Class / I.S^-:^;, 
 
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THE GREAT CRIME 
 OF 1914 
 
 A PLEA FOR PEACE 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANK M. FRANKLIN 
 
 OF THE NEW YORK BAR 
 
 Author of *' Prince and Profligate," ** The Money Trust/* etc. 
 
 Truth shall make you free " 
 
 Uhc Iknlcfterbocftcr press 
 
 (G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS) 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 1914 
 
.F6 
 
 -«*» ■ .:^.. 
 
 By transfer 
 The Wi +e House 
 
PREFACE 
 
 A VISION OF THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR, OR HELL 
 ON EARTH 
 
 Soon after the war began I was obliged to 
 undergo an operation. While waiting for the 
 anaesthetic to be administered to me I was reading 
 an account of the beginning of hostilities. The 
 first thing I remember thereafter is a dull throb- 
 bing in my temples, which gradually grew into the 
 noise of artillery and din of battle. I seemed to be 
 a war correspondent standing on a hill outside 
 of the city of Liege, near the road along which 
 pitiful old men, women, and children were passing, 
 seeking to escape from the high-explosive shells 
 hurled by the Germans from across the River 
 Meuse. The German artillery, however, was di- 
 rected against the Liege forts. Repeated attempts 
 had been made by the Germans to cross the river 
 for the purpose of attacking them. 
 
 The regiments of German soldiers were rushed 
 forward over the hastily constructed pontoon 
 bridge. Shells from the fort were hurled in their 
 midst causing parts of human bodies to fly squirm- 
 ing in all directions, and fall into the bloody river 
 which seemed choked with dead and wounded. 
 
The places left vacant by these unfortunate men 
 were at once filled with numerous other spiked 
 helmets, and just as these new men were about 
 to land on the other side, a couple of large shells 
 from the fort struck the pontoon bridge which fell 
 with its struggling mass of humanity into the 
 awful river below. While the woimded struggled 
 amidst the dying in the river, another pontoon 
 bridge was hastily constructed only to meet with 
 the same terrible fate. 
 
 It seemed that the German forces had been 
 checked for days, and I was wondering how many 
 times this performance would be repeated before 
 the German commanders would be convinced that 
 flesh and blood is no match for hard steel and 
 explosive shells, when a loud cry was heard on the 
 other side of the town where an army of Germans 
 had succeeded in advancing upon Liege from 
 points beyond the reach of the forts. The brave 
 Belgians had advanced fiercely against the in- 
 vaders, and there ensued a struggle which has no 
 parallel in history. Amidst heart-rending shrieks 
 and cries, the great shells from the German artillery 
 were slaying entire columns of Belgians as they 
 detonated and made havoc of the bowels of the 
 earth, which were swallowing legs, heads, and arms 
 that had been torn from human bodies. The 
 Belgians too were doing frightful execution with 
 their machine guns, wiping out entire sections 
 of the invaders, but the places of those disabled 
 were soon filled by innumerable other soldiers. 
 
 And now there came many regiments of German 
 Uhlans on their fiery horses, crashing and slash- 
 
ing the Belgian infantry. The Belgians stood 
 their ground and received the enemy upon their 
 bayonets. As horses and men went down to- 
 gether, many others came from behind, jumping 
 over them and continuing the work of death and 
 destruction. 
 
 But the weight of numbers was in favor of the 
 invaders. The Belgian lines began to thin out 
 perceptibly and then they began slowly to retreat. 
 This seemed to give additional courage to the 
 fierce Germans who with savage yells rushed the 
 Belgian lines until their thinning ranks could no 
 longer hold their position. 
 
 The lines broke and the Belgians ran for cover. 
 The Germans charged with renewed fervor and 
 rained blows from all sides on the fleeing Belgians. 
 
 So fascinated was I by the terrible scene that 
 I failed to notice that the fighting had come up 
 to where I was standing. Several cringing men, 
 women, and children, who were on the road, tried 
 to get out of the way, only to be cut to pieces. A 
 few men in an attempt to save themselves came 
 to where I was standing. A number of invaders 
 at once charged up the hill cutting down every- 
 thing in their way. I received a blow on the right 
 temple and lost consciousness as I fell. 
 
 When I revived, it was evening. The fighting 
 seemed to have passed on. The city of Liege 
 was in flames. The luried sky illuminated the 
 battlefield. I raised myself; as far as the eye 
 could reach the ground was strewn with dead, 
 dying, and wounded. Maimed, crushed, and shat- 
 tered soldiers were praying to be put out of their 
 
misery. Some had their eyes gouged out. Others 
 had their arms and legs hanging loose from their 
 torn bodies, and all, who could, were vainly striv- 
 ing to staunch the blood from their terrific woimds. 
 Numerous men were writhing on the ground in 
 the most frightful agony until their eyes began to 
 glaze and death relieved them. Many mangled, 
 bleeding forms were crawling on the earth aim- 
 lessly seeking for succor until they could crawl no 
 longer and dropped down in torturing pain. Blood, 
 human blood was everywhere. 
 
 The sickening sights surrounded me so that 
 I could not turn to any direction for relief. I 
 raised my hand to heaven and cried out: ''Merci- 
 ful God, How can such intolerable cruelty be 
 permitted? Why will men bring on each other 
 such agonizing grief?'* Unearthly cries echoed. 
 Why? Why? And then it seemed to me that 
 thousands of accusing shapes raised themselves 
 and with unnatural cries began to call out for 
 justice, against those who had brought them there 
 to die amidst such intolerable suffering. 
 
 The next thing I knew I was indignantly draw- 
 ing up an indictment against the rulers somewhat 
 similar to the one which appears at the end of this 
 booklet, and then I awoke to find a physician 
 fixing the bandage which I had torn ofT in my 
 delirium. I was greatly relieved when I found it 
 was only a dream, but when I realized that what 
 I had seen in my vision was actually taking place 
 daily in the theater of war, only that the horror 
 was a thousand-fold greater and continued all 
 the time, I resolved to set down what I could 
 
against this greatest crime against humanity, in 
 the hope that it will awake the conscience of the 
 people and perhaps even reach the rulers of the 
 earth. 
 
 vu 
 
The Great Crime of 19 14 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 HOT HASTE TO BEGIN HOSTILITIES 
 
 On July 22, 1914, peace reigned throughout 
 the world. In spite of the great burden of mili- 
 tarism, which cost European Powers from one- 
 eighth to one-half of their entire income, each of 
 the countries at present engaged in war enjoyed 
 an unprecedented degree of wealth and prosperity. 
 Racial hatred was decHning and brotherly love 
 was on the ascendancy throughout the world. 
 A Peace Palace had just been completed and a 
 permanent Tribunal for Arbitration of Nations* 
 differences had been estabhshed. The sentiment 
 "Peace on earth, good will to men" was growing 
 and bearing fruit among the peoples of the earth. 
 Most cordial relations existed among the rulers of 
 Europe, many of whom had intermarried into 
 each other's families and were high honorary 
 officers of each other's military forces. 
 
 The Czar of Russia and the Kaiser of Germany, 
 the two men who were chiefly responsible for the 
 
commencement of the war, were considered the 
 chief votaries of peace, the Czar having called 
 together the nations for the institutions of a Peace 
 Congress, and the Emperor of Germany was every- 
 where declared to be the logical candidate for the 
 Nobel Peace Prize which was to be given in 19 14. 
 
 On the next day there appeared a small speck 
 on this peaceful horizon which presaged the gather- 
 ing clouds of war soon to break into the disastrous 
 storm which is shaking Europe to its very founda- 
 tion. On fateful July 23, 1914, Imperial Austria 
 sends an ultimatum to intriguing Servia ; threaten- 
 ing the dissolution of diplomatic relations unless 
 this comparatively insignificant Power agrees to 
 suppress anti-Austrian propaganda within her 
 Dominion, and permit Austrian representatives to 
 participate in the investigation and punishment 
 of the conspirators, who, she alleges had taken 
 part in the assassination of the heir of the Austrian 
 throne on June 28th, in revenge for Austria's 
 restrictive policy against a greater Servia. When 
 Servia asked for more time to consider this ultima- 
 tum, and this request is favored by the other 
 Powers, Austria arbitrarily refused to grant even 
 one hour more than the time allotted, and here we 
 may note the first example of the stubbornness of 
 royalty, which deems itself far above common 
 sense. 
 
 In the meantime Russia, the most active sup- 
 pressor of free speech and free thought in her own 
 territory, suddenly became the champion of free 
 speech and autonomy for Servia. As the last 
 moment of the forty-eight hours approached, 
 
Servia replied that she will not permit Austrian 
 representatives in Servia to try Servian subjects, 
 stating, however, that she was willing to investi- 
 gate the charges by her own authorities with 
 freedom of inspection to Austria, and suggesting 
 arbitration; this reply was not satisfactory to the 
 Austrian Government. 
 
 The friendly offices of England offered in an 
 attempt to procure arbitration at a conference of 
 the European ambassadors in London, were per- 
 emptorily declined by Austria, and on July 28th, 
 she formally declared war on Servia and at once 
 began to bombard Belgrade its capital. 
 
 The Czar immediately called out all his Reserv- 
 ists, which means that besides her enormous stand- 
 ing army consisting of all able-bodied males who 
 are compelled to serve for several years when they 
 attain the age of twenty ; all ex-soldiers who have 
 taken up peaceful pursuits must leave their homes, 
 families, and occupations and join their colors 
 hundreds of miles away. 
 
 In 1866, Prussia and Austria went to war for 
 about the same reason, or lack of reason, which is 
 partly responsible for the present hostiHties. Each, 
 distrusting the other, forced the mobiHzation of 
 its troops at their mutual frontier until the re- 
 spective armies clashed and precipitated the in- 
 evitable conflict. The Prussians triumphed over 
 the Austrians after a large number of men were 
 killed and maimed by both sides, and at the end of 
 the war both countries were in about the same 
 position as when they started. Bismarck, who 
 foresaw the coming of the greater Franco-Prussian 
 
 3 
 
War deemed it advisable to cultivate Austrian 
 friendship so as to insure her neutrality. This 
 friendship gradually grew into the present de- 
 fensive and offensive compact in 1879. This 
 alliance furnished Germany with an excuse blindly 
 to sanction all that her ally, Austria, had said and 
 done, and to send an ultimatum to Russia de- 
 manding that her mobilization cease within twenty- 
 four hours or she will declare war. To threaten 
 war within twenty-four hours that would destroy 
 the work of centuries seems to be official Ger- 
 many 's idea of promulgating peace. Slow and stub- 
 born Russia paid no attention to this threat, and so 
 on, July 31st, Kriegs-Gefahr, or Martial Law, was 
 declared throughout Germany, and the Kaiser at 
 once proceeded to concentrate his vast army, not on 
 the Russian frontier, where Cossacks were already 
 making inroads upon Prussian territory, but on 
 the borders of France and Belgium and even in- 
 vaded Luxemburg, regardless of Germany's solemn 
 treaty to respect the neutrality of both Belgium 
 and Luxemburg. On the following day Germany 
 declared formal war on Russia. 
 
 Republican France, that has so little in common 
 with Autocratic Russia, had nevertheless been 
 forced to form a dual alliance with the Czar's 
 Government since 1876 owing to Germany's grow- 
 ing military power and menacing attitude. Eng- 
 land, after becoming apprehensive on account of 
 Germany's increasing navy, found it worth her 
 while to cultivate French friendship. Subsequently 
 France induced England to come also to an under- 
 standing with Russia and thus the Entente Cor- 
 
 4 
 
diale, or Triple Understanding, was formed to act 
 together against the Triple Alliance whenever the 
 joint interests of those three countries require 
 action. France, in obedience to her alliance with 
 Russia, has always expressed her wilHngness to 
 cooperate with that country and issued a mo- 
 bilization order when Germany mobihzed at the 
 French frontier. It is but fair to say that the 
 Government of this European Republic had first 
 ordered her forces away from the frontier so that 
 there should be no clash with Germany and in 
 order to demonstrate that Germany is the ag- 
 gressor ; and which by the way furnished Italy with 
 the excuse she sought for not participating in the 
 war, as she agreed to do by the terms of the Triple 
 Alliance, if Germany had been attacked. 
 
 Thus the alliances which were made for the 
 purpose of securing the peace of Europe have, to a 
 great extent, become the cause of the present war. 
 
 After all this mischief had been done, on August 
 2, 1 914, Austria and Russia were at last willing to 
 discuss the advisability of not killing hundreds of 
 thousands of men, because one archduke had been 
 assassinated. The dove of peace hovered for a 
 short time over the hostile camps. There was 
 still time to avoid this awful Armageddon, and had 
 the rulers of Europe earnestly desired peace even 
 then, the dark clouds of war would have dis- 
 appeared. But, no, the savage spirit of strife had 
 come to stay, and blood and iron became the rule 
 of the day. 
 
 England claims that Russia and Austria were 
 on the point of agreeing upon an amicable settle- 
 
 5 
 
ment when Germany precipitated the war. Ger- 
 many claims that the Russian mobihzation forced 
 her hand. The fact remains that the Teuton war 
 lord evidently believed that he was lord "of all 
 he surveyed, " and demanded that he be permitted 
 to use Belgium for the passage of his troops so as to 
 enable him to attack France more swiftly, and paid 
 no attention to Belgian's King when called upon 
 to respect their neutrality treaty. Germany's chan- 
 cellor regarded it as "a mere scrap of paper,'* and 
 so, upon Belgium's refusal, Germany at once began 
 to invade Belgium territory, wage war upon her 
 people, and attack her forts, thereby demonstra- 
 ting that modem fortifications are reliable and 
 that the best laid plans of mihtary experts "may 
 go agley." 
 
 The Belgium King protested to the King of 
 England against the breach of their treaty, and 
 the attack upon her by Germany. The relations 
 between Great Britain and Germany were none 
 too friendly since Germany refused England's 
 proposition to cease building additional warships 
 and thereby threatening England's supremacy at 
 sea and her security on land, so England seemed 
 to be only too glad of the excuse Germany gave 
 her when she attacked Belgium, and at once 
 mobiHzed her troops in order to defend Belgium 
 neutrality by force of arms. The fatal idea gener- 
 ally prevailed that a European war was inevitable, 
 and that it might as well take place then as any 
 other time. 
 
 And so on August 4, 19 14, there was a prompt 
 general declaration of hostilities all around, and 
 
some days later Japan recalled to mind her treaty 
 with England and stated that "in order to pre- 
 serve peace in the Far East" she advised Germany 
 to relinquish her possessions in China and with- 
 draw her fleet and power within about a week, or 
 she would declare war on Germany. Germany 
 heeded her not, and Japan started the war game 
 in the Far East. 
 
 And so each of the countries, after doing all 
 they can to provoke each other, combines to stop 
 the wheels of progress, paralyze trade, finance, and 
 industry, sacrifice its best blood, and pour out its 
 treasures so as to bring sorrow and suffering to 
 millions of homes throughout the continent. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 NO REAL REASON FOR THIS RUINOUS WAR 
 
 What real cause can be assigned for the appall- 
 ing devastation that is going on in Europe? Each 
 of the rulers engaged in the murderous game seeks 
 to saddle another with the burden of commencing 
 hostilities and says that he was dragged into 
 the war and that the other ''thrust the sword into 
 his hand." As a matter of fact all of the coun- 
 tries seem to be more or less guilty. In the cold- 
 blooded, impersonal, diplomatic correspondence 
 that preceded the war we find no suggestion that 
 the alleged difference between the great nations 
 might be submitted to arbitration. 
 
 There can be no question about the fact that 
 if the belligerent nations had done nothing while 
 they were exchanging notes with each other, hos- 
 tilities would never have been commenced, and if 
 a reasonable disposition had been shown to adjust 
 their pretended grievances there would have been 
 no war. Instead, however, all of the countries had 
 been proceeding to prepare for a conflict, which 
 caused apprehension and fear amongst them, and 
 furnished the spark that ignited the combustible 
 Powers and resulted in this horrible conflagration. 
 
 8 
 
With the avowed purpose of securing peace, 
 Europe has been on a war footing for many years, 
 each country going to the limit of its resources in 
 securing great standing armies and navies, and 
 the latest weapons of destruction. How could 
 anyone believe in pretended peaceful intentions 
 when they were constantly preparing to fight 
 each other? This was accentuated by their con- 
 temptible spy system, and they thus constantly 
 bred discord, antagonism, and racial hatred. 
 
 Germany's terrific, well-drilled, and ever-in- 
 creasing military power was the first menace to the 
 rest of Europe. Each country, with the ostensible 
 idea of being able to defend itself, went to the very 
 limit of its resources in preparing to fight when- 
 ever it should be called upon to do so. The 
 military aristocracy, consisting of thousands of 
 officers in charge of these vast armies, who re- 
 garded war as their sole trade and means of rapid 
 promotion, were always most eager to engage in 
 war upon the slightest pretext, or lack of pretext. 
 With them were the wealthy and influential manu- 
 facturers of war material who directly profited 
 through the large expenditures necessitated by 
 human strife, and part of whose business it is to 
 sow the seeds of discord in order that they may 
 reap the harvest of gold. 
 
 The rulers finally yielded to these dreadful 
 advocates of destruction, and seized upon the 
 first chance that presented itself to involve their 
 respective countries in wholesale slaughter. 
 
 It was through some such lack of reason that 
 Austria was induced to declare war on Servia. 
 
 9 
 
Can it be seriously contended that the great 
 Dual-Monarchy was afraid of its little neighbor? 
 Because a Servian assassin, who was apprehended, 
 had killed an archduke, does an entire country 
 have to engage in assassination? Can it be 
 seriously maintained that propaganda in Servia 
 against the Austrian Government could do any 
 serious harm to it? If the entire Servian army 
 had attacked Austria it could easily have been 
 annihilated. 
 
 The more probable causes for the war were the 
 secret desire of the Imperial party in Austria 
 to annex more territory in the Balkan States and 
 the ungrounded racial hatred fostered by the war 
 party and also the ill-advised idea of engaging in 
 a "popular" war so as to unite all the contending 
 parties in Austria after the Emperor's expected 
 demise. 
 
 As a direct sequel to Austria's attitude we find 
 Russia preparing to support Servia and to mo- 
 bilize her great forces. While Russia's standing 
 army is not as intelligent, well-drilled, or equipped 
 as Germany's, it has always been superior in 
 numbers, and the Muscovites have almost as great 
 faith in the rule of force and violence as the 
 Germans and, therefore, Russia has been almost as 
 great a menace as Germany. 
 
 What sense is there to the alleged Pan-Slavic 
 Federation? What good would a union of all the 
 Slav races do to anybody? Does anyone believe 
 that the most cruel government on earth, which 
 merely for the expression of opinion has sent to 
 Siberia, to prison, and into exile its most en- 
 
 10 
 
lightened subjects who dared to Uft their voices 
 in protest against bnitahty, would go to war 
 against Austria, for trying to prevent free speech 
 and punish royal assassination? Has the great Rus- 
 sian Bear put his own house in such order that he 
 can consistently help others? Is it not more likely 
 that the Czar resorted to war in order to divert 
 his people from the great burden of taxes and 
 oppression he has heaped upon them? This idea 
 of diversion has been repeatedly utilized by Russia 
 in the past when she organized and encouraged 
 Jewish massacres. When she finds that this way 
 of giving her subjects something else to think 
 about is becoming impopular on the continent, 
 and that there is too much hue and cry raised 
 against such outrages, she seeks a more respect- 
 able mode of rapine and massacre. 
 
 Russia has also an eye on the Balkan States and 
 on the Dardanelles, although she has more territory 
 than she can use for generations to come, and if she 
 would employ her poor people in the cultivation 
 thereof, and follow the advice of her first real King, 
 Peter the Great, who earned that title by attempt- 
 ing to raise Russia out of the mire of Barbarism 
 and encourage her in peaceful pursuits, her Empire 
 would become a land of plenty. Another cause 
 for the war is the time-honored one of Russia 
 seeking an outlet to the sea. As a matter of fact 
 she has several splendid seaports that are available 
 at all times, such as those at Odessa, Libau, etc., 
 and has outlets upon the Baltic Sea, Caspian Sea, 
 Black Sea, and White Sea. But even if she needed 
 additional seaports, could not Russia obtain them 
 
 II 
 
more humanely by purchase and dollar diplomacy, 
 as, for instance, the recent acquisition by Germany 
 of a port at New Waterway near Rotterdam, 
 Holland? 
 
 Germany has been selfishly struggling for su- 
 premacy without regard to the rest of humanity 
 and is therefore now facing most of civilized human- 
 ity in the greatest war and carnage in the history 
 of the world. Because Austria has wrongfully 
 annexed a couple of Servian provinces entrusted 
 to her government, and Germany has encouraged 
 her in her arrogant attitude in regard to the 
 Balkan States, does that give her any excuse for 
 saying that there is fear of a Slav invasion of 
 Europe? Why should Germany be offended at 
 Russian mobilization, while she herself was doing 
 the same thing? Why has Germany been increas- 
 ing her armament each year, if not to engage in 
 strife and slaughter? 
 
 Germany was making extraordinary strides in 
 every line of endeavor, and if she had left well 
 enough alone and preserved the peace, no one 
 could have stopped her from becoming the great- 
 est Power on the European continent. She has 
 even acquired large tracts of land for her colonies 
 on the other continents, where she could send any 
 surplus population that she may have for hundreds 
 of years to come. 
 
 In Europe, Germany*s neighbors are just about 
 as crowded as she is, and Germany can get more 
 room only by murdering the people in her vicinity. 
 Why should Germany paralyze her progress and 
 sacrifice her culture upon the pagan altar of 
 
Barbarism? Why should any Power be jealous 
 of its neighbors' prosperity and colonies if it has 
 colonies and property of its own ? There was every 
 reason for peace, and no excuse for war. 
 
 But Germany, like the others, seems to have been 
 drunk with power, and seems to have been running 
 amuck spoiling for a fight with anybody upon any 
 pretext. 
 
 Her martial emperor was only too ready to 
 listen to the advice of his war party, which he 
 believed would give him a chance to realize his 
 dreams of greatness and Imperialism. Nay, if 
 possible, he would have liked to Germanize the 
 world . ' ' Deutschland iiber alles ' ' ; but the All (i) es 
 have to be reckoned with and that is no more 
 probable than it is possible for the Slav races to 
 enslave the earth. A day before the war the Teu- 
 tons and Slavs were dwelling in peace together. 
 Tolerance of religion and brotherly love were 
 gaining ground, and racial hatred would have com- 
 pletely died out as it has almost expired in the 
 United States, if it had not been kindled anew by 
 racial wars. 
 
 And now we come to France. Why should La 
 Belle France, who has been baptized in the blood 
 of kings and nobility, take up the cudgel for 
 Despotic Russia and finance her wars? What has 
 she to gain from the present conflict? France 
 could have avoided her alliance like Italy and if 
 Germany had been assured of her neutrality that 
 country would have been too glad to leave her in 
 peace; and France would have saved the world 
 
 13 
 
from this gigantic misfortune. But the brave 
 Frenchmen have ever been led into foolhardy 
 ways. The French were evidently afraid that 
 Germany might fight them at some future time, 
 so they decided to fight the Germans at once. 
 They did not even have the unmoral excuse of 
 being rivals in commercialism, which so often 
 causes war. There is, of course, the wild spirit of 
 revenge rankling in their breasts because of the 
 loss of Alsace-Lorraine, and there is hope that 
 they will bring these twin provinces back into 
 the mother country — but at what enormous sacri- 
 fice! And so each war has thus far been the grim 
 parent of a more horrible and greater conflict, 
 when the vanquished have gathered sufficient 
 strength to fight. 
 
 As to England, who has repeatedly opposed 
 Russian aggression in the past, her Prime Minister 
 stated that ''the merits of the dispute are not the 
 concern of his Majesty's government. " On August 
 3, 1914, the same Minister declared that Britain 
 is free from any obligation to any other Power, and 
 that there is no reason for her going to war. 
 England did not, however, exert herself particu- 
 larly for peace ; she might, for instance, have plainly 
 warned both Germany and Russia that she would 
 resist, with arms, the unreasonable ambition of 
 either of them, if they went to war. On August 
 4th, without negotiations, she severed her apparent 
 long-standing friendship with Austria and Ger- 
 many, and declared war upon the latter country 
 for the ostensible reason that Germany violated 
 Belgium neutrality, but as a matter of fact 
 
 14 
 
because Britain was seeking all along for an excuse 
 to enter into the maelstrom. Germany and Austria 
 tried in many ways to secure England's neutrality, 
 and Germany asked her upon what terms she 
 would remain neutral; she refused to commit her- 
 self, but merely hinted that she could not stand 
 calmly by if France was molested, and if Belgium 
 had not furnished her a good pretext, she would 
 have found some other excuse for joining forces 
 with the other countries. The real reason for 
 going to war is that Britain has acquired the habit 
 of fighting for what is termed the "balance of 
 power, " a chimera which has no particular weight, 
 for while English territory in Europe remains the 
 same, the balance of power is always different 
 after each European war. A serious question 
 arises as to whether her policy will not act as a 
 boomerang in this case, for if Russia comes out 
 victorious and over-balances all the other nations 
 in power, it would be worse for the world in general 
 and for England in particular. Moreover it will 
 be just as difficult to get rid of Russia's militarism 
 as of Germany's. In all fairness, why should Eng- 
 land have greater right than anyone else at sea? 
 Would John Bull dare to bully the rest of the 
 world and say that he has the right to search 
 neutral vessels bound for neutral ports and con- 
 fiscate food supplies, if he did not have his over- 
 bearing navy? Britain's isolation, which might be 
 used as an argument against her entering into war, 
 is brought forward as one of the reasons for it. 
 The ground that she fought in self-defense before 
 anyone commenced to attack her is also un- 
 
 15 
 
tenable. England seems to be anxious to show off 
 her prowess and what a great Power she is, and 
 evidently believes that she can do so by kilHng 
 off the greatest number of her own subjects, as 
 well as numerous innocent people of other coun- 
 tries. And now that she is in the fight, as the most 
 civilized of nations let us hope that all this blood- 
 shed will not be in vain, and that she will use all 
 her efforts to compel the Powers to disarm and to 
 abohsh scientific brutal force as a means of settling 
 disputes among nations. 
 
 i6 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 WAR IS WRONG, WASTEFUL, WICKED, AND WANTON 
 
 If a man kills a human being or robs him, he 
 commits a crime. If the killing of one person is a 
 crime, how can the killing of thousands be justifi- 
 able? If the robbing of a single individual be 
 wrong, how can the robbing of an entire com- 
 munity or nation be right? 
 
 One who commits a crime strikes a blow at the 
 entire social order. How much greater blow then, 
 is struck at all humanity when the stupendous 
 crime of strife and slaughter is entered upon? 
 War, a survival of the age of barbarism, has 
 outgrown its purpose and usefulness. 
 
 Time was when the right of might was exalted, 
 and the profession of arms was a necessary evil. 
 In the early ages when each tribe depended upon 
 itself for existence there was some material reason 
 for killing off its neighbors so that the victor 
 might possess the products of the soil from the 
 immediate vicinity. But now, when the entire 
 world is united by telegraph wires and wireless 
 telegraphs, when we have all kinds of rapid 
 transportation and mutual obligations and inter- 
 ests, and where the comforts of modem life depend 
 
 2 17 
 
upon such a variety of wares produced by such a 
 variety of races in such a variety of parts of the 
 globe, it seems the height of folly to kill off people 
 who contribute to the supply of our necessities. 
 
 Not only are great numbers of laborers destroyed, 
 but many scientists, poets, inventors, and other 
 thinkers who might have enriched the world, are 
 wantonly sacrificed to the God of War. 
 
 Even victory does not begin to compensate. 
 Where the winning nation succeeds in annexing 
 foreign territory, it obtains at the same time a 
 constant source of strife in its body politic. For 
 example, after all these years Alsace and Lorraine, 
 annexed by Germany at the end of the Franco- 
 Prussian War, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, taken 
 over by Austria, have been like a thorn in the flesh 
 of the victorious kingdoms and are still large 
 causes of the present strife. People have become 
 more educated and resent being taken over and 
 driven like sheep. Hardly a single subject of the 
 conquering nations has benefited one jot by the 
 annexation of additional territory. On the con- 
 trary, the citizens of those countries are mulcted 
 with additional taxes in order to keep the 
 vanquished land in subjection. 
 
 The other reward of victory is the exaction by 
 the conqueror of indemnity, but even if the de- 
 pleted treasuries of the victors are refilled for a 
 while by such blood money, the conquerors can 
 never be repaid for the loss of useful manhood 
 and talent in their kingdom. Ask the heartbroken 
 mothers, widows, and orphans what price they 
 consider would repay them for the loss of their 
 
 18 
 
dear ones. Withal, statlotics will show that great 
 poverty and depression have been the lot of a vic- 
 torious nation after receiving the spoils of the war. 
 
 How then about the unfortunate vanquished? 
 To what depths of despair are its broken-down, 
 defeated people driven by the awful waste an". 
 tragedy of war? Does it not seem like madness 
 for civilized nations to engage and continue in 
 warfare, when they ha.^e so much to lose and sc 
 Httle to gain therefrom? And yet, here we have 
 some of the most civilized nations of Europe en- 
 gaging in primeval strife with modern scientific 
 weapons of destruction and only agreeing blindly 
 not to resort to pacific measures and civilized arbi- 
 tration. 
 
 A question arises whether treaties or agree- 
 ments between nations are worth the paper they 
 are written upon. Is it not a disgrace to humanity 
 that great Powers should not have as true a sense 
 of honor as an ordinary honest man? What is the 
 use of cultured Germany utilizing the word "honor" 
 as when her statesmen talk of being in honor 
 bound to support her ally Austria or speak of 
 peace with honor, when she unhesitatingly breaks 
 her agreement about Belgium and Luxemburg and 
 attempts to rob their sovereigns and people of 
 everything they possess? If nations make and 
 break contracts at will as they did in Korea and 
 China, why should they claim that they go to war 
 to uphold treaties as England did about Belgium 
 and Japan in regard to England? Perhaps this 
 is a new-found virtue in their diplomacy and not 
 an old time self-vSeeking policy. At the end of the 
 
 19 
 
Crimean War, in the Congress of Paris, there was 
 added to the Peace Treaty a distinct clause to the 
 effect that the Powers would submit all their 
 differences to mediation and arbitration before 
 going to war. Why did not Great Britain call 
 attention to existing treaties for mediation be- 
 tween the great Powers before engaging in war ; as 
 ordinary individuals would have done if they had 
 written contracts between themselves? Why did 
 not poor Franz Joseph, who had been through so 
 many of the castastrophes of war, remember that 
 his government had agreed to arbitrate before he 
 permitted the war party to start the dreadful 
 cataclysm that is laying his kingdom and Europe 
 in waste? Why did not the dread Czar of Russia 
 think of his humane professions and pledges of 
 peace before he unleashed his feudal hordes for 
 death and destruction? And finally, fair France, 
 the Pleasure Ground of the World, and the seat of 
 European Democracy, why did not she recall the 
 International Tribunal wherein her disputes might 
 have been adjusted and thus save her people 
 from the most dreadful of all scourges which is 
 devastating and depopulating her own and other 
 lands? 
 
 Cannot these rulers see that the entire idea of 
 cruel strife has become revolting to the modern 
 mind; that right-thinking men cannot exalt the 
 art of war, which after all its tactics and strategy, 
 merely amounts to crushing, by fair means or foul, 
 a lot of men, who are styled the enemy, and 
 annihilating them in the most cruel manner, and 
 particularly in hitting them when they are down, 
 
 20 
 
and if perchance they try to run away in an 
 attempt to preserve their Hves, unmercifully 
 cutting them to pieces? 
 
 How can humane persons glorify such horrors 
 or the awful atrocities committed in every war, 
 such as the destroying and burning of villages, 
 churches, and cities that are in the way of the 
 Juggernaut of a marching army, and where many 
 innocent non-combatants of all ages are killed and 
 rendered homeless, and whose lifetime savings are 
 destroyed, lost, and wiped out by the shot of a 
 gun? 
 
 In this class we may find the recent bombard- 
 ment and destruction of beautiful Louvain, with 
 its forty thousand inhabitants, by the Germans. 
 Then, too, there are the modern terrors of the air 
 from which bombs are hurled and dropped upon 
 inoffending and unsuspecting non-combatants, an 
 instance of which is the recent night attack upon 
 Antwerp, where many women and children were 
 killed and wounded. 
 
 And worst of all, we hear from parts of Eastern 
 Prussia, where the Russians hold forth, and from 
 other seats of war, of the breakir g out of unbridled 
 passion of the overtaxed, half-crazed men, who 
 have been turned into beasts, and who violate 
 young girls and women before the eyes of their 
 husbands, relatives, and families, causing the most 
 excruciating agony to their unfortunate victims 
 before they die from the effects of the heinous 
 violation of their bodies. 
 
 And yet there are worthy people who say that 
 such unspeakable outrages should proceed without 
 
 21 
 
protest from anyone. If the voice for humanity 
 and reason is universal and loud enough the powers 
 that be must hear it and heed it; at all events it 
 can do no harm to attempt to do good. 
 
 It seems almost inconceivable that the civilized 
 rulers should not hesitate to precipitate all these 
 horrors and should see fit so to disregard all moral 
 obligations and teachings of God and man, and 
 viciously set against each other numerous subjects 
 with orders to kill, maim, wound, and capture, in 
 order to settle some comparatively trivial injury, 
 or dispute of so-called honor that has arisen, or 
 some imaginary apprehensions of danger, when 
 they might settle any and all such controversies 
 between themselves in the pacific, orderly, and 
 humane manner provided by The Hague Tribunal 
 or in any other civilized and peaceful manner. It 
 is human to err, but it is inhuman to proceed with 
 this terrible error. 
 
 22 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 PERVERTED PRIDE, PATRIOTISM, AND PASSION 
 
 At the beginning of the war a blaze of so-called 
 patriotism spread throughout each nation. Men 
 were everywhere rushing to join the colors of their 
 country, king, or government. Party lines were 
 wiped out and public opinion in each belligerent 
 country was in favor of the impending war. Aside 
 from the heartbreaking parting between members 
 of families, there was a general enthusiasm as the 
 men left for the front to the strains of martial 
 music. If the populace had the foresight to see 
 that in a short while these departing soldiers who 
 were leaving in the flower of health, vigor, and 
 manhood would be driven almost beyond human 
 endurance and forced to accomplish almost im- 
 possible tasks, and that most of them would be 
 maimed and wounded, and many of them left on 
 the field of battle, the cheering would be turned 
 into wails of woe and cries of indignation against 
 the government who sent out their friends and 
 dear ones to death and disaster. 
 
 But now the people can see only the glamour 
 and glory of war, and each regards his own 
 cause, whatever that may be, as right, and dares to 
 
 23 
 
raise his voice calling upon Almighty God to bless 
 their unholy expedition of slaughter and strife, 
 and that the Lord of Hosts be on their side and 
 aid them to crush and confound the army of men 
 sent to oppose them, and who are by them styled 
 *'the enemy." 
 
 The same aggressive patriotic or jingo spirit pre- 
 vails in their parliaments and law-making bodies. 
 The majority that would generally haggle before 
 they would expend any sum, no matter how small, 
 upon any real improvement for their country, 
 now that war is declared are more than ready to 
 finance the '* human slaughterhouse" and devote 
 any sum obtainable to promote the worst of all 
 curses to humanity, known as "War." 
 
 It is reported that when Austria declared war on 
 Servia, Vienna burst into a ''frenzy of delight." 
 It will be of interest to note with what frenzied 
 feelings they now regard the numerous reverses 
 of their armies and the ruthless killing of so many 
 hundreds of thousands of their best youth and 
 manhood. 
 
 One feeling may be sure to have been intensified, 
 and that is the mad lust for blood, which seems 
 to prevail. The most ferocious beasts of prey do 
 not attack or kill their own kind, and it seems 
 almost unbelievable that modern civilized man, 
 with his ages of culture, should be more ferocious 
 than the wildest beasts that inhabit the jungle. 
 
 The general public is infected with the war 
 fever and intoxicated by mixed motives that 
 crystallize into war patriotism. From early child- 
 hood their minds have been perverted and they 
 
 24 
 
have been made to believe that the entrapping 
 and cruel killing of a lot of innocent men who are 
 known as '*foes" is the most exalted game of 
 games. 
 
 Each government that is responsible for bring- 
 ing on the war uses all sorts of methods to stimu- 
 late the war spirit everywhere. It furnishes 
 military spectacles of uniformed marching men and 
 everywhere is heard the stirring national hymn 
 whereby a powerful feeling is called up in the 
 breast and sets the masses to shouting "hurrah!" 
 ** There is no time to ask the reason why, there is 
 but time to do and die." 
 
 Each government claims that the war is defen- 
 sive and that its country is in danger. There 
 would be no danger of invasion if they did not 
 stir up and bring on the war. 
 
 Then, too, many are lead by the spirit of 
 adventure into the field of battle, the only jfield 
 where most of them have a chance to distinguish 
 themselves, if they are not themselves extinguished, 
 and they also feel the latent savage instinct for 
 fight aroused in their breasts. 
 
 Amidst all this there is much of heroism, true 
 courage, and noble sacrifice. Above all there is a 
 great expenditure of energy which would be of 
 lasting benefit to humanity and mankind, if turned 
 into beneficial channels. The masses do not stop 
 to consider that their opponents are of the same 
 mind, and that both their causes can not be right, 
 and that one most of necessity be wrong. Or 
 when they claim that each one is defending it- 
 self from the other, when both are doing all they 
 
 25 
 
can to attack each other is not reasonable, and 
 they might remember that an all benevolent Deity 
 will not listen to their respective prayers when they 
 call upon Him to help them break his express 
 commandment "Thou shalt not kill." 
 
 Nor do they figure that those whom they are 
 bent upon murdering to the strains of military 
 music and drums have feelings like themselves 
 and upon their lives depend the existence and 
 happiness of women and children, and that the 
 curse of Cain will cling to them to the end of 
 their days because they have committed homicide. 
 Heaven forgive them for they know not what 
 they do. 
 
 There is a general belief that it is glorious and 
 that we are fulfilling a great duty when we die for 
 our country. That is true when we die for a 
 worthy cause, but what does it avail when our life- 
 blood ebbs away for no cause at all, nay when we 
 bring by it the most abject wretchedness to those 
 we love and who are dependent upon us for life and 
 succor? Is it not more our duty to live a useful 
 life for our country, wives, children, and families? 
 
 But in times of war these ideas are perverted 
 and we watch anxiously the bulletins which per- 
 chance tell of a great victory for our men whereby 
 we have succeeded in annihilating and laying low 
 thousands of the enemy, with a loss of probably 
 only a few hundred men to ourselves, failing to 
 realize that we have thereby broken thousands of 
 hearts and homes not only of the enemy, but 
 of our own people as well. 
 
 That a man should love, honor, and revere his 
 26 
 
country is but natural, but this righteous love is 
 turned into evil passion when it helps to bring upon 
 our country the greatest curse and scourge that 
 can befall it, when it plunges the entire land 
 into desolation, misery, and woe, and robs it of its 
 youth and manhood, particularly when we stop 
 to consider that the cause which in most instances 
 is responsible for wars is simply the groundless 
 greed for more territory. "Thou shalt not kill," 
 should hold good when applied to nations as well 
 as when applied to individuals, and no right- 
 minded monarch or ruler should attempt to raise 
 himself on the bloody corpses of men. 
 
 Patriotism and honor are given as the chief 
 causes for commencing and continuing the dread- 
 ful waste of humanity in which Europe is at 
 present engaged. Because England, France, and 
 Japan, as well as poor Belgium wanted to main- 
 tain their honor and in order to keep their word 
 and uphold their end of the treaty, they have gone 
 into a quarrel which does not concern them. While 
 Germany, Austria, Russia, and Servia profess that 
 patriotism for their respective Teuton and Slavic 
 races is the cause of their present strife. None 
 of these Powers have thus far thought of honor 
 when they had an opportunity to annex or steal 
 their neighbors' lands, and this is particularly 
 true of some of the colonies which they have 
 obtained by such unconscionable methods. 
 
 Nor do any of them hesitate to use the most 
 cruel and despicable, inhuman and unfair methods 
 while they are waging war, for they say "All 
 is fair in war." But why? Any one of them 
 
 2^ 
 
would not hesitate to imprison and execute any 
 real patriot who dared to lift his voice in protest 
 against their dreadful butcheries and refused to 
 participate therein. That they call "treason." 
 
 As for suggestions of peace, none of them would 
 think of doing anything so dishonorable or un- 
 patriotic. What! Peace without honor? (What- 
 ever that may be.) And so they continue to cut 
 each other to pieces. 
 
 To be Christians, merciful and just, or to prac- 
 tice any of the real virtues does not seem to be in 
 their Code of Honor. Their entire attitude, were 
 it not so tragic, would be most ridiculous. What 
 care they for the millions of men that are sacrificed 
 and ruined so long as they can satisfy their empty 
 honor and so-called patriotism? 
 
 28 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 A PLEA FOR PEACE 
 
 Peace, lasting peace, is the universal cry. 
 Everyone pretends to want peace, and yet the 
 slaying of the innocent continues on a larger 
 scale than ever before. Crimson blood and bitter 
 tears run in rivulets. Thousands of men are 
 tossing about in paroxysms of excruciating pain, 
 praying for cold death to relieve and release 
 them from burning injuries. Tens of thousands 
 of men are driven to distraction, seeking relief 
 from unendurable anguish. There are moans 
 and groans from hundreds of thousands who have 
 been maimed, wounded, and mowed down by 
 sharp swords and iron missiles that have been 
 hurled against their defenseless, unresisting flesh 
 and blood. Millions of bereaved mothers, widows, 
 and children are in the throes of great anguish for 
 their lost loved ones. 
 
 And still the work of ruthless slaughter and 
 destruction proceeds. More and more woimds are 
 inflicted. More and more are added to the list of 
 widows, orphans, and cripples. More and more 
 lacerated hearts are crushed. More and more 
 misery is piled up. 
 
 29 
 
Is it possible that the civilized rulers do not 
 heed those agonized cries of the tortured millions? 
 Does not all this awful catastrophe appall them. 
 Have they no hearts that they cannot feel for all 
 these bleeding hearts? Can it be true that the 
 Allied Powers do not realize the magnitude of the 
 horror already inflicted, when they enter into a 
 bond not to make any moves for peace without the 
 consent of each other, and that this might mean a 
 fight to a finish — a finish of what? Is it to be a 
 finish of all their vast resources? Is it to be the 
 end of all those millions of misguided men who are 
 engaged in this awful death grapple? It is doubt- 
 ful if the powerful combatants could absolutely 
 defeat each other even after years of struggle, but 
 why not realize at once the terrible futility and 
 cruelty of it all? Why keep up a war that has so 
 far proven to be the most disastrous in history? 
 Why prolong this incalculable torture and waste? 
 Do all these rulers consider that if they use all 
 their combined wealth to continue this gigantic 
 strife they will not have sufficient money to carry 
 on their government and business after the fury of 
 this cataclysm has worn itself out, and if they do 
 not stop exterminating all their able-bodied men 
 and boys they will have no one left to carry on the 
 industries and commerce of the country for those 
 who remain behind? 
 
 If they kill off their healthy men, where will 
 they obtain a new supply of strong men to harvest 
 their fields and continue their races? Do they 
 forget that the main reason for the fall of empires 
 has been the want of strong men to support them? 
 
 30 
 
Then, if they believe in war, it is not at all unlikely 
 that they will need all their military forces to 
 settle the differences between themselves and their 
 allies. For instance, what if Russia wants more 
 spoils of war than England and France are willing 
 that she should have? — And then so many men 
 have been pushed back in the scale of civilization 
 and have been taught that the right of might and 
 brutal force prevails, that when these much- 
 wronged men are driven to desperation and rise in 
 their might to pillage and devour all before them, 
 where will they get the men to subdue and suppress 
 the ruthless red revolt when it rises against them? 
 Travelers tell us what correspondents are not 
 allowed to write that there are already bread riots 
 in Paris and other cities where people stand up to 
 be shot down rather than starve to death — aye 
 soon will haggard Famine and dread Pestilence 
 stalk abroad. Never before have they unleashed 
 such terrific forces of war on so large a scale, and 
 no one can foretell to what intolerable catastrophes 
 they may lead — Oh! why don't they stop before 
 it gets beyond their control? 
 
 If this terrible struggle continues any longer 
 the European continent is doomed. Already busi- 
 ness and industry are facing bankruptcy every- 
 where. The intense suffering is growing greater 
 hourly, and if they permit it to become unbearable 
 through starvation their outraged subjects will 
 over-leap all bounds, particularly if they should 
 be so blood-thirsty as to permit this cruel strife 
 to continue until the cold winter, with its added ter- 
 rors, sets in. Each day that the war is continued 
 
 31 
 
the chasm between the warring factions grows 
 greater and is being heaped higher with bleeding 
 corpses. 
 
 How can the Powers that be pretend to be 
 Christian or even civilized when they not only- 
 sanction but urge and practice the continuation of 
 such unchristian, barbarous deeds? Europe is now 
 like a house divided against itself, when such pre- 
 cepts as " Love thy Enemy" is turned into " Make 
 more Enemies." Are they not mindful of the 
 day of reckoning when they will stand before the 
 judgment bar of the King of Kings and answer to 
 Him and to history for the bloody acts of this day? 
 
 How can these lords of war be so cruel, in- 
 human, and unmindful of their own best interests 
 as to continue this awful carnage? At all events, 
 why should they not suspend hostilities and see if 
 they cannot come to some pacific understanding? 
 
 This could do but little harm and would be 
 of great benefit by giving to their bruised and 
 battered men a chance to recuperate, and it would 
 save thousands of lives of those who come into 
 the hospitals and other temporary places of refuge 
 much faster than they can be taken care of, not 
 to mention the numerous wounded who perish 
 daily among the dead. 
 
 If divergent Russia, England, and France could 
 settle amicably their differences and enter into a 
 military alliance, why could not all the Powers 
 enter into a beneficial alliance for peace? If the 
 belligerents have not entirely lost all sense of rea- 
 son, justice, humanity, and fairness, they ought to 
 agree upon terms to end not only their present 
 
 32 
 
miserable contest, but this terrible scourge of war 
 for all time to come. 
 
 Oh, ye Lords of Life and Death, 
 For the sake of suffering humanity ; 
 For your own sake, cease this awful waste of war. 
 Intervene to bring about a lasting peace. 
 Halt death and dire destruction ; 
 Halt desperation and devastation upon land and 
 
 sea. 
 Hearken to the agonized cries of the millions whose 
 
 bodies, hearts, and spirits lie broken and 
 
 bleeding in the dust ; 
 Raise them up for the upbuilding of their shattered 
 
 strength and usefulness. 
 Show nobility and true greatness by conquering 
 
 ignoble and petty greed, hatred, revenge, and 
 
 perverted ambition. 
 Think, ''What shall it profit a man if he gain the 
 
 whole world and lose his own soul?" 
 Let the angel of Peace descend upon earth to heal 
 
 the sick and suffering. 
 Oh, let the blessing of Peace bring plenty, prosper- 
 ity, and happiness to all mankind. Amen. 
 
 33 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE FOLLY AND FALLACY OF MILITARISM — 
 PROPOSALS FOR PERPETUATING PEACE 
 
 The most effective method of obtaining peace is 
 to remove the causes of war. Great armaments — 
 the chief cause of jealousy and ill-feeHng among 
 the nations — is the first element. If the present 
 war has done nothing else it has completely ex- 
 ploded the theory of armed peace. Nobody would 
 seriously contend that the maintenance of great 
 armies and navies would ensure peace any more 
 than he would assert that the great destructive 
 power of modern war implements makes armed 
 contests between nations impossible. The fallacy 
 that each Power must train and arm itself until 
 it is stronger than any other is apparent on its 
 face. So that one of the main excuses for crippling 
 national finance and spending vast sums for arma- 
 ments is gone. The stupendous sacrifice of human 
 life, property, and art occasioned by the present 
 war has aroused such a reaction throughout the 
 world against martial strife that it is doubtful if 
 even the cold-blooded military experts, who try 
 to show that a nation has a right to engage in war, 
 regardless of the rights of other nations, would 
 
 34 
 
dare to advocate such outrageous views now. 
 The one hope that looms above all others at present 
 is that this great sacrifice of man and money should 
 not be in vain and that armed contests should be 
 avoided between different governments and this 
 terrific and dreadful deluge of blood should stop 
 forever. There would be no cause for the claim 
 of each of the Powers that they are on the defensive 
 against the others because the others are liable 
 to attack them if the Powers were not preparing all 
 the time for attacking each other. By reducing 
 the armaments of each nation, millions of dollars 
 would be saved every year, and there would be at 
 once enough money from this source to pay the 
 innumerable loans which the respective countries 
 secured in order to engage in this war, and each 
 country might well call this a beneficial indemnity 
 that no one has to pay. Armaments should be 
 limited to such an extent that only sufficient men 
 be employed to effectually police the nations. 
 This is the only way to guarantee peace for the 
 future. The reduction should be in accord with 
 the percentage of population, the details of which 
 might be left to the permanent Court of Arbitra- 
 tion that would have to be established by the 
 Powers at the end of the war. 
 
 Racial hatred has never been one of the great 
 causes of war. The people of each country got 
 along well together until hostilities broke out, and 
 except in rare instances have still nothing against 
 each other, so that it would not be difficult to bury 
 the hatchet between them for good and all. 
 Russia and France found no difficulty in fraterniz- 
 
 35 
 
ing with each other after France had fought against 
 Russia in the Crimean War, and even Turkey 
 and Bulgaria entered into a friendly understanding 
 a very short time after they had been at each 
 other's throats. If the European Powers will not 
 sow the seeds of strife and will educate their people 
 to the idea that we are all members of the one great 
 human family, the universal brotherhood of man 
 will gradually become an established fact, par- 
 ticularly if the different Powers will show true 
 magnanimity and generosity by an early conclu- 
 sion of peace. In the United States, for instance, 
 people from all parts of the globe are congregated 
 in one harmonious community. If we believe the 
 different Powers who are protesting that they were 
 reluctant to enter into war and that they were all 
 keen for peace, then there is no reason why 
 hostilities should not be suspended and the Powers 
 start to arbitrate their differences peacefully where 
 they left off when the war began. There is a feel- 
 ing among the rulers that their people would not 
 tolerate peace after the killing and maiminr^ of so 
 many of their men. It is true that the people had 
 to pay and are paying the appalling toll of carry- 
 ing on this hideous strife, but that is no reason for 
 continuing their suffering. The question of send- 
 ing so many men to slaughter should have been 
 asked by the rulers from the people before the 
 war started. One of the reforms which this war 
 should bring about is the dawn of a true de- 
 mocracy, and no war should be declared without a 
 vote from all the people who have to pay so dearly 
 for it. It is needless to say that after a fair dis- 
 
 36 
 
cussion no country would vote for woe and war. 
 The rulers themselves should be glad to shift 
 the awful responsibility of this terrible tragedy 
 upon the shoulders of the people. Even Bismarck, 
 the original man of blood and iron, stated that no 
 people were justified in entering upon war unless 
 they were forced to it. If each country will give 
 its citizens a true constitutional government it 
 really does not matter under which flag the people 
 live, and this fact ought to help the Powers when 
 they are thinking of giving the peoples of Europe 
 new boundaries. Since the people have every- 
 thing to lose and nothing to gain from continuing 
 the war, there is no time like the present to put 
 an end to it. Another reason assigned for not 
 ending the war is that each of the Powers fears 
 that its opponents will think it afraid and for that 
 reason try to exact prohibitive terms of peace. 
 This feeling might be overcome by the United 
 States inviting all the Powers, including the com- 
 batants, to a congress in New York, where the 
 subject of partial disarmament beginning at some 
 future date might be discussed and settled. This 
 ought to give the Powers an excuse to suspend 
 hostilities until a decision is arrived at by such 
 congress. The subject of perpetuating peace would 
 naturally come up at their session, and, after 
 parley, the belligerent Powers might come to an 
 understanding and get together by signing a peace 
 treaty, not only for their own benefit, but for the 
 benefit of the rest of the world. 
 
 The unification of human races and the promo- 
 tion of peace have been advocated by humanitarian 
 
 37 
 
thinkers since the early ages. Podiebrad, King of 
 Bohemia, first suggested *'a league of peace," 
 which did not materialize on account of the divS- 
 approval of cruel Louis XL of France. King 
 Henry IV. of France next proposed to the European 
 Powers a federation of their states for maintaining 
 peace. Austria, which was at that time powerful, 
 but whose power has since then gradually dimin- 
 ished with each disastrous war, opposed this federa- 
 tion, so that the European Powers resolved to 
 fight for peace and to whip Austria into line. 
 Henry IV. was to lead the campaign, but this be- 
 nevolent monarch was, in 1610, assassinated by an 
 insane monk who believed that war was necessary. 
 The curse of war was resumed, the rulers attempt- 
 ing the impractical idea of conquering their neigh- 
 bors and the rest of the world. Napoleon III. 
 was the next monarch who strove for peace, but 
 was defeated by the machinations of Bismarck, 
 who forced upon France the disastrous war in 
 1870. The next monarch to strive for peace is the 
 present Kaiser. Immediately after ascending the 
 throne he was very active in the peace movement. 
 But it seems when it was proposed that he give up 
 Alsace-Lorraine for the sake of peace, he preferred 
 the chances of war. We next find the Czar of 
 Russia calling a peace congress which provided 
 for successful arbitration as far as it went, but it 
 did not go far enough. While the arbitrators, 
 appointed in each instance, have settled all dis- 
 putes that have thus far arisen between nations 
 in a more satisfactory manner than they could 
 possibly be adjusted by war, there was no perma- 
 
 38 
 
nent court of arbitration and no provisions for 
 enforcing the mandate of The Hague Tribunal. 
 Therefore, the first necessity of the present is a 
 permanent Court of Arbitration, where each Power 
 would be represented by a number of its own 
 international lawyers or judges. This Court should 
 sit in permanent session in order to administer 
 international law as well as guard the peace of the 
 world at all times. Any ex-parte business could be 
 attended to by a single judge, while important 
 international disputes should be passed upon by 
 an entire court, and their decision should be bind- 
 ing on all the Powers, and there should be an 
 agreement that if a nation should so far forget its 
 obligations as to refuse to abide by the judgment 
 of this high court all the other nations should 
 enforce the judgment. Such refusal is not likely 
 to happen when a country knows that that is 
 tantamount to national suicide. If any nation 
 has at any time any dispute with another nation, 
 it could cite that other nation to appear before this 
 tribunal, by summons or otherwise, as is done at 
 present in ordinary courts of law. The federation 
 of governments would take over the factories where 
 engines of destruction are made and discourage 
 that awful industry, so that the millions used at 
 present in preparing for war could be utilized for 
 promoting peaceful industry and education. The 
 only rivalry between nations should be as to which 
 of its subjects are better governed and made 
 happier. A new era of reason, justice, and frater- 
 nity will then dawn upon the earth and martial 
 murder will cease forever. 
 
 39 
 
An Informal Indictment 
 The High Court of Public Opinion and History 
 X 
 
 THE PEOPLE OF THE EARTH 
 
 Complainant 
 against 
 
 THE RULERS WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR BRINGING 
 ABOUT THE WAR OF I914 
 
 Defendants 
 X 
 
 Humanity, by this indictment, accuses the rulers, 
 who brought about the War of 1914, with the high 
 crimes of treason, wholesale homicide, wholesale 
 robbery, and other crimes and misdemeanors com- 
 mitted and perpetrated as follows: 
 
 That in the civiHzed continent of Europe, in 
 this enlightened age in the summer of 19 14, the 
 defendants, without good cause and reasonable 
 provocation, and against the interest and peace of 
 the people, did levy war upon their neighbors, and 
 by treachery, trickery, and intimidation compel 
 the flower of their manhood to expose themselves 
 to the fire of guns and to other scientific instru- 
 ments of death and destruction, thereby to re- 
 ceive millions of wounds, many of which have 
 proved mortal; and to expose their bodies to be 
 mutilated and destroyed in their members and 
 organs; and those subject to their rule were 
 instigated, commanded, and compelled to endeavor 
 to inflict like injuries upon other innocent human 
 beings with whom they had no quarrel; 
 
 40 
 
That the defendants by intimidation and vio- 
 lence took away the property of numerous people 
 and caused the loss and destruction of the accumu- 
 lated wealth of ages ; 
 
 That thousands upon thousands were taken away 
 from their homes and families, and women were 
 deprived of the care and society of their husbands, 
 of their means of support, and of their natural 
 mates, and defendants caused great agony, pain, 
 and physical suffering throughout their lands, and 
 the perpetrators of these iniquities are now called 
 to the judgment bar that they may be dealt with 
 according to law and justice. 
 
 THE END 
 
 41