ses of destruction and death all
the new forces of nineteenth-century applied science, some new liberties
and new securities in the pursuit of happiness; but at this moment they
can cherish only a remote hope of such an issue. The military force
which Austria-Hungary and Germany are now using on a prodigious scale,
and with long-studied skill, can only be met by similar military force,
and this resisting force is summoned more slowly than that of
Austria-Hungary and Germany, although the ultimate battalions will be
heavier. In this portentous physical contest the American people have no
part; their geographical position, their historical development, and
their political ideals combine to make them for the present mere
spectators, although their interests--commercial, industrial, and
political--are deeply involved. For the moment, the best thing our
Government can do is to utilize all existing neutrality rights, and, if
possible, to strengthen or develop those rights, for out of this war
ought to come more neutral States in Europe and greater security for
neutralized territory.

The Need for Discussion.

The chances of getting some gains for mankind out of this gigantic
struggle will be somewhat increased if the American people, and all
other neutral peoples, arrive through public discussion at some clear
understanding of the causes and the possible and desirable issues of the
war, and the sooner this public discussion begins, and the more
thoroughly it is pursued, the sounder will probably be the tendencies of
public sentiment outside of the contending nations and the conclusions
which the peace negotiations will ultimately reach.

When one begins, however, to reflect on the probable causes of the
sudden lapse of the most civilized parts of Europe into worse than
primitive savagery, he comes at once on two old and widespread evils in
Europe from which America has been exempt for at least 150 years. The
first is secret diplomacy with power to make issues and determine
events, and the second is autocratic national Executives who can swing
the whole physical force of the nation to this side or that without
consulting the people or their representatives.

The actual catastrophe proves that secret negotiations like those
habitually conducted on behalf of the "concert of Europe," and alliances
between selected nations, the terms of which are secret, or at any rate
not publicly stated, cannot avert in the long run outrag