D 525 .S8 I Copy 1 D 525 S8 Copy 1 STOP THE WAR! Italo-American Mediation How to Prepare For It Proposed Joint Resolution and Speech UNION OF WHITE RACE To Maintain Its Supremacy ■^ "fv Q 0. Of iUN 12 1915 Printed Sept. 25, 1914. H. J. Res 63d COi'^GRESS, 2d Session, In the House of Representatives. September . . , 1914. Mr ,. of introduced the following joint resolution, which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and ordered to be printed. JOINT RESOLUTION Requesting the President to make an offer to the British and Canadian governments to negotiate in regard to the trans- fer of southeastern Alaska to Canada by sale or exchange or both. Whereas the present war is due to the uncompromising attitude of European nations on certain burning questions which divide them ; and Whereas these questions can only be settled by mutual concessions, on the principle of ''Do unto others as you would they should do unto you;" and Whereas the most persuasive and most inoffensive way to advocate mutual concessions is by example ; and Whereas our mediation will become a mere formality un- less w^e prove that we ourselves are willing to make con- cessions, to "do unto others as we would they should do unto us;" and (3) Whereas the narrow coast strip of southeastern Alaska, shutting off one-third of western Canada from free access to tlie Pacific, has for years been a source of irritation to the Canadians and is bound to become more and more irritating as population and commerce increase in the country behind it; and "Whereas this situation bears a close resemblance to the burning questions which have caused the present war; and Whereas a unique opportunity is thus presented to the United States to set before the eyes of the world the shining example of a Model Concession to Canada and thus to prove the sincerity and earnestness of our mediation, to make it more effective and impressive, and a source of immortal honor to our country : Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the President be, and he is hereby, requested to make an offer to the British and Canadian governments to negotiate in regard to the transfer of southeastern Alaska to Canada by sale or exchange or both. (Draft of speech to accompany resolution.) How to Prepare the Way for Early and Effective Mediation. I wish to say a word regarding House Joint Resolution No , requesting the President to make an offer to the British and Canadian governments to negotiate regarding the transfer of southeastern Alaska to Canada by sale or ex- change or both. Tl;ie purpose of the resolution, as stated in the preamble, is to set an example in the policy of mutual concessions between nations, and thus to prepare the way for quick and effective mediation in the present war. The idea is to draw the beam out of our own eye, in the hope that our brothers in Europe may thereby be made to perceive the advantage of drawing the motes out of their eyes. Of course we cannot negotiate on the subject of Alaska while the war is going on; we can only offer to negotiate. The negotiation itself will have to be postponed till after the war. The Eloquence of Cannon. You are aware that a resolution of this nature was intro- duced four times during the past two years, twice by Mr. Stephens of Texas and twice by Mr. Smith of Maryland. As explained by Mr. Smith in the Congressional Record of November 7 last, in a speech of extraordinary ability, the resolution was intended to serve as an entering wedge to re- move the causes that have led to this dreadful war. That generous and far-sighted effort proved unsuccessful, but with our minds awakened by the thunder of a thousand cannon it is to be hoped that a renewed effort may aid at least in shortening the war. We did not have enough foresight ; let us at least have some hindsight. Our Own Fate is at Stake. In ordinary timesi it is notoriously difficult to gain the public ear for a proposition which constitutes a new de- parture. But we are not living in ordinary times. We can- not afford to be dozing now, when our answer to the sug- gestion of a new departure may determine our safety or our ruin. The war which is now raging threatens to become the greatest calamity that ever befell not only Europe, but also America. We must stop it at any cost, and if there is any means at our disposal that may strengthen our hands for that effort we must use it, not only for the sake of humanity, but principally to save our own skins. Union of the White Race Our Only Hope. Why must we stop this war? Because the people who are killing and ruining each other are those on whom we have to rely for aid in the approaching struggle with Asia. Their resources are our resources, and in wasting them they are wasting out means of defense. In Asia there are 800 million people who demand the privilege of admission to all lands of the globe. These 800 millions are not united now, but their common demand for the privilege of admission is sure no unite them before long. For that matter, more than half of them are already united. It would be an idle boast, "the valor of ignorance," to say that we could resist 800 millions when they are armed at the same rate as Japan. The en- tire strength of the united white race will be needed to cope with this danger. Our foremost duty to ourselves, therefore, if we wish this nation to remain a white nation and to main- tain the ideals of white civilization, is to work for the union of the white race. Our first line of defense, as has been well said by Mr. Smith, is not on the Pacific coast, but on the frontiers of India and Siberia. Ip Britain Loses India, White Supremacy Ceases. You can readily see what will happen if this sickening war is protracted. It must speedily reduce our prospective allies to a state of exhaustion. It is supposed to cost some- thing like 50 million dollars a day. Germany is reported to be putting six million soldiers in the field, one out of eleven of her population, leaving only the women, children, old men, and invalids at home. The other nations are doing approximately the same. What is to become of their indus- tries, which are the source of their strength, that is to say, the source of our strength ! At any moment we may expect the news of a life-and-death struggle between the British and German navies, which will most likely cripple both. If the remnant of the British navy is thereupon forced to confine itself to home w^aters, to protect the commerce upon which Britain depends for food, who will patrol the Indian ocean and prevent unscrupulous dealers, yellow and white, from smuggling firearms into India? And when the 315 mil- lion natives of India have got possession of say half a million rifles, perhaps a few cannon, how long will the 75,000 white troops be able to maintain the British rule ? If Britain loses India, she can never regain it, in the enfeebled condition in which a protracted European war would leave her. India, made rich by Britain, blest by her with peace for the first time in history, endowed by her with railways, canals, tele- graphs, and great educational institutions, will at once join her force to that of the Mongolians, not only in ousting the white man from Asia, but in demanding free access to all lands, especially the lands of high wages, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the United States. France will lose Indo-China, Holland will lose her East Indian possessions, Russia will lose Siberia, and then the united Asiatics will number not 800 but 1,000 millions, able to build ten war- ships to every one of ours. In a word, we must stop this war at all costs and at once, and if it requires extraordinary meas- ures we must wake up and use them. The feeling between our parent nations, in Europe is even now too bitter to admit of their early union; we must not allow it to become still further embittered by additional mutual injury; we must, if possible, show them how the bitterness may be allayed. An excess of lemon juice calls for an extra quantity of sugar. American Neuteality. It is idle at this moment to inquire who is responsible for this catastrophe. We cannot look behind the diplomatic curtain. When all the facts are known, if they ever become known, they will most likely be found totally different from what is now rashly surmised. Such being^ the case, it is foolish on the part of Americans to take sides one way or another, to lay the blame on this or that nation. It is worse than foolish, it is pernicious, for it renders our mediation more difficult. Our vital interests require us to offer that mediation as soon as there is the slightest prospect of suc- cess, and meantime to use every means to predispose the warring nations to accept mediation. The Devilish Work op the Automatic No-sayers. That is the purpose of my resolution : to prepare the way for early and effective mediation. You are of course aware that this war is not the outcome of a sudden burst of rage, but represents the explosion of forces which have for years been accumulating under pressure. The cause of this pressure is well known ; it is the iron shirt of habit, the in- ertia of accomplished facts, the obstinacy inherent in those unwieldy human conglomerates called nations, which causes them to refuse to make the slightest concession to the de- mand of a neighboring nation, even when that demand is most reasonable and equitable. Nations professing to be 9 Christian have refused to obey the fundamental law of Christianity: Do unto others as you would they should do unto you! A number of burning questions, dividing the nations of Europe, have been allowed to remain unquenched till they have burst into a general conflagration. No matter how peace is made, it will not be secure unless the nations are willing to make mutual concessions in regard to these burning questions. We are told that this war was inevitable. That is a phrase from the dictionary of superstition. The war could easily have been avoided if a few prominent men had had the courage to brave the sneers and insults of the rowdies and fling themselves resolutely into the fray in be- half of these mutual concessions. Physical courage seems to be plentiful as mud; moral courage, rare as gold. We wish to see a permanent settlement, as the indispensable condition of that union of the white race on which depends our hope of future safety. We cannot tell the European nations what mutual concessions they should make, for we cannot afford to pose as instructors, presuming, at a dis- tance of 3,000 miles, to solve problems in which we have never been practically concerned. But we can do something far better ; we can preach the doctrine of mutual concessions by example, and thus furnish palpable proof of the sin- cerity and earnestness of our mediation. Actions speak louder than words. If we wish to exhort other people to be reasonable, we must first be reasonable ourselves. People Who Live ix Glass Houses. Let us confess that we, too, have been unreasonable toward one of our neighbors, Canada. We, too, have allowed our mental machinery to be clogged by the inertia of a wrongly accomplished fact; we, too, have not been energetic enough to unbutton the iron shirt of habit. We have been deaf to the complaints of the Canadians, just as European na- tions have been deaf to one another's complaints. The 2a 10 question of the Alaska Panhandle is a burning ques- tion to Canada, although we have ignored it. Any one that has eyes in his head can see at a glance what a nuisance it must be to a young and vigorous na,- tion to have one-third of her western provinces and terri- tories shut off from free access to the Pacific by a coast strip 536 miles long in a straight line and in some places only 8 miles wide. In a few years the country behind that coast strip will have several hundred thousand inhabitants. Set- tlers are now pouring in at the rate of 40,000 a year, about half of them being Americans. Their commerce will nat- urally seek the nearest outlet to the sea. Imagine their feel- ings, even of the American settlers, when they find that they cannot get their goods to and from the sea except by pass- ing them in bond through a barbed-wire fence of custom- houses strung along a zigzag line for 760 miles, almost every- where in sight of the sea! What would be our feelings if a Canadian panhandle 536 miles long, 8 to 20 miles wide, stretched from eastern Maine down to Atlantic City; if all the ports on that coast, Portland, Boston, Providence, New- port, New York, Jersey City, were Canadian cities, deriving their wealth from the American country behind them, yet contributing not a cent toward American taxes; if not a pound of freight could be sent from the interior to the sea for export, except in bond ! What would be the feelings of the people of Aug-usta, Maine, or Worcester, Mass., on read- ing in some Canadian paper this brilliant advice : If you do not like to cross Canadian territorj^ to get to the sea, all you have to do is to go to Philadelphia! That advice was actually given to the Canadians by an American paper: If the people of Yukon Territory and northern British Colum- bia do not like to cross American territory to get to the sea, all they have to do is to go to Prince Rupert! How bril- liant! How gentlemanly! We, too, profess to be a Chris- tian nation, yet we, too, have refused to obey the funda- mental rule of Christianity, which for that matter is also 11 the fundamental law in the gentleman's code: Do unto others as you would they should do unto you ! The Beam in Our Ow^n Eye. If I dared specify some of the burning questions that have brought about the present war, you would see at once that they are exactly of the same nature as this burning ques- tion between us and Canada. This question has been urged on the attention of the American public for nearly two years, but has not hitherto been treated seriously, for the reason, perhaps, that moral courage is not much more plentiful in this country than in Europe. Everybody admitted that the Alaska Panhandle is a nuisance to the Canadians, but the usual comment was that "the United States is not in the selling or swapping business." That, of course, is no argu- ment at all, but simply a display of the iron shirt of habit, tt.n outcrop of the same unholy, pernicious, brutal spirit of obstinacy and thick-skinned callousness that has opposed all mutual concessions among European nations or even the m.ere discussion of these concessions, and has thus brought about the present dreadful catastrophe. The dominant note in the American press at this moment is one of breathless astonishment that ten million men should be shooting at each other for no earthly reason that the average American mind can discover. How did it come about? Let me tell you how it came about. To all their neighbors' pleadings for concessions the European nations have steadily replied, year after year: "Nol We are not in the selling or swap- ping business, and we don't propose to discuss the subject." That is exactly the reply which some of our brilliant fellow- citizens make to the suggestion of a concession to Canada. If, in offering mediation, we msh to approach our excited brothers with a clear conscience, if we wish to advocate by example those mutual concessions which we dare not openly specify, for fear of seeming presumptuous, we cannot refuse 12 to make this Model Concession to Canada, which we would have made long ago if we had given the matter serious thought, if we had not been too busy with other things. We should be guilty of a piece of glaring and brazen hy- pocrisy if, while entreating our brothers to be rea- sonable toward their neighbors, we refused to be reason- able toward our neighbor. No one ever suggested that we donate this Panhandle to Canada; the only thing proposed was that we exchange it for an equivalent. Very likely we can get something for it that would be far more useful to us. The thrifty men in this coun- try are decidedly in the selling and swapping business whenever they find that they can thereby add to their pos- sessions. Y\^e can probably retain every essential advantage we now enjoy through the possession of the Panhandle and gain new advantages. But that is a matter which need not be discussed now. The all-important object to-day is to stop the war; to make our mediation as effective and impressive as possible; to take away every possible ground for the sus- picion that it is a mere formality. Actions speak louder than words. What Would a Gentleman Do? Another brilliant remark sometimes made on this subject is this: "If the Canadians want this Panhandle, it is their business to come to us and ask for it." Doubtless the people who talk that way would be highly offended if some one questioned whether they were gentlemen; yet if they re- flected a moment they would perceive that they are advocat- ing the very thing which the gentleman scrupulously avoids. Knowing how unpleasant it is to be forced to complain, the gentleman does not wait till his neighbor is reduced to that extremity. As soon as he perceives that he is subjecting his neighbor to a nuisance which can be removed without incon- venience to any one he goes to him and apologizes for his 13 thoughtlessness in having allowed the nuisance to continue so long. We are gathere.d here to look after the rights of our fellow-citizens. Their foremost right is the right to be ladies and gentlemen, not only individually but collectively. To assume that the American people would prefer to wait till Canada complains would be a mortal insult, for it would be equivalent to saying that our fellow-citizens are not ladies and gentlemen. The only reason why they have not yet made the Model Concession to Canada is because the matter has not been sufficiently brought to their attention. The Magic of Example. Imagine the im.pression which the offer of the Alaskan Panhandle would make in Canada and Britain. These are the very countries where our mediation is most likely to be welcomed and to find the strongest support. They will wel- come it with tenfold eagerness and consider it with ten- fold attention when it is preluded by such a concession, giv- inp: tangible proof of our earnestness and an example in the policj^ of settling international disputes on the basis of the gentleman's code. Britain engaged in this war with the utmost reluctance. Though she must of course fight with all her might so long as she is in, she would like nothing better than to be out. She knows that victory would be al- most as disastrous to her as defeat, for when Germany is prostrate neither Britain nor France will have any force to oppose to Russia's dictation, except by imploring Japan to help them and paying her a good price, Manchuria surely, and possibly Eastern Siberia, or by begging Germany's for- giveness and asking her to spend her remaining strength in behalf of tho.«e that crushed her. Numerous voices in Brit- ain are asking whether it is good policy to kill your best friend first and then to resurrect him. Moreover, Britain knows that her slender garrisons in India, Egypt, and South Africa are sitting on volcanoes, the caps of which may be 14 blown off at any moment. She knows that she could not reinforce these garrisons if her main force were facing huge armies on European battlefields and if her navy by that time were crippled. Lord Kitchener has been in India, Egypt, and South Africa. He knows how deep is the discontent in those three countries and how instantly the white garri- sons and the white colonists would be massacred if ever the natives got the idea that the Motherland could send no help. For that very reason it is highly improbable that Britain will send more than 200,000 men against the Germans. Italo-Ameeican Mediation. If Italy maintains her neutrality and thus keeps her mili- tary strength intact while the fighting nations are wasting theirs, a day will soon come when Italy and the United States can jointly offer their mediation. Italy and Britain combined will then be practically in a position to compel the combatants to agree to a conference. If meantime we place before the eyes of the world the shining example of a Model Concession to Canada, there is good reason to hope that the parties to the conference may be willing to make those mutual concessions that are needed to give permanence to the work of the conference and thus ^epare the way for that union of the white race which is our only chance of salvation. Would not our permanent security be an ample equivalent for the Alaska Panhandle? Make the Offer Now ; Negotiate Later. As already noted, the negotiations regarding the Pan- handle could not be well conducted while the war is going on. They will have to be postponed till peace is restored. All that is needed now is that we make the offer; that we show our willingness to negotiate on this subject. That offer in itself will constitute the Model Concession. Our brothers 15 in Europe will be more willing to draw the motes from their eyes when they see us preparing to draw the beam from our own eye. Actions speak louder than words. If we intend to ask our kindred to be reasonable we must make up our minds to be reasonable ourselves. Delay Might be Fatal, Our mediation ought to be offered at the earliest possible moment, as soon as there is the slightest prospect of success, for, as I said, we cannot afford to let our white kindred, our natural allies, ruin each other; we cannot afford to let them waste the resources which are ours as well as theirs, for they constitute the silent reserve whose mere existence affords us the best protection against Asia, Their cannon are our cannon, their battleships are our battleships, their money is our money. We cannot afford to sit idle while France is devastated, stricken with paralysis from which she could not recover for many years, leaving French Indo-China an easy prey to the IMongolians. We cannot afford to wait till Kiautschau is taken and another blow dealt to the prestige of the white race. We are told that this war will not end till one side is prostrated. That would be a disaster to us, and it would be a disaster to the victors, for the cost of the victory would im- measurably exceed the value of any advantage they might derive from it. Some people seem to take pleasure . in the thought that the strongest white nation, the most highly educated nation, is to be crushed by a combination of other white nations. That would be the most atrocious form of race suicide. From all accounts it seems that neither side wanted war, but that they blundered into it from mutual suspicion and bluff, just as we blundered into our civil war. If neither side wanted war, why should it continue? 16 Anglo-German Fratricide. In particular, we have the most urgent motive to see Brit- ain extricated from this horrible and unnatural fight against her white kindred, the vforld's schoolmasters, whose univer- sities are the Meccas of all students, especially Russians. You know how horrible it seemed to us during our civil war to be forced to fire at our own fellow-citizens. I am sure every British soldier has somewhat the same feeling when firing at German soldiers, defenders of the land which was the original home of Englishmen and Anglo-Americans, the land which for hundreds of years has been England's con- stant ally, and with which she has never before been at war. It is nauseating to hear the German armies referred to as ''hordes" when everybody knows that there is not an illit- erate among them, which is more than can be said of their opponents. Some phrasemaker the other day called Ger- many "a menace to civilization." How can the mainspring of the watch be a menace to the watch? All the dispatches are filled with accounts of the incredible bravery of the Ger- man soldiers. It seems to me that every Englishman must by this time be proud to think that he is a kinsman of these brave people. Many an Englishman must be saying to him- self : ''Can it be that the cause which inspires such devotion is a bad cause? Would these highly intelligent people fight so heroically if their aim were mere wanton aggression? Are they not perhaps sincere in saying that they are simply fighting for independence, and not merely for their own, but also for England's independence? Can it be that England is making war on her best friend? Would it be an honor for England to take part in crushing such a brave nation, the land of books, the land of universities, England's own Mother? Is it not an everlasting pity that this magnificent courage is displayed against England instead of for her? What could be better for England than an alliance with this 17 marvelously efficient nation? After all, neither England, nor any nation would hesitate to disregard a scrap of paper if she saw no other means of escape from ruin, England did not hesitate, in 1807, to attack Denmark, a neutral nation, without warning, to bombard Copenhagen, and carry- off the Danish fleet." International Executive Power. An Anglo-American alliance, which has long been urged by many earnest people on both sides, is impossible in the face of the solid opposition of the German-Americans. Now it seemed highly probable, only three months ago, that Brit- ain and Germany would form an alliance. That would have led almost inevitably to the Anglo-American alliance, the virtual reunion of the two fragments of the English-speaking nation. The German- Americans would have been foremost in demanding it, as their only means of reunion with the Fatherland, lending to it the immense advantage of Ameri- can support. A compromise between France and Germany would have followed — some of the wisest and most promi- nent people in Britain were working for it with might and main, as the essential condition of a durable Anglo-German understanding- — ^and thus the four most enlightened nations, Britain, France, Germany, and the United States, would have been combined into that International Executive Power advocated both by Mr. Carnegie and by Colonel Roosevelt, a power strong enough to keep the globe at peace forever, for, once united, the four nations would be kept forever united by the immense advantage of union. One-tenth of their present armaments would suffice to accomplish this object, and no nation would welcome that reduction of mili- tary expenditure more eagerly than Germany. In fact it seems impossible to imagine how eternal peace could be se- cured in any other way than through an International Ex- ecutive Power consisting of the four freest, strongest, most 3a 18 enlightened nations. That dream has been shattered for the present, but who would have the heart to say that it has been shattered forever? If we can revive it by means of the proposed concession to Canada, would not that achievement alone be worth a thousand Panhandles? As for Anglo- American reunion, its advocates ought to see that the Ger- man-Americans will become its inexorable opponents if Ger- many is crushed by Britain's aid. Fight Your Enemies, Not Your Friends. Britain cannot withdraw from the war except by bring- ing it to a close, but we know that she would like nothing better than to bring it to an honorable close at once, without further bloodshed, and that she would be eternally grateful to us for any assistance we could lend her in that effort. It is essential to us that Britain should be free once more to employ her full force for the protection of her colonies, for Britain's danger in India is our danger. It is equally essen- tial to us that Russia should not exhaust her strength in the gruesome and not very promising effort to crush her white brothers, her own teachers, the land of universities, but that she should concentrate all her powers on her essential task : to strengthen the frontier of Siberia^ — our own first line of defense. The Fiction of German Militarism. We are told that Germany will not accept mediation un- less she is either completely crushed or completely victorious, and that in the latter case her demands will be exorbitant. I believe, on the contrary, that Germany, even if completely victorious, will surprise the world by her moderation. All she asks is "a place in the sun," a permanent position abreast, not ahead, of the other great nations. Her "grasping" char- acter is best illustrated by the fact that she has only 1.7 square miles of colonial land to every 100 souls of her home 19 population, while Russia has 10 square miles; France, 12; Belgium, 12 ; Holland, 13 ; Spain, 26 ; Britain, 35 ; Portugal, 77, counting both present and former colonies. In other words, if Germany does not acquire additional colonies, she cannot remain a great power; she will soon be at the mercy of her neighbors. This is ample explanation of her so-called "militarism," which, if you will calmly consider it, is simply imposed on her by the inexorable necessity of self-defense. All you have to do is to open a book on statistics and you will find that Germany's expenditure for war preparation is a good deal less, all things considered, than that of the other great nations. The mythical character of the prevalent belief in German militarism is strikingly illustrated by a letter signed ''E. G. S." in the New York Evening Post of September 7. Kriegsherr Not War Lord. The phrase in traditional German "Der oberste Kriegs- herr" is ancient, much older than William I or Frederick the Great, for that matter. Every sovereign and autonomous state has an "oberster Kriegsherr," as George V in Eng- land, Nicholas II in Russia, or Woodrow Wilson in these our United States, The term means merely "chief com- mander of the forces." The superlative in the adjective is not absolute, of course, but relative; in the given country, all of it a current and proper expression. But some twenty years ago, not so very long after the accession of the present Emperor of Germany, some smart Aleck conceived it would be supremely funny and grotesque to take the "oberster Kriegsherr," dress it up in a literal extravaganza version, and so bestow upon our generation the "supreme war lord," which has been a mighty ally for all those who detested "Prussian militarism," so called. The injury which thi,:; winged word, caricature though it be, has done to the peace of the world and as a means to unbalance the sentiments of millions ignorant of the German idiom is simply in- effable. According to the immortal Barnum, the American people like to he humbugged. A great many of them have once more been humbugged to their hearts' content by a phrase. 20 The Elite Has the Best Right to Expand. A member of the Canadian Parliament recently said: "The German farms in Pennsylvania are the finest in the United States, and the German farms in Ontario are the finest in Canada." It does seem cruel that the country which furnishes the best colonists should have practically no col- onies of its own (home land 208,780 square miles, colonies 1,128,640 square miles), but be compelled to send its emi- grants to foreign countries to strengthen them in the compe- tition with the Fatherland. Her neighbors tell her that she ought to be resigned to the decree of fate; that she has come too late, because there are no more lands to be occu- pied; yet even while preaching this gospel of resignation they continue to add extensive areas to their already over- grown colonial empires. Shall the land of universities be called "grasping, arrogant, impudent, overbearing" because she tries to glean the few crumbs left after the banquet? If it be true that there exists a compact among certain nations to prevent Germany from gleaning these crumbs, it would be an atrocious piece of ingratitude on the part of the pupils toward the teacher, a crime against eugenics. Our own consuls, as well as the British consuls, tell us that Tsing- tau, which the Japanese are now trying to take away from Germany, has under German rule become the model city of the Far East, the favorite resort of Britons and Americans, a blessing to the natives far and wide. All students of municipal institutions go to the German cities as the classic models, where neither graft, nor bossism, nor rings exist, but everything is clean, honest, scientific, efficient, up-to-date. Can you imagine anything more preposterous, more heinous, more insane than that the very people who are trying to imitate these institutions should band together to prevent the expansion of the system which produces such institu- tions, nay, to crush that system in its own home? The essential agency in human progress has been the consolida- 21 tion of small tribes into great nations, able to concentrate their force on the achievement of common objects. Wliat wonld this country be if, instead of one great nation, it con- tained 48 Uttle nations? What would the various parts of the British empire be if they were independent? Nothing could be more conducive to human progress than the con- sohdation of the remaining small nations of the Old Worid into a great empire, under the leadership of the most highly educated, most scientific, most laborious, most systematic nation, with local home rule, of course. The so-called "sacred independence" of small states, the pet kitten of the phrasemakers, is nothing but a relic of barbarism, which can not resist the stream of evolution. It is a platitude to say that technical rights often stand in the way of moral rights and thus become the seed? of cataclysms. Taxatic'v Without Repeesejttatigx. The interests of the entire white race, in the struggle to maintain its supremacy, cleariy require that the power of the strongest white nation be enlisted to its fullest extent, by allowing her to acquire an adequate stake in the patri- mony to be defended: and if there is nothing left but the Near East, the interests of the white race clearly require that the protectorate of the Xear East be conceded to Germany. In fact, what could be better for any backward country than to be taken under the guardianship of Germany and benefit by her administration, confessedly the most efficient in the world? Some people have been virtually saying to Grer- many: "It is your duty as a white nation to join us in de- fending our possessions, but we cannot allow you to acquire any possessions of your own, because we intend to take every- thing ourselves, to keep on growing till we have you at our mercy. It is your duty to send your soldiers, if necessary, to fight for Russia in Manchuria, for Britain in India, but aU the fruits of your exertions are to be ours, and you shall have no reward except the satisfaction of having done your 22 duty." If Germany is afflicted with ''militarism," as the phrasemakers would have us. believe, has she not ample motive for it? The logical way to ''crush" that militarism is to remove its cause; to allow Germany to acquire enough land to assure her future as a great power. In Germany, as in all countries, there are, of course, plenty of fire-eaters, who want armaments simply for the purpose of intimidation and aggression; but they would quickly be silenced by the sober sense of the taxpayers, when these find that they are no longer compelled to -put their hands in their pockets in order to assure their country's future. That highly desir- able consummation — the silencing of the fire-eaters — would at once be reached through an Anglo-Franco- German-American alliance, the only conceivable In- ternational Executive Power. German militarism is simply a part of European militarism which is the necessary conse- quence of the ungentlemanly, unchristian, inhuman doctrine of "No concessions!" If we wish to see that militarism crushed, let us set the example in the policy of mutual con- cessions. The Other Great Nations Have Enough Land. Now Tsar Nicholas I declared more than 50 years ago that "Russia has enough land ; she does not care to acquire more but only to develop what she has." That statement would seem to be even more correct today, when Russia owns 9,783,586 square miles (including last year's acquisi- tion, the 912,000 square miles , of Outer MongoHa), assuring her position as a great power forever, if she will but do her share in uniting the white race and in strengthening the frontier of Siberia. The United States owns only 3,743,318 square miles, yet President Wilson was right in saying that no responsible person in this country wants to acquire an- other inch of territory, for although our area is but little more than one-third that of Russia, we, too, feel our position as a great power forever secure — ^if we can keep this country 23 white. Last year Mr. Asquith proclaimed a similar self- denying ordinance for the British empire (area 12,460,191 square miles), and he hinted in fairly plain terms that Ger- . many iy welcome to take any land that may still be in need of a strong civilized master. In return for that declaration, Germany had practically agreed to a limitation of armaments on the basis of British naval supremacy, and British public opinion was beginning to give credence to the ceaseless as- surances of German statesmen that Germany never dreamt either of invading Britain or annexing the smallest British colony. As a result of these mutual explanations and con- cessions, an Anglo-German alliance seemed imminent only three months ago. So close were we to eternal peace I German Version op Catastrophe, At this point it may be well, in the interest of impartiality, to quote the German account of the origin of the war. Com- menting on the recent Russian slogan ''The way to Constan- tinople passes through Berlin," the Germans allege that the real cause of the Russian mobilization was the rapid drift of Britain and Germany toward an alliance, and the efforts made by British statesmen to bring about a compromise between France and Germany, which would have isolated Russia, blocked her path to world dominion, and in particu- lar, balked her millennial ambition to ov/n Constantinople (a Greek city, 300 miles from Russia, the occupation of which would necessarily involve the annexation of Rou- mania, Bulgaria and Asia Minor, perhaps Servia and Greece, and would place both Germany and Britain at the mercy of Russia). To avoid such a check, which would have dis- graced the Russian government in the eyes of its subjects and thus have afforded the revolutionists their long-desired opportunity, prompt action was necessary, before Britain and Germany were fully cured of 'their mutual distrust. Having to choose between revolution on the one hand and new popularity and world-dominion on the other, the Tsar 24 and his advisers chose the latter and mobihzed, expecting most hkely to achieve their object without war, simply through the exhibition of overwhelming force, soon to be- come stiil more overwhelming through the virtual annexa- tion of the Balkan peninsula. They probably calculated tihat Germany, even though aware that her future as a great nation was at stake, could not expose her immense in- dustrial and commercial interests to the shock of war, and hence would not dare make good her protest without Britain's support, which, it was correctly surmised, Britain would not be ready to lend, through fear of breaking up the laboriously constructed Triple Entente before the ripening Anglo- German alliance Jiad developed into a dependable fact. The Germans seem to have taken it for granted that in this matter Britain would necessarily side with them or at least remain neutral while they pulled her chestnuts out of the fire, and they cannot understand why she should punish them for defending her vital interests. Whether this in- tricate web of motives had any real existence or is the prod- uct of the German imagination, it is, of course, impossible to say ; but in view of the general tendency to lay the blame on Germany, it seems a matter of simple justice to listen to her excuse. Anglo-German Alliance — the Kaiser's Hobby. At any rate, the whole world knows that union with Brit- ain, as the prelude to European union, to ward off the Yellow Peril, has been the Kaiser's constant theme for 20 years, ever since he wrote: "Volker Europas, wahret eure hochsten Giiter!" Not long ago he said: ''The day may come when Britain will be glad that Germany has a navy, when they fight side by side in the great questions of the future." I believe that he is as ready to-day as he was three months ago to enter into that most natural, God-ordained alliance with Britain, which, as the first step toward the union of the four great free nations, would at once bestow eternal peace on the world. 25 Britain the Umpire. Bntam has now the same magnificent opportunity by which she profited so wisely and so brilliantly in 1815 Having fought France for 20 years and taken the leading part m her overthrow, Britain saved her from mutilation. At the Congress of Vienna, some of the powers insisted that France must be so reduced in size that she could never be- come dangerous again. Britain protested that to dismember so glorious a nation would be not only a crime but a folly, for the fragments would forever be trying to get together again, and Europe would have no rest till they were re- united. As a result, France was left intact within the bound- aries that she had before the revolution, and Britain's reward was a long period of good feeling between the two countries, of the greatest profit to both. In the present war, Britain has already accomplished her main purpose. Her intervention has saved France from being overwhelmed, which would have enabled Germany to hurl her full strength against Russia. Britain can now earn the lasting friend- ship of both France and Germany by mediating between them. For the past three years, the vfisest men in England have urged France and Germany to settle their burning question in the only way in which it can be permanently settled— by compromise. That was the most statesmanHke, the most urgently needful work ever undertaken by British statesmen, and it is more needful now than ever. Let Brit- ain insist that, whatever be the outcome of the war, there shall be no mutilation on either side, no new burning ques- tion substituted for the old, but that the old one be settled for good and all — by compromise. In that way the Anglo- Franco-German alliance so long and so devoutly prayed for by every friend of humanity may shortly become an accom- plished fact. It would at once have the tacit adherence soon perhaps the formal adherence, of the United States, and then the International Executive Power would be complete 4a 26 The Sinister Power of the Automatic No-sayers. The situation recalls a passage from Benjamin Franklin's autobiography. In 1754 he drew up a plan for the union of Britain's American colonies, with a view to the better support of the Mother Country. Had that plan been adopted, there would have been no revolution; the United States would to-day be British territory, its 100 million inhabitants loyal British subjects, like the Canadians, Australians, New Zealanders; worldwide peace, under Anglo-Saxon supervis- ion, would have become an established fact 50 years ago; •there would have been no navy but the Anglo-Saxon navy; Anglo-Saxon supremacy would by this time be accepted throughout the world as one of the immutable laws of the universe. The "practical men" in the British Cabinet thought the plan 'Hoo democratic," while the "practical men" in the colonial assemblies saw in it "too much preroga- tive." Thereupon Franklin, pondering over the terrible re- sponsibility of those who rejected his advice, remarks with tragic solemnity: "History is full of the errors of states and princes. Those who govern, having much business on their hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of considering and carry- ing into execution new projects. The best public measures are therefore seldom adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the occasion." In fact, the union of the American colonies, planned by Franklin's "previous wisdom" for the better support of the Mother Country, was "forced by the occasion" 20 years later through the tempest of the revolution against the Mother Country. A Grand Opportunity Lost. We aje "those who govern," and some of us are sadly aware of "having much business on their hands." Are we sure that this circumstance has never prevented us from 27 governing with "previous wisdom"? The resolutions intro- duced by Messrs. Stephens and Smith were intended to prepare the way for those mutual concessions among Eu- ropean nations which would have solved the burning ques- tions that have led to the present war. Had we made the Model Concession to Canada, there is reason to think that the movement for the union of the four great free nations into an International Executive Power, stimulated by our example, would by this time be so far advanced that the war would have been impossible. We were too busy with "more important matters." Now the mutual concessions are being "forced by the occasion" through a wild cyclone of destruc- tion and agony which threatens to put an end to the suprem- acy of the white race. Instead of the useful concessions, a number of harmful ones will probably be extorted. New fuel will be stored up for the next conflagration, till Asia is ready to overwhelm us all. Do THE Next Best Thing. We did not have enough "previous wisdom" to adopt "the best public measure;" let us at least gather what wisdom we can from the pangs of a neglected opportunity. Having failed to prevent the war, let us at least do the next best thing — stop the war as quickly as possible. It is probably true that none of the warring nations would accept our mediation now. There is thus good reason why the media- tion itself should be delayed till we feel fairly sure that it will be welcomed; but there is no reason whatever why we should delay a moment to set the example which is to lend weight to our mediation. Even at best it will take some time for the news of our example to circulate in Europe and make the desired impression ; and meantime the horrible slaughter goes on. I request, therefore, that this resolution, designed to prepare the way for early mediation, receive immediate attention. 28 Summary. In conclusion let me present the argument in a nutshell. Sensible people, wishing to remove an effect, try to re- move the cause. The man who has a thorn in his '' thumb will waste his time if he tries to ease the pain with i bandages and plasters; the only cure is to draw out the thorn. So long as the nations of Europe are divided by burning questions, you will waste your time if you merely discourse on the beau tj^ o f peace; the only cure for the I war peril is to solve the burning questions. If we were to ; hint to the European nations what mutual concessions they should make on these burning questions, some of our quick- spoken brothers on the other side of the water would joy- fully tell us to mind our business. Happily we need not say a word about it. By making a Model Concession to Canada, we can inculcate the policy of mutual concessions far more effectively and yet make it impossible for the most carping critic to accuse us of meddling. If a Canadian panhandle extended along our coast to Atlantic City, we should long ago have found the situation intolerable, and we should have been maddened if the Canadians had waited in dull, boorish silence till we were forced to complain. Now the fundamental law of Chris- tianity, as well as of the gentleman's code, is the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would they should do unto you." Whoever refuses to obey that law is neither a Chris- tion nor a gentleman, however loudly he may claim both titles. I prefer to think that the great majority of our fellow- citizens are both Christians and gentlemen. [264341 ^oast ALASKA PANHANDLE TRANSFERRED TO ATLANTIC COAST 536 miles long, running vport, New York, Jersey a cent toward American 1 1 " - * — ^ — ;si6tjnitf^iww»Mra ng—iiiwimt#