THE MISSOURI PEACE SOCIETY

SECOND ANNUAL MEETING

Friday Afternoon, May 2, at 2 o'clock

JEFFERSON HOTEL, COMMITTEE ROOM

PRESIDENT RICHARD BARTHOLDT, Presiding

SECRETARY HUDSON:

In the absence of Mr. Bartholdt I will call the Second Annual Meeting of the Missouri Peace Society to order. We are fortunate indeed in having such a large attendance at the meeting. We are fortunate also in having a number of guests who are attending the meetings of the Fourth American Peace Congress, and we are extremely fortunate in having with us as one of our honored guests this afternoon, the Executive Director of the American Peace Society. I have asked Mr. Call, Mr. Arthur Deerin Call, the Executive Director of the American Peace Society, to speak to us this afternoon on the work of a state peace society. There is no person in the United States better qualified to speak on this subject. There is no person whose business it is so primarily just now as Mr. Call's. We are extremely glad, therefore, to welcome Mr. Call, and I am sure the society will enjoy his address. (Applause.)

The Work of a State Peace Society

ARTHUR DEErin Call.

I have discovered that one of the great weaknesses of every reform movement is that it is based upon emotion and sentiment. I am primarily interested, therefore, in spreading before you certain facts with reference to the work for peace in the field as I have been able to gather them from the different societies. It occurs to me that you, being a state peace society, will be interested in knowing what the facts are with

reference to the work in the field. I have studied twenty-one peace societies since last September with as much care as I can. I find that they are in substantial accord so far as their aims are concerned. I find, for example, that they agree that the aim of the state peace society is to promote the active co-operation of the agencies working for international fraternity and that on the largest possible scale. I find that they are also substantially in accord that the aim of the state peace society is to extend the education of the people in the cause of peace and the prevention of war. There is also accord that the aim of the state peace society is to facilitate the establishment of a world order on the basis of justice and international law, of the known principles of economy and the established lessons of history. I find that they are also in agreement that the aim of the state peace society is to carry on this work as vigorously, as effectively and as scientifically as possible. There are some divergencies from these aims but not material divergencies. The Peace Society of California, for example, emphasizes in addition to these four aims, the aims of killing the Japanese war bogy. The New York Peace Society adds that it looks to its membership of men and women who are willing to work towards its ends however widely they may differ as to measures and methods and adds, "This society does not oppose such armament as may be adequate for national protection." The Pennsylvania Society emphasizes the limitations of armament by agreement. As I am able to find it, those are the aims of the state peace societies.

Now, the questions relating to the organization of the peace societies, such matters as the officials, for example, the meetings, the finances, surely those are the practical questions. I find that three of the societies have honorary presidents. The number of vice-presidents varies from one to thirty-one. One society reports twenty-seven honorary vice-presidents; another binds one hundred twenty-four vice-presidents with sixty other members into an advisory council. One has a council of sixtyfive. All the societies have secretaries. The boards of directors number eight to thirty.

[Mr. Call then read extracts from his report as Executive Director of the American Peace Society to the Board of Directors. This very interesting report is given entire in the "Conference on Organization for the Promotion of International Peace."]

The financing, that is the annual membership fee, is fixed by the societies with one exception at one dollar. I will say here that since this report was written, within the last few weeks, one society has increased its fee to five dollars. Those are the facts as I have been able to gather them. The application of them to the Missouri Peace Society I should think would be something likened to this. It will be important that you continue in the good work which you have already begun. It is important that you look upon this as an educational organization. It is a fact that every time one of those thirteen-inch guns is fired off enough money goes up in smoke to build a comfortable home; three times enough money has gone up in smoke to have paid every expense of a college education. Just think of that.

The money that is put into one of those battleships is impressive. The money put into one of those battleships would build a dozen Washington monuments. It would build six union stations in the City of Washington. It would build two Congressional Library buildings. It would give a college education to twenty-four thousand persons. It would give a trade to 75,000 persons. It would buy all the land and build all the buildings of Harvard University, of Tuskegee and Hampton Institutes thrown in. It would build a six-foot channel from St. Louis to St. Paul. It would build a thousand locomotives. It would run the schools of a city of a hundred thousand inhabitants for a quarter of a century. These things are impressive in terms of dollars and cents.

But I have discovered that while it is important that we know these facts, and while it is important that our state peace societies should educate their members in these facts, after all the financial argument does not seem to be the very serious argument. The peoples of all history have been perfectly willing to sacrifice any amount of money in a crisis. I submit

that the function of a state peace society is to educate its people in something still more important than the financial aspects of the problem. I submit that we must spread the notion that the great fact of all life is that there may be more life. I take it that is the great lesson of history for us all. That your struggle here and mine is that there may be more life. I submit that the great teaching of Jesus was, the greatest teaching of Jesus, was, "I came that they might have life and that more abundantly." The institutions of war are inconsistent with this great principle. I can not go into the horrors of war. There is a book just translated from the German which does that. It does it in such a way that you can not talk about it. You can only read it. The greatest one of the educational functions of the state peace society is to educate the people in what has already been accomplished for the promotion of international peace. They may well become acquainted with the work of the Interparliamentary Union, for example, with thirty-six hundred members, the President of the American group being your distinguished president, the Hon. Richard Bartholdt. You can well afford to educate your members in the work of the Hague Conferences, those two great facts on the pages of history. You can educate your friends in what has been accomplished by the great international conferences already held. Beginning in the year 1815, for example, coming down through all the years until last year we found that there were over thirteen hundred international organizations, and that there were over one hundred and thirty international conferences last year. The world is coming together. We are coming to realize more and more that we are brothers of one another. The real work of the state peace societies, as I see it, is the education of its people in these great facts. (Applause.)

PRESIDENT BARTHOLDT:

I am gratified more than I can express in words that we have such a numerously attended meeting of the Missouri Peace Society. I think the outcome of this Congress should be one of the strongest, most enthusiastic and most virile

state organizations that exist in the United States today in behalf of international peace. I am just full of enthusiasm in favor of the cause and should like to speak to you for an hour but our time is short and we have to stick to the program. I call, therefore, upon the secretary, Professor Hudson, to make the report of officers. I want to say to you that so far the Missouri Peace Society has existed in a president on paper, which is myself, and several other officers, but the real society has existed in the person of Professor Manley O. Hudson. This does not mean that Mr. Hudson was the only one who had an interest in the matter. If there had been any divergence of opinion, if there had been any fault to be found with what he did, there would have been more than one in the society, but the fact that he acted for the whole organization is proof positive that he did right, that he acted in accordance and in harmony with the conscience and sentiments of the whole organization. Mr. Hudson. (Applause.)

Annual Report of the Secretary

PROFESSOR MANLEY O. HUDSON.

I want to say, in reply to the remarks of the chairman, that I should consider it extremely unfortunate if any society was dependent upon one or a few persons. The Missouri Peace Society is more fortunate, however. I am very glad to say that it depends upon a great number of persons as you will see from reading over the list of officers of this society. By way of introducing the report of the secretary, I will say to you that the Missouri Peace Society was organized as a branch of the American Peace Society at the City Club in St. Louis, on October 21, 1912.

Immediately after the organization of the society, a membership campaign was begun. Folders were printed and sent all over the state, and memberships were solicited by personal letters and by circulars. The result of this campaign to date: The Society has 112 annual members, four adhering members, one sustaining member, two contributing members, two life members. A section of the society, organized at Columbia, Missouri, has forty-two members. The membership campaign