schools of your city, into all your great institutions where chilfectly and incorrectly reported by the newspapers, and General Harrison suggested that the Editor send him a copy for correction. With his characteristic care, the great statesman revised the whole speech and made important corrections in the imperfect copy. On returning the manuscript, he said that he would have rewritten the entire speech had he not been hard pressed by work. dren are gathered, and to drape them there, that the eyes of the young and of the old may look upon that flag as one of the familiar adornments of the American home. Have we not learned that not stocks nor bonds nor stately houses nor lands nor the product of the mill, is our country? It is the spiritual thought that is in our minds. Our country is the flag and what it stands for its glorious history. It is the fireside and the home. It is the high thoughts that are in our hearts, born of the inspiration which comes with the stories of our fathers, the martyrs to liberty. It is the graveyards into which our careful country has gathered the unconscious dust of those who have died for its defense. It is these things that we love and call our country, rather than things, however rated, that can be touched or handled. To elevate the morals of our people; to hold up the law as that sacred thing, which, like the ark of God of old, cannot be touched by irreverent hands; to frown upon every attempt to displace its supremacy; to unite our people in all that makes home pure and honorable, as well as to give our energies to the material advancement of the country: these services we may render every day; and out of this great demonstration do we not all feel like reconsecrating ourselves to the love and service of our country? |