President Roosevelt may not deserve all the extravagant laudations which
the French Press in particular bestows upon him for "making peace," but he does deserve the hearty acknowledgments of the world for his nerve and perseverance. He had no motive for embarking in the business but the humanitarian one ; but, once embarked, he refused to acknow- ledge defeat, passed over rebuffs as mere words, and continued to press his views upon both Tokio and St. Petersburg. But for his persistence and the reluctance to offend so powerful a mediator, the Conference would have broken up more than a fortnight ago. His intervention gained time both for calm thought and for advice from outside, and it was at last successful. His action has justified the claim of the American President, as the ruler most removed from the jarring interests of older States, to be on the whole the most acceptable referee where nations wish for peace and can see no honourable way of securing it. The delight of the American people-at his success, and the warm congratulations from all Europe, will be a reward after his own heart, and will help to make him the most popular President who has recently held power.
