l inevitably bring many disappointments and
errors in its train. We can best guard against such a result by preparing
ourselves for all eventualities and giving the most careful consideration
to each of the many problems at issue. Our obvious aim must be a settlement
which shows some reasonable prospect of permanence, and this can best be
achieved if we respect so far as possible the wishes of the populations
concerned. The principle of Nationality is not a talisman which will
open all gates, for in some parts of Europe the different races are so
inextricably intermingled as to defy all efforts to create ethnographic
boundaries. This does not, however, affect the central fact that
Nationality is the best salve for existing wounds, and that its application
will enormously reduce the infected area. But if the peoples are to make
their wishes felt there must be a regeneration of diplomatic methods
throughout Europe. Attempts will be made to revive the pernicious
principles of the Congress of Vienna, by which a few autocrats and
aristocrats carved out the fate of millions according to their dynastic
appetites or fancies, and thus tied a whole series of unnecessary knots for
subsequent wars to sever. A healthy and informed public opinion--especially
in the West--must watch over the doings of those who represent it at the
fateful Congress, according loyal support to their declared policy, but
promptly checking the reactionary tendencies which are certain to reveal
themselves. It is still unhappily possible for the arrogant impatience of
a single ruler or the persistent intrigue and misrepresentation of an
ambassador to embroil the European situation. Unless the nations in council
can devise some practical checks upon irresponsible meddling, the flower of
their manhood will have massacred each other in vain. The antecedents of
Sir Edward Grey, and more especially his attitude during the crisis which
led to war, justify us in the hope that his entire influence will be
employed in the right direction when the decisive moment arrives, and that
he will insist upon such crucial questions as the reduction of armaments,
the substitution of "citizen" for "conscript" armies, the control of
armament firms and their occult influence, the effective extension of
arbitration and the elimination of impossible time-limits, being discussed
in all seriousness, and not merely dismissed with a few ironic platitudes
and expressions of hypocritical go