"For Heaven's sake let us be practical l " we
cannot help exclaiming on reading Mr. Bryan's speech. We desire peace every bit as much as he does, but we remember the words of Burke that " those things which are not practicable are not desirable." Here is a very good case in point. It is perfectly useless for the American Government to sign new treaties with the whole world unless they first prove that treaties are worth signing. Treaties are valueless if they are ignored. The first step towards universal peace is obviously for Americans to show an impeccable example in faithfulness to existing treaties. At present the American Panama Canal Act threatens to ignore the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty. The new anti-Japanese legislation in California ignores the American- Japanese Treaty of 1911. (It is true that the Federal Govern- ment are doing their best to persuade the Californian Legislature to give way.) Finally, the new American tariff violates a series of commercial treaties with other countries, including Great Britain, France, and Cuba.
