THE PROPOSED ARBITRATION TREATY WITH AMERICA.
[To THZ EDITOR OF THZ " SPECTATOR."]
SIR,—I should be sorry to do anything whatever to damp the ardour of the advocates of peace by universal arbitration, even though I suspect it is not so much war, about which they know very little, as expense that most of them are afraid of. But the step which Sir Edward Grey has adumbrated is not really a step towards universal arbitration at all ; even though it may be, and I. hope will be, a step towards peace- For it cannot be seriously regarded as in any way different from an ordinary offer of an offensive and defensive alliance to the United States, since it is expressly coupled with an agreement to combine forces against any third Power which should quarrel with either of us and refuse arbitration. If this is what Sir Edward means, and if the idea catches on in the United States, it may lead to a development in world- politics of the first importance, which may shift the balance of power in our direction. But sensible men should realise at once that it will not be accepted on the Continent as the beneficent work of pacifists, but as a new and astute combination against Germany. It would be foolish to deceive ourselves on this point, as there is no chance of deceiving the other fellows.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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