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1918-1919
WAR PAMPHLETS
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1
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Pamphlets Written for War Committee-
¿ Union League Club
Chicag
•*•
BY HAROLD G. MOULTON
“Unusual Business Not Business as Usual"
"Your Business and War Business"
"The Duty of the Consumer in War Time"
"Public Works or Public Charity?"
BY CLARENCE L. SPEED
"Why We Fight"
"Our Peril on the Eastern Front"
"Their Job and Ours”
"Look Out for the German Peace Trap"
"The World's Next Step-A League of Nations"
BY RALPH B. DENNIS
"Russia in Revolution"
BY HERBERT F. PERKINS
"The Manufacturer's Wage Problem"
BY SAMUEL O. DUNN
"The Present Railway Situation"
RESOLUTIONS OF THE WAR COMMITTEE -UNION LEAGUE CLUB
"The Austrian Peace Trap"
"Our Peril in the East"
REPORT OF WAR COMMITTEE-NOVEMBER 1918.
Pamphlets Reprinted by War Committee-
Union League Club
BY OTTO KAHN
"Prussianized Germany"
BY CHARLES D. HAZEN
"The Government of Germany"
ܙ
BY LEWIS B. NAMIER
"The Czecho Slovaks"
BY PRESIDEnt Wilson
"The Bases of Durable Peace"
"The Bases of Lasting Peace"
JK Pond Bequest
18-40

SAMANTALA
GEVOELE
FAGTE MOT KROTTLANDIRAO LATIFULAMADA TALENTIMENT
UNUSUAL BUSINESS
NOT
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY
HAROLD G. MOULTON
it's
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB
OF CHICAGO
1918
After you have read this pamphlet, please pass it on in order that the
mescage it carries may reach the largest number of persons
BRAND VITARA CHARMELITE-10]||||||||||||||||||______________________________

Harold G. Moulton, who
has a national reputation
as an economist, is a mem-
ber of the Department of
Political Economy of the
University of Chicago;
Acting Editor of the
Journal of Political Econ-
omy; Secretary of the
Western Economic Soci-
ety; Author of Waterways
versus Railways, Principles
of Money and Banking, etc.
Copies may be obtained of the War Committee of the Union League Club of
Chicago at the following prices, delivery prepaid:
Single copies
One hundred copies
One thousand copies
5 cents
2 cents each
I cent each
THE WAR AND INDUSTRIAL READJUSTMENTS
How may American industries most effectively aid in the suc-
cessful prosecution of the war? What readjustments, if any, must
be made in the coming months to insure the production of the per-
fectly stupendous quantities of supplies and materials that war
imperatively demands? Can we secure these supplies by speeding
up production in existing factories and workshops, or must we
transform in considerable measure the character of our industries,
eliminating the nonessential and thereby diverting productive
energy more largely into war channels?
In the present paper an attempt will be made to throw light
upon these vital questions. First, we shall make a simple analysis
of the industrial requirements of the war; secondly, a statement of
the lessons that are to be learned from the experience of Europe
during the past three years; thirdly, a brief statement of the
lessons from our own experience to date; and finally we shall give
an account of the plans for the future that are now being formulated
at Washington.
THE FUNDAMENTAL REQUIREMENTS OF THE SITUATION
Someone has said-I think it was Napoleon-that three things
are necessary to wage a war successfully: money, more money, and
still more money. There is a great deal of truth in this statement
in ordinary wars, but as applied to the United States in the present
conflict it is entirely misleading. Money is of paramount impor-
tance when a nation may buy its war supplies from abroad. Eng-
land and France, for instance, before our entrance into the war,
purchased with money vast quantities of war supplies from the
United States. But it is impossible for us to use money, to any
great extent, in buying goods from other nations, for the simple
reason that the entire commercial world is now at war. With his
money Uncle Sam can buy war supplies only from himself. There
are of course a few exceptions to this, such as nitrates and rubber;
but, substantially speaking, Uncle Sam must produce all the things
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The War and Industrial Readjustments
which he is to use in the war. We the people turn funds into the
Treasury and then Mr. McAdoo buys from us the supplies needed.
The amount that he can buy is determined, in practice, by the
amount of war supplies we have produced. Similarly, when we
extend credit to our allies we really say to them, We will furnish
you with materials and supplies now and you may pay for them
after the war is over. This point must be strongly emphasized;
for many people fancy that furnishing credit to our allies means
merely sending them money, or perhaps some sort of draft or credit
instrument. In the last analysis it always means that we send them
goods, which they are to pay for at some future time.
To understand, then, the real problem with which we are con-
fronted, we must think in terms of goods rather than in terms of
money. Three things, in the main, are required of us, aside from
soldiers:
1. Ships--as many as can be constructed.
2. Supplies and munitions-as many as can be furnished.
3. Food-as much as can be produced.
While these are the specific things that are required, it is
obvious that to produce these things in utterly unprecedented
quantities will require the development first of many industries
that are auxiliary to shipbuilding, war manufacture, and farming.
The modern industrial world is extraordinarily complex, and every
fundamental industry has a multitude of handmaidens.
Now let us see precisely what this involves in the way of indus-
trial mobilization. We have in the United States, let us say,
60,000,000 working people. Ordinarily these 60,000,000 workers
produce (1) essentials, (2) nonessentials. In time of war many of
these workers are drawn off from productive industry to war service,
but enough others are pressed into the industrial ranks to take up
much of the slack-possibly they fully replace the number who are
called to the colors. Let us assume that we have 60,000,000 workers
who must produce the indefinite quantities of ships, supplies, muni-
tions, and food that are demanded.
Now there are just two possible alternatives before us: First,
these 60,000,000 workers must be speeded up to a point where they
will be producing, not only the usual quantities of (1) essentials
The War and Industrial Readjustments
er
and (2) nonessentials, but in addition the unlimited quantities of
ships, supplies, munitions, and food that are required; or, secondly,
we must produce (1) essentials; but then, instead of producing
(2) nonessentials, transfer, so far as may be practicable, the fac-
tory power and the labor power ordinarily devoted to producing
luxuries to the production of the indispensable ships, munitions,
and other war materials.
When the war began it was generally assumed in the United
States that the first of these alternatives would be adequate to
meet the requirements of the situation. We assumed that the
production of war supplies could be undertaken as an extra—
that we could speed up our factories and our workers sufficiently to
meet all war demands. We did not understand how utterly
insatiable are the demands of modern warfare. The notion that
war production can be carried as an extra is, however, no longer
held in government circles. It is now conceded that we must
resort to the second method. In order to understand clearly the
reasons for this change we must consider the lessons that the
United States has learned from Europe in this connection.
WHAT GERMANY HAS DONE
One of the best ways of ascertaining the problem that lies before
us is to study the German method of industrial mobilization. We
have all wondered many times how Germany has been able to
finance the war, how she has been able for four years-though
largely cut off from the outside world—to resist the economic pres-
sure of the Allies and at the same time procure the necessary war
supplies for campaign after campaign-yes, let it be faced squarely-
for victory after victory against her united enemies.
There is just one answer to this question. As soon as it became
apparent that the war would be long-continued Germany set
about the eliminating of all nonessential industries; factories
which had been producing luxuries were converted into munitions
or supplies plants, where possible; and where this was not possible
they were closed down and the laborers transferred for war service
in essential industries. Germany thus early got right down to
brass tacks. Indeed, in some instances Germany did not even
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The War and Industrial Readjustments
wait to discover whether the drive on Paris would be successful.
Secretary Baker tells us that he knows of one case where within
twenty-four hours after the outbreak of the war one-half of the
laborers in a large nonessential industry were placed in the army
and the remainder transferred to war industries. A selective
draft for industry appears to have been a part of Germany's war
preparedness.
Germany recognized, in other words, that for every soldier at
the front there must be several (industrial) soldiers at the rear;
and the principles of military organization were made to apply to
every aspect of national life. A certain percentage of the national
energy was put on the battle fronts; a certain percentage was
devoted to the creation of submarines; a certain percentage to the
manufacture of supplies and munitions; and a certain percentage
to the production of foodstuffs. All useless effort, all waste motion,
as far as possible, was thus eliminated-everything was arranged
with an eye single to military victory.
THE EXPERIENCE OF FRANCE
It was quickly realized in France that "business as usual'
would be nothing short of national suicide. Three-quarters of the
male laboring population between the ages of eighteen and forty-
five were called to arms literally overnight, with the result that
French industry during those first awful weeks was largely para-
lyzed. France was relying upon her accumulated stores of supplies,
plus importations from England and America. But after the pres-
sure on the west was somewhat relieved and after it became clear
that a long struggle was inevitable, France recalled from the
trenches skilled laborers and mechanics who could henceforth
serve the nation more efficiently in the industrial army. But
when these men were withdrawn from the front it goes without
saying that they were not delegated to produce luxuries and non-
essentials; they were set to upbuilding war industries to the end
that the armies might be certain of obtaining a steady replenish-
ment of the indispensable weapons and materials of warfare.
There cannot be the slightest doubt that France would have been
crushed during those endless months of waiting for England to
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The War and Industrial Readjustments
7
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get ready if she had not been making her national energy count
effectively in the struggle in which she was engaged.
It is necessary to state, however, that France has not gone
as far as Germany in the elimination of nonessentials. It appears
that some luxuries have continued to be manufactured and sold
in France, at least until very recently. Need we add that every
ounce of national power thus misdirected is an ounce of power
lost in the struggle against Germany?
THE LESSONS FROM ENGLAND
England, across the channel, and hence free from invasion, long
deluded herself with the notion that she could have business as usual
and at the same time cope successfully with an enemy that was
wonderfully efficient in its organization for war. But England
eventually awoke-in about two years—to the real requirements of
the grim business of war. I quote from Hon. R. H. Brand, vice-
chairman of the British War Mission to the United States: "We
discovered to our surprise at the beginning of the war, that war
apparently meant prosperity and not poverty. Wages advanced
and millions found that they had more money than they had ever
had before. The result was that consumption actually tended to
go up among the poorer classes, and labor and materials vitally
required for war purposes were diverted to meeting these new
demands. But we found that 'business as usual' is impossible.
The ravenous demands of a modern war compel every nation at
war to choose between peace and war; if they have elected for war,
they must order their economic lives accordingly; they must turn
their industry from a peace to a war basis, and they must see that
every war demand has a prior claim to every peace demand." Now
England's industrial energy is mainly devoted to the production
of war supplies. Whole industries have been closed down and
the laborers engaged therein have been transferred to war occu-
pations.¹
' Mr. Brand's address, from which the above was taken, was delivered Septem-
ber 26, 1917, before the American Bankers' Association. Unfortunately the address
was not published in full in the official Journal of the American Bankers' Association.
The important parts were, in fact, omitted. The writer has a transcript of the
stenographic report of the full address.
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The War and Industrial Readjustments
It was argued by many in England, as it is being argued by
some in the United States, that to readjust industry in such fashion
would be to decrease wages and profits and thereby render more
difficult the task of paying taxes and subscribing to government
loans. The fallacy of this notion was revealed by experience,
however, for when labor was shifted to war industries and factories
were rehabilitated for the manufacture of war supplies, it was found.
that wages and profits were quite as large as before. And what is
the vitally significant factor, it was found that these wages and
profits were earned in producing things that could be used in the
waging of the war. The war supplies obtained by this diversion of
energy represented clear gain in fighting strength.'
UNITED STATES WAR PRODUCTION INADEQUATE
While this country has been learning these lessons from the
nations that have been through the fire we have also been acquiring
some experience of our own. It was the general notion at the be-
ginning of the war that if the government were able to secure the
necessary funds from the sale of bonds and the raising of taxes, the
purchase of the necessary materials and supplies would follow as
a mere matter of routine. The utter fallacy of this idea is revealed
in the figures made public by the war department on January 31,
1918. Exclusive of loans to our allies, the government planned to
spend during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1918, $12,316,000,000.
In fact, the government has spent in the seven months from June 30,
1917, to January 31, 1918, only about $3,150,000,000. That is, in
seven-twelfths of the year the government has been able to spend
only three-twelfths of what it planned to spend. With coffers filled
to overflowing the government could not buy the supplies needed,
for the simple reason that not sufficient energy had been devoted
to the production of war supplies. Money alone was thus seen to
be impotent; and this experience has focused attention on the real
requirements for waging war, namely, materials and supplies.
¹ To guard against misunderstanding here it should be stated that some luxuries
are still manufactured in England; for England's reorganization is not 100 per cent
efficient. Moreover, it must be observed that the manufacture of certain luxuries
to be shipped abroad in exchange for necessities may within limits be wise.
}
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The War and Industrial Readjustments
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These figures show more clearly than mere words could possibly
do that the United States has thus far not accomplished anything
like what it confidently expected to accomplish. They prove that
we are falling far short of rendering our maximum aid. Moreover,
it is concrete evidence such as this which has forced our government
to conclude that we must resort to the second of the two alternatives
stated above; that is, secure a thoroughgoing readjustment of
industry.
It is possible, of course, that we may continue with present
methods and still blunder through to victory somehow. It may
be that Germany is nearly done. But the evidence of the past
year all points to an opposite conclusion. Not since the first
year of the war has Germany gained such marked successes as
during recent months. We may bolster up our courage by tales
of "strategic retreats," of occasional recaptures of lost ground, and
of the rumblings of internal discord in the Fatherland; but when
are the allies to have something positive to offer in the way of
gains of their own? We have been saying for over two years that
Germany is "about through," and all the time the evidence shows
that she is getting relatively stronger, at least so far as the European
forces are concerned. Indeed, with the disintegration of Russia
we are at the gravest period of the war since the Battle of the
Marne. And really effective aid on our part cannot be given until
the year 1919 at best.
But even granted that victory is ultimately assured for the
allies, it must never be forgotten that every month of prolongation
of the war means billions of additional cost and the sacrifice of the
lives of thousands of our finest sons. All will agree that consciously
to leave any stone unturned to render our maximum service and
to bring the war to the earliest possible successful termination is
nothing short of criminal. The supreme requirement of the hour
would seem to be industrial mobilization that will go to the very
foundations of our national organization.
WHAT OUR GOVERNMENT IS PLANNING
The government of the United States is, as already indicated,
now fully aware of the necessity of such an industrial mobilization
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The War and Industrial Readjustments
as we have been discussing. It is important, therefore, that we all
understand what developments are in store for us, to the end that
we may co-operate in fullest measure with the government in its
efforts.
First, the government is urging us to save as never before; and
to save with a view to the elimination of nonessential industries.
The Liberty Loan Committee states:
Luxuries and extravagance must go completely out of fashion-should,
in fact, be considered little short of treachery. There is not enough
capital, labor, transportation, or raw material to go around, if those industries
which are not essential to the conduct of war are continued at their normal
productiveness. Every unessential industry which continues in operation
must be considered as bidding against the nation for its life's blood.
Every unessential industry which burns coal deprives the essential industries
by just so much of the supply available for their purposes. Every man who
buys a new overcoat is bidding against Uncle Sam, who is buying overcoats
for soldiers. And every dollar spent on a luxury is helping to support an
unessential industry in the competitive consumption of essentials.¹
But the government is not to rely exclusively on voluntary
saving as a means of bringing about industrial changes. It is also
developing agencies of central control. In September a priority
committee was established in Washington with power to decide what
industries should be given prior claims in the matter of raw ma-
terials. This committee has drawn up a classification, as follows:
Class A comprises war work: that is to say, orders and work
urgently necessary in carrying on the war, such as arms, ammuni-
tion, ships, etc., and the materials required in the manufacture of
same.
Class B comprises orders and work which, while not primarily
designed for the prosecution of the war, yet are of public interest
and essential to the national welfare, or otherwise of exceptional
importance.
Class C comprises all orders and work not embraced in Class A
or Class B.
There are various subdivisions of these classes, indicated by a
suffix number, thus: A1, A2, etc., B1, B2, etc.
All orders and work in Class A shall take precedence over those
in Class B, and those in Class B shall take precedence over those in
Class C.
¹ See Economic World, January 12, 1918, p. 54.
The War and Industrial Readjustments
II
When rigidly applied to such fundamental materials as iron,
it will be readily seen that this priority system reaches into nearly
every branch of industry, and that people who wish iron and steel
for ordinary industrial requirements will be forced to wait-and
wait indefinitely, since the demands of the war industries are certain
to be simply insatiable.
Very recent developments in connection with the problem of
the nonessential industries may be indicated by quotations from a
statement issued by the War Industries Board of the Council of
National Defense late in February, 1918.¹
Shortages of many classes of raw materials and of labor in different lines
are evident. Transportation, both water and rail, is obviously short and the
need of industrial readjustment is apparent to make room for the war require-
ments of our government and our Allies. In many cases, the facilities
of less essential industries should be converted to essential production.
Our industrial equipment is limited. We do not have materials,
machinery, transportation, labor, or capital sufficient for fighting the great war
and for normal business at the same time. The war must be prosecuted to the
utmost . . . . and to that end business must, where necessary, be diverted
from its established channels into new channels.
•
With reference to the coal situation, it is stated that-
The demands for 1918 to carry out the program for the production of
necessities for the war, in addition to the normal business, would greatly
exceed any possible production and distribution of fuel, so there is but one
remedy, i.e., to limit the production of non-war industries sufficiently to provide
for:
a) War needs-direct and indirect.
b) Necessities for the public welfare and domestic consumption.
In accomplishing the desired end, it should be our effort to divert the
energies of non-war industries as far as possible to the production of the
essentials for war, that each industrial center may use existing facilities, with
its labor living at home, happy and contented.
In the readjustment process it is inevitable that the normal business.
of some industries must be interfered with in order that the production of war
and public necessities be kept at the maximum. It may be that some plants
because of lack of power, shortage of labor, raw materials, or transportation
may have to suspend entirely. These sacrifices must be endured in the interest
of our first object, which is to win the war. If we secure complete co-operation
between Government and business, it is hoped that our industries may emerge
'This statement is issued by the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of
America, as War Bulletin No. 34, entitled "Industry in War Times."
12
The War and Industrial Readjustments
from the disturbed condition caused by the war, intact and strong for the
economic problems which must face us.
It would seem to be the immediate duty of the War Industries Board-
1. To list, by classes or otherwise, and to define those industries whose operation
as a war measure are of exceptional importance, classifying them as far as
practicable in the order of their relative urgency, measured by the extent
of their contribution, directly or indirectly, toward winning the war.
2. To consider carefully and, after due notice and hearings, to determine what
are the less important industries, measured by the extent of their contribu-
tion, directly or indirectly, toward winning the war.
3. To promulgate such findings and to prepare, present, and, if practicable,
enforce such definite and concrete plan or plans as will result in--
a) Stimulating the operation of industries of exceptional importance.
b) Curtailing the operation of the less important industries or, in the alter-
native, encouraging such industries so to change their operations as to
produce war needs.
c) Conserving the supply of essential raw materials as reserves to be drawn
to meet the war requirements.
The task of bringing about the necessary reorganization with
the minimum of loss and suffering is so tremendous that the
machinery for its accomplishment is as yet far from being per-
fected. While the details cannot be given in this paper, it is
generally known that the government is now developing the
machinery for transferring laborers with a minimum of loss or
suffering to the jobs in war industries for which they are adapted.
Plans are also being matured which will provide for adequate
housing facilities in the vicinity of war industries. Various financial
policies are also being worked out which will insure that invest-
ments shall be diverted from the nonessential industries, and that
businesses which transfer to war work will be given adequate
financial support and a guaranty of adequate profits.
It should be added here that the rapidity with which this
readjusting may be accomplished largely depends upon the devel-
opments in shipping. The materials and supplies for war must
pass through a narrow-necked bottle on the way to Europe, and
the rate at which this neck expands will determine the rate at
which we can effectively mobilize our resources for war purposes.
Now, to increase our shipping capacity as rapidly as is required
involves not only speeding up the work in existing yards, but also
Windy
The War and Industrial Readjustments
13
enlarging our shipbuilding facilities by diverting labor and capital
from less essential work. It means that parts of ships must be
manufactured by industrial plants wherever readjustment for such
work is practicable. It means, further, that imports and exports
of nonessentials must be curtailed in many instances to the end
that tonnage may be released for war business. And the restric-
tions of these imports and exports in turn necessitates readjust-
ments in the domestic industries dependent upon such trade; the
labor and capital employed in such industries must be diverted
to the production of forms of war materials to which they may be
adapted. In short, the problem before us is nothing less than the
organizing of all the productive resources of the United States of
America with a single end in view-that of building a bridge of
ships across the Atlantic and sending across that bridge in mini-
mum time a maximum of troops and supplies. The task we are
undertaking is thus one gigantic business proposition, in compari-
son with which the largest individual business ever known is
utterly insignificant. To carry such a stupendous task to success-
ful completion will require not only the best organizing ability the
nation possesses, but infinite patience and willing self-sacrifice on
the part of those whose ordinary occupations are inevitably to be
disarranged.
HOW BUSINESS CAN HELP
It goes without saying that American business men are anxious
to assist in every possible way in effecting these industrial readjust-
ments with a minimum of loss. Patriotic impulse alone will lead
every American business man to do his part. He merely needs to
be shown how he can help most efficiently. But quite apart from
patriotism or the possibility of a curtailment of raw materials
or transportation facilities there is another reason which should
lead business men to make readjustments wherever possible just
as quickly as they can. It is inevitable that the nonessential
industries will shortly have greatly reduced sales; indeed, in many
cases there is already a serious falling off in sales. The reasons
why this is inevitable may be briefly indicated.
In the first place the perfect barrage fire of argument as to the
necessity of saving that has been hurled at the American public in
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The War and Industrial Readjustments
recent months is bearing fruit. It is now regarded as unpatriotic
not to save as never before in our history.
In the second place it is impossible for the rank and file of the
American people to buy Liberty Bonds and spend as usual. If
they buy bonds it must be at the sacrifice of accustomed luxuries.
Moreover, we are now looking forward to the payment of taxes, and
we are making our preparations for this by economizing in our
normal purchases. It must be borne in mind in this connection,
also, that at a time when the future is so uncertain a great many
people are saying, "I had better save all I can now, because there is
no telling whether it will be possible for me to save anything in
the next few years.'
""
Finally, it must be noted that the rapid rise of prices in
nearly every line is forcing rigid economy among the masses. Sta-
tistics just published by the government show that retail prices
of foodstuffs in the United States are now 57 per cent higher than
they were in 1914, while general wholesale prices are 81 per cent
higher. Students of the question are unanimous in the belief that
prices will continue to rise here throughout the war, just as they
have in the nations of Europe. It will therefore shortly be im-
possible for the masses of our people to devote much of their
earnings to the purchase of nonessentials. They will count them-
selves fortunate if they are able to purchase enough of the neces-
sities of life to sustain themselves in a state of normal efficiency.
Already in many cases the pinch of war prices is beginning to mean
real privation.
In the light of the situation which we have been discussing it is
obviously imperative that business be readjusted to a war basis
wherever practicable and as soon as possible. The great problem is,
How? There are two attitudes which business men may assume.
One is that of "watchful waiting"; the other that of active and
constructive effort directed toward conversion of their plants
to war manufacture. The former leads to bankruptcy and to
neglected opportunity for service to the government; the latter
is the avenue to participation in profits and to effective assist-
ance to the nation in its hour of need. A large number of con-
cerns have already been forehanded enough to divert a portion
.
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The War and Industrial Readjustments
15
of their plants to war work; and it is hoped that the facts about
these may soon be made generally available. In the meanwhile
it may prove suggestive to present here a very brief statement of
some of the adjustments that have been made in England. Instead
of gramophones, the gramophone company now makes fuses and
delicate shell parts; instead of cloth for ordinary clothes, the woolen
factory makes khaki; instead of motor cars, the motor-car maker
makes shells; glaziers make cartridge clips; music-roll plants make
gages; infant-food plants make plugs for shells; advertising
agencies make shell adapters; watchmakers adjust fuses; baking-
machinery plants make six-inch high-explosive shells; jewelry
houses make periscopes; cream-separator factories make shell
primers; and textile machinery firms make field kitchens.
The outstanding need of the time is for the managers and
staffs of technical experts in non-war industries everywhere to be
studying the problem with the greatest care in order to discover
in what ways their plants may be adapted to war production.
They should, moreover, actively co-operate with the agencies
in Washington which, under the appointment or approval of the
government, are wrestling with the problem of industrial readjust-
ments. On the manufacturing side there is the Bureau of Manu-
facturing Resources of the Council of National Defense, which is
giving its attention to the problem of plant conversion. On the
commercial side there is the Commercial Economy Board of the
Council of National Defense, which "has undertaken to co-operate
with business men . . . . in eliminating needless uses of men,
materials, equipment, and capital in all lines of commercial busi-
ness." Business men who desire to place themselves in line with
this movement may very properly enter into correspondence with
these agencies. Such correspondence may well have the double
result of proving helpful both to the business interests and to the
governmental committees themselves. There is opportunity here
for some really constructive co-operation.
I think it is not putting it too strongly to say that the outcome
of the greatest struggle in history for the rights of a common
humanity very largely depends upon the rapidity and the effect-
iveness with which American business rises to the task before it.

Your business &
war business
A handbook on industrial adjustments
By Harold G. Moulton
The Union League Club of Chicago
1918
After you have read this pamphlet, please pass it on in order that
the message it carries may reach the largest number of persons

Harold G. Moulton, who has a national
reputation as an economist, is a member
of the Department of Political Economy
of the University of Chicago; Acting
Editor of the Journal of Political Econ-
omy; Secretary of the Western Economic
Society; Author of Industrial Conscrip-
tion; Some Dangers of Price Control;
Unusual Business, Not Business as
Usual, etc.
Following the publication of "Unusual
Business, Not Business as Usual," Mr.
Moulton spent some time in conference
with officials in Washington compiling the
information presented in this pamphlet.
Copies may be obtained of the
War Committee of The Union League Club of Chicago
at the following prices, delivery prepaid:
Single copies
One hundred copies
One thousand copies
T
1
-
5 cents
2 cents each
I cent each
Foreword
T
HIS pamphlet is in the nature of a sequel to the
one recently distributed by the Union League Club
of Chicago, under the title "Unusual Business, Not
Business As Usual." As a point of departure, it will prove
serviceable to recall briefly the argument of the preceding
paper. It was shown that:
I The fundamental requirements for waging war are
ships, supplies, munitions, and food, rather than money, and
that there are only two alternatives before us in the procuring
of these sinews of war: [a] Increase production sufficiently
to provide for necessities and luxuries, plus the unlimited
quantities of ships, supplies, munitions, and food that are
required; [b] transfer, as far as practicable, factory power
and labor power from the production of luxuries to the
production of war materials.
2 Germany very early in the war adopted the second
alternative and applied a selective draft to industry, thus
quickly diverting her entire energy to the production of neces-
sities and war supplies. It has been this that has made it
possible for Germany to defy the world for four years.
3 France early recalled trained men from the trenches,
-as soon as the military situation would permit and set
them to work upbuilding war industries, allowing nonessen-
tial enterprises to languish for the duration of the war.
4 England, after a year or so of hesitation, found that
business as usual was impossible, and that if the nation were
to continue the struggle it must ensure "that every war
demand should have a prior claim to every peace demand."
As a result, nearly the whole of British industry is now devoted
to war production.
5 Production of war supplies in the United States during
the first year of the war has been inadequate for the Govern-
ment's requirements. With the Treasury filled to overflowing,
it has been impossible to purchase the supplies needed because
sufficient industrial energy had not been devoted to their
production.
3
6 The United States Government has now recognized the
need of thoroughgoing industrial readjustments and plans are
being developed for the diversion of energy from the less
essential lines to war industries.
7 American business men engaged in the less essential
lines have a two-fold reason for shifting to war industry as
soon as possible: [a] because it offers an opportunity to
render patriotic service to the nation in its hour of need; and
[b] because the curtailment of the demand for luxuries that
is taking place, coupled with the application of priorities'
rulings by the Government, will shortly mean heavy losses
for many hitherto profitable concerns.
*
8 Upon the effectiveness and the rapidity with which
American business is readjusted to meet the task before it,
very largely depends the outcome of the struggle in which we
are engaged.
The present pamphlet is designed to outline
the more recent developments with reference to
the Government's policy in the matter of priorities,
and to show how manufacturers in the less essen-
tial lines of industry may make the necessary con-
version of their plants, in whole or in part, for war
production. The paper should thus be at once
a handbook of industrial information and a prac-
tical guide to the securing of war business.
*Copies of the original pamphlet, "Unusual Business, Not Business As Usual," may be
obtained from the War Committee, Union League Club, Chicago, at the following prices, delivered
prepaid: Single copies, five cents; 100 copies, two cents each; 1,000 copies, one cent each.
4
New plan of War Industries Board
NTIL very recently it has been necessary for manu-
Ufacturers who desired to secure war contracts to
send representative to Washington to “drum up busi-
ness. This representative has had to make the weary round
of innumerable purchasing divisions of the Government, and
it has required a man of dauntless courage to succeed in his
enterprise. Under such circumstances it has obviously been
impossible for the small manufacturer without connections to
secure Government business. This has been unfortunate, not
merely from the standpoint of the individual manufacturer,
but also from the standpoint of the Government; for when
the Government patronizes only the larger manufacturers,
and those with established connections, it inevitably means
a congestion of manufacturing enterprise with the attendant
evils of inadequate housing and retarded production of war
supplies.
>>
To remedy this situation, and to decentralize the produc-
tion of war supplies throughout the United States, the Re-
sources and Conversion Section of the War Industries Board,
under the direction of Mr. Charles A. Otis, has worked out a
plan whereby it is believed that the small manufacturer will
be given an equal opportunity with the large one to obtain
war business. The primary object is to assemble as quickly
as possible detailed information concerning industries in all
parts of the country. The official communication states that
"to accomplish this in the most efficient way, it has been
decided to divide the country into regions and organize them
thoroughly under the leadership and with the cooperation of
the local Chambers of Commerce and other business men's
organizations.
"It is desired to enlist the aid of all classes of industry, and
to bring this about it is imperative that all the industries of
a given region should be asked to participate whether they
are now members of business organizations or not.'
>>
Before describing the plan of organization which is being
developed by the War Industries Board for decentralizing the
production of war supplies throughout the United States, it
5
will be well for us to consider certain recent developments in
Washington. Recent industrial orders and restrictions have
at last placed the Government's cards upon the table, so that
the industries of the country may now know pretty definitely
what is in store for them in the coming months.
The priorities' classification
HERE has been created in the War Industries Board in
Washington a Priorities Board, consisting of the Chair-
man of the War Industries Board, the Priorities Com-
missioner, a member of the Railroad Administration, a mem-
ber, of the United States Shipping Board and Emergency Fleet
Corporation, a member of the War Trade Board, a member
of the Food Administration, a member of the Fuel Adminis-
tration, a representative of the War Department, and a mem-
ber of the Allied Purchasing Commission. This Board has
adopted for the purpose of guiding all Governmental agencies
in the production, supply, and distribution of raw materials,
finished products, electrical energy, fuel and transportation,
the following general classification of industry for the purposes
of priority treatment.
Ships-Including destroyers and submarine chasers.
Aircraft-
Munitions, Military and Naval Supplies and Operations-Including
building construction for Government needs and equipment for
same.
Fuel-For domestic consumption, and for manufacturing necessities.
named herein.
Food and Collateral Industries-(a) Foodstuffs for human consump-
tion, and plants handling same.
(b) Feeding stuffs for domestic fowls and animals, and plants
handling same.
(c) All tools, utensils, implements, machinery, and equipment
required for production, harvesting and distribution, milling,
preparing, canning and refining Foods and Feeds such as seeds
of Foods and Feeds, Binder Twine, etc.
(d) Products of collateral industries, such as Fertilizer, Fertilizer
Ingredients, Insecticides and Fungicides, Containers for Foods
and Feeds, collateral products.
(e) Materials and equipment for preservation of Foods and Feeds,
such as Ammonia and other refrigeration supplies including ice.
6
Clothing p
For civilian population.
Railroad-Or other necessary transportation equipment, including
water transportation.
Public Utilities-Serving war industries, Army, Navy and civilian
population.
Included with the foregoing list are all necessary raw
materials, partially manufactured parts, and supplies for com-
pletion of these products.
This list of war industries is to be given as nearly as pos-
sible 100 per cent of their requirements. This, the Board
points out, "will in some cases practically exhaust and in
other cases substantially reduce the available supply, resulting
in an acute shortage of certain basic raw materials and
products."
The Board adds that industries should begin now to plan
their activities for the remainder of the calendar year 1918,
"when the basic materials entering into the manufacture of
many products will be largely, if not entirely, absorbed in
direct and indirect war work, and transportation both by rail
and water will be acutely congested in several sections, result-
ing in the curtailment of production and distribution of such
basic materials. The War Industries Board earnestly urges
each non-essential industry to look the situation squarely in
the face now and plan accordingly, curtailing wherever neces-
sary, operations not falling within the general classification
of purposes demanding preference treatment." *
The purport of this classification is unmistakable. It
means that we are in for a period of very thoroughgoing indus-
trial readjustments induced by the insatiable demand for war
materials. The War Industries Board has acted very wisely
in making the facts clear at this time. While it does not wish
to alarm unnecessarily the industries of the country, it is felt
that it is imperative, if the losses involved in such readjusting
are to be kept down to a minimum, that business men know in
advance what the future has in store, in order that careful
planning and prompt action may forestall serious and lasting
injury to non-war industries.
*This information is taken from War Bulletin, No. 35, issued by the War Service Committee
of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, May 20, 1918.
7
Restriction of new building operations
HE War Industries Board, with a view to
promoting the successful prosecution of the war,
states that
T
"all new undertakings not essential to and not
contributing either directly or indirectly toward
winning the war, which involve the utilization of
labor, material and capital required in the pro-
duction, supply or distribution of direct or indirect
war needs, will be discouraged notwithstanding
they may be of local importance and of a char-
acter which should in normal times meet with
every encouragement; and that in fairness to those
interested therein notice is hereby given that this
Board will withhold from such projects priority
assistance, without which new construction of the
character mentioned will frequently be found
impracticable, and that this notice shall be given
wide publicity, that all parties interested in such
undertakings may be fully apprised of the diffi-
culties and delays to which they will be subjected
and embark upon them at their peril."
This applies to industrial plants which cannot be utilized in
the prosecution of the war and to the construction by states,
counties, cities, and towns of public buildings and other im-
provements which will not contribute towards winning the war.
A convenient means of preventing new building operations
that are not essential to the prosecution of the war is found in
the exercise of priorities in the issue of securities. A Capital
Issues Committee of the War Finance Corporation now passes
upon applications with respect to proposed issues of bonds,
notes, certificates of indebtedness, and other securities, state,
county, municipal, or corporate. (Detailed instructions to
applicants with respect to such issues may be found in the
Federal Reserve Bulletin, March, 1918, pp. 168-171.)
Fuel and transportation priorities.
T
HE coal supply, not only in the United States, but
throughout the world, will not prove adequate during
the coming year to meet the needs of both war industries
and non-war industries. The Fuel Administration has there-
fore arranged the following list of preferred industries:*
Aircraft-Plants engaged exclusively in manufacturing aircraft or
supplies and equipment therefor.
Ammunition-Plants engaged in the manufacture of ammunition
for the United States Government and the Allies.
Army and Navy cantonments and camps.
Arms (small)-Plants engaged in manufacturing small arms for the
United States Government and the Allies.
Chemicals-Plants engaged exclusively in manufacturing chemicals.
Coke plants.
Domestic consumers.
Electrical equipment-Plants manufacturing same.
Electrodes Plants producing electrodes.
Explosives-Plants manufacturing explosives.
Farm implements-Manufacturers exclusively of agricultural im-
plements and farm-operating equipment.
Feed-Plants producing feed.
Ferro-alloys-Plants producing same.
Fertilizers Manufacturers of fertilizers.
Fire brick-Plants producing same exclusively.
Food-Plants manufacturing, milling, preparing, refining, preserving
and wholesaling food for human consumption.
Food containers-Manufacturers of tin and glass containers and
manufacturers exclusively of other food containers.
Gas-Gas producing plants.
Guns (large)-Plants manufacturing same.
Hemp, jute, and cotton bags-Plants manufacturing exclusively
hemp, jute, and cotton bags.
Insecticides-Manufacturers exclusively of insecticides and fungi-
cides.
Iron and steel-Blast furnaces and foundries.
Laundries.
Machine tools-Plants manufacturing machine tools.
Mines.
Mines-Plants engaged exclusively in manufacturing mining tools
and equipment.
Newspapers and periodicals-Plants printing and publishing exclu-
sively newspapers and periodicals.
Oil-Refineries of both mineral and vegetable oils.
* Trade Publication No. 1, April, 1918, U. S. Fuel Administration, Educational Division.
9
Oil production-Plants manufacturing exclusively oil well equipment.
Public institutions and buildings.
Public utilities.
Railways.
Railways-Plants manufacturing locomotives, freight cars and rails,
and other plants engaged exclusively in manufacture of railway
supplies.
g
Refrigeration — Refrigeration for food and exclusive ice-producing
plants.
Seeds-Producers or wholesalers of seeds (except flower seeds).
Ships (bunker coal)—Not including pleasure craft.
Ships-Plants engaged exclusively in building ships (not including
pleasure craft), or in manufacturing exclusively supplies and equip-
ment therefor.
Soap-Manufacturers of soap.
Steel Steel plants and rolling mills.
Tanners-Tanning plants, save for patent leather.
Tanning extracts-Plants manufacturing tanning extracts.
Tin plate-Manufacturers of tin plate.
Twine (binder) and rope-Plants producing exclusively binder twine
and rope.
Wire rope and rope wire-Manufacturers of same.
Automobile plants are not in the list.
It should be noted that all industries not included in the
list above will have to wait for both fuel and transportation
until the requirements of the above have been fully met.
This may mean in many cases waiting indefinitely.
At the same time the Fuel Administration has issued a fuel
oil order with the explanation that "the shortage in the amount
of fuel oil which can be delivered because of transportation
conditions is such that it is clearly a wasteful and unreason-
able practice to deliver such fuel oil for uses which are not
intimately and directly connected with the prosecution of the
war. The classes specified and the precedence in selling,
if the 'pinch' comes in oil, is fixed as follows:"*
Railroads, bunker fuel, and oil refineries using or making fuel oi.
Export deliveries or shipments for the United States Army or Navy.
Export shipments for the navies and other war purposes of the
Allies.
Hospitals where oil is now being used as fuel.
Public utilities and domestic consumers now using fuel oil (includ-
ing gas oil).
* "Petroleum Age," April, 1918, p. 114.
10
Shipyards engaged in Government work.
Navy Yards.
Arsenals.
Plants engaged in manufacture, production and storage of food
products.
Army and Navy cantonments where oil is now being used as fuel.
Industrial consumers engaged in the manufacture of munitions and
other articles under Government orders.
All other classes.
This applies to the entire region east of the Rocky Mountains.
Restriction of imports
Tsecure
Τ
HE greatest need of the time is for ships. In order to
secure as large a volume of shipping as possible, it has
been necessary for all the Allies to restrict imports of
certain classes of commodities in order that the ships engaged
in such trade may be used in the transportation of troops to
France. The Shipping Board, in cooperation with the War
Trade Board recently issued a statement listing the imports
to be restricted. A corps of specialists has been giving this
matter the closest attention for many weeks, and the restric-
tions have been worked out so that the greatest saving of
shipping space may be accomplished with the least injury to
our commercial activities. Two lists of restrictions have been
made the first under date of March 23, 1918, and the second
under date of May 13, 1918. (These lists are given in full in
the Appendix on pages 21, 22, 23.)
Where these restrictions of imports apply to raw materials,
manufacturers using such raw materials will find their produc-
tion seriously curtailed. In other cases the restrictions affect
only the dealers in the products imported. In general, of
course, they mean a serious curtailment of consumption on
the part of the American people. But when it is understood
that these restrictions will release shipping sufficient to trans-
port to France and keep continuously supplied with munitions,
materials, and food from 175,000 to 200,000 soldiers, no
patriotic American will deny the wisdom of the order.
II
Other contemplated restrictions
S
INCE the above orders, the Government has been work-
ing out the details for other import restrictions. Chief
among these is the importation of wool, which it is
planned to reduce by more than one-third of the normal
amount, with an entire elimination of the import of carpet
wools. Rubber importations are to be reduced by about
three-eighths. These orders will require a substantial retrench-
ment on the part of the American people in the use of wool
and rubber, and will necessitate many readjustments in manu-
facturing lines. It is estimated that the wool order will
release shipping sufficient to transport and keep supplied
20,000 American soldiers, and that the rubber order will
release shipping sufficient to take care of 7,500 soldiers.
Other restrictions which are contemplated for the near
future apply to hides and skins (to release shipping for 40,000
soldiers); copper (to release shipping for about 7,000 soldiers);
chromite (to release shipping for approximately 7,000 soldiers);
and manganese (to release shipping for about 2,500 soldiers).
New regional organization of industry
ETURNING now to a consideration of the plan that
has been worked out for bringing the manufacturing
resources of the country into more effective coopera-
tion with the Government, the country is to be divided into
twenty industrial regions, as tentatively outlined on the
attached map. The following plan for effecting the organiza-
tion is suggested by the officials in charge:
I Organize through Chambers of Commerce
and other business associations Industrial Com-
mittees with the principal industrial center as
headquarters and such sub-divisions as are recom-
mended by the business association of each district.
2 Develop such organization in various classes
of industry as well as in area for greatest conven-
ience, to get information of all classes of products
in and between regions.
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placed in St. Paul Region-all other regions
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New regional organization of industry
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REGIONAL
13
3 Having established such region and sub-
region, through the cooperation of the best
business men in each district, have a survey of
the industries recorded in the hands of the Section
in Washington of the War Industries Board for
information to the various procurement sections.
of the Government.
4 Each region may have in Washington a
representative who through the Resources and
Conversion Section of the War Industries Board
may keep in direct contact with his region and
be available to the governmental procurement
divisions or the War Industries Board for
prompt action in giving data from his region.
The detailed form of organization suggested for each
region (subject, of course, to modifications as desired to meet
the needs of any region) is known as the Cleveland Plan, which
has been for some time in operation. Under this plan each
region is divided into eight sub-regions, an important industrial
city in each sub-region being designated as a center. Each
sub-region has a local War Industries Commission which
coordinates all industry within its territory. Within each
sub-region manufacturing is divided into the following classes:
castings; forgings and stampings; machinery and machine
products; rubber products; clay products; chemicals, oils, and
paints; textiles and clothing; wood and leather; engineering;
automotive. Other classifications may of course be added
for important lines of industry.
The administrative organization is as follows: In each
sub-region each line of industry is placed in charge of a chair-
man to be chosen by the industry. The chairmen of the
various industries together constitute an executive committee
for the sub-region, which is the governing body within the
sub-region.
The governing body of the region as a whole is an executive
committee composed of the chairmen of the executive com-
mittees of the eight sub-regions.
Coming back to the sub-region, the chairman of each indus-
try makes his own sub-classifications. For instance, under
14
castings we may have aluminum and brass castings, gray iron
castings, malleable castings, and steel castings. A sub-
chairman is placed in charge of each sub-classification. If the
sub-classification is a large one, each sub-chairman may have
a committee large enough to enable him to report promptly
and in detail the capacity available in all plants in his sub-
classification.
With this organization in working order, detailed informa-
tion of the capacity of the plants in each industry to produce
materials will be made available to the chairman of the industry,
and by him be communicated to the executive committee of
the region. This regional committee in turn will make this
information available to the Resources and Conversion Sec-
tion of the War Industries Board in Washington, and through
this section to the various Supply and Purchasing officers of
the Government. Similarly, when Government requirements
are made known to the Resources and Conversion Section of
the War Industries Board, telegraphic communication from
this section to the chairman of each region will promptly set
the machinery in motion to secure the production of the neces-
sary supplies in minimum time and with maximum efficiency.
There will no longer be any necessity for individual manufac-
turers to go to Washington to secure war contracts. The
distribution of the production of munitions and supplies
within each region will be accomplished through the repre-
sentatives whom the industries themselves have chosen.
Questions answered
UMEROUS questions of detail may be raised here in
connection with points which are perhaps not made
entirely clear by the above exposition of the plan:
N
I Is the Government to dictate the precise form of organiza-
tion within each region?
The answer is that the Resources and Conversion Section
of the War Industries Board has merely submitted a plan
which has been tested by experience. The organization within
each region is to be developed by the business men of the
region along the lines which will make it most serviceable to
15
+
the industries of such region. It is expected, however, that
each region will model its organization rather closely after the
Cleveland Plan.
2 On what basis were the regional boundaries determined,
and can they be changed if locally desired?
The regional boundaries practically coincide with those
previously made by the Ordnance Department. It seemed
wise to develop the present plan along lines already laid down
by this important division of the Government. The bound-
aries may be changed, however, if it be locally desired.
3 Will this organization supplant the existing organization
for the procurement of Ordnance supplies?
No, it will not interfere with the present Ordnance organ-
ization; but the two organizations will cooperate in every way.
4 What is the relation of this organization to the National
Chamber of Commerce and to the National War Service Com-
mittees of the various industries of the country?
It has the sanction of the National Chamber of Commerce,
which body, working through local Chambers of Commerce,
is developing the regional organization. It is designed to
supplement the work of The National War Service Committees.
5 In case numerous regions in the United States can produce
supplies required, on what basis is the award of the contract to
be made?
This is to be made on the basis of efficiency in meeting the
Government's requirements and with a view to apportioning
the industrial production of the country so that the least
amount of congestion will occur.
6 Who is to decide what sub-region in any given region shall
secure war work?
This will be done by the Executive Committee of the
region, which, it may be recalled, represents the Executive.
Committees of the sub-regions. The work will be distributed
with a view to efficient and prompt production, and a mini-
mizing of congestion in manufacturing.
16
7 On whose recommendation and on what basis is the award
to be made to a particular plant?
The award will be made on the recommendation of the
chairman of the particular industry in question, and with
the same ends in view as in the above cases. It should be
emphasized, however, that this recommendation has no bind-
ing force. It is merely advisory.
8 Will Government contracts be actually awarded by this
organization?
No, this organization merely collects the information as
to plant capacity, etc., and makes it available to the various
Government procurement officials. These officials, as hereto-
fore, will let the contracts.
9 May a given contract be divided among several plants?
Yes, there will doubtless be many cases where a contract
is distributed; in fact, it is often found that several plants
working together can fill an order where no single one alone
can do so.
General advantages of the plan
I'
T will be seen at a glance that this method of enlisting the
productive capacity of the nation in the service of the
Government is much superior to the haphazard method
that has characterized past months:
I It eliminates "pull" and established connections as a
factor in the awarding of contracts.
2 It eliminates the necessity of expensive and time-
consuming trips to Washington in the endeavor to secure war
business.
3 It saves the time of the Government procurement
officials, hitherto largely wasted in conferences with individual
business men.
17
4 It provides for the scientific apportionment of the work
to be done to the localities and plants best adapted to the
doing of the work.
5 It enables individual laborers to remain in their own
communities and in their own homes, and does much to
minimize the difficulties of the housing situation.
6 It permits our existing industrial equipment to be turned
directly to war uses, thus saving the necessity of new con-
struction with needless using up of raw materials, labor power,
and transport facilities.
7 It serves to disrupt as little as possible our industrial
fabric and thus to make less difficult the task of reconstruction
after the war.
How to make connections with
this organization
T
HE process by which any manufacturer, however small
and in whatever line, may ally himself with this organi-
zation, and thus place himself in a position to secure
Government work is very simple. It is merely necessary for
him to communicate with the man who has been chosen to
perfect the organization in his district. The men chosen, with
their respective districts, are as follows:
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Bridgeport, Conn...
MERCHANTS' ASSOCIATION OF
NEW YORK.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Philadelphia, Pa……….
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Pittsburgh, Pa..
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Rochester, N. Y...
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Cleveland, Ohio.
BOARD OF Commerce,
Detroit, Mich.
ASSOCIATION OF COMMERCE,
Chicago, Ill....
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Cincinnati, Ohio..
..
9
GEORGE E. CRAWFORD, President
WILLIAM F. MORGAN, President
ERNEST T. TRIGG, President
GEORGE S. OLIVER, President
GRANGER A. HOLLISTER, President
MYRON T. HERRICK, President
ALLEN A. TEMPLETON, President
LUCIUS TETER, President
.A. CLIFFORD SHINKLE, President
1
18
MERCHANTS AND MFRS. ASSN.,
Baltimore, Md...
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Atlanta, Ga...
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Birmingham, Ala..
CHAMBER OF Commerce,
Kansas City, Mo.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
St. Louis, Mo....
MILWAUKEE COUNTY COUNCIL
of DEFENCE.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Dallas, Texas...
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
San Francisco, Cal..
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Seattle, Wash.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
Boston, Mass.
WAR INDUSTRIES BOARD,
1405 Pioneer Bldg., St. Paul, Minn. D. R. COTTON, Chairman
•
WILLIAM H. MATHAI, President
W. H. WHITE, JR., President
M. W. BUSH, President
FRANK D. CRABBS, President
JACKSON JOHNSON, President
AUGUST H. VOGEL
•
LOUIS LIPSITZ, President
FREDERICK J. KOSTER, President
A. J. RHODES, President
HENRY I. HARRIMAN, President
As soon as the organization is perfected, the routine work
will be carried on, in many cases at least, by other men, but
inquiries addressed to the foregoing will be turned over to the
men in active charge of the administration of the system.
Individual business men should also ally themselves with the
local organization of their respective industries.
The future of American business
D
EVELOPMENTS have come with astonishing rapidity
in recent months. We appear to have completed
the first stage of the war,-that of working out plans
and developing an army and an industrial organization, and
we are now entering in earnest into the grim business of war.
One million men, two million men, five million men, and more,
are to be sent abroad as rapidly as possible. If they are to
be supplied with the indispensable materials for effective
fighting, the productive power of this nation must be utilized
in the most efficient manner possible. To check the tremen-
dous onslaughts of the enemy and to drive him back out
of France, out of Belgium, beyond the Rhine, and actually to
1
19
overwhelm him on the fields of battle to the end that
Germany's power in the east as well as in the west may be
broken, will require the expenditure of all the energy that
indomitable America possesses. It is undoubtedly a task
requiring several years to accomplish; but it is a task supreme-
ly worthy of all that it will cost in blood and treasure.
The organization for decentralizing war manufacture and
enlisting the service of the small as well as the large manu-
facturer in all parts of the country, as outlined above, will do
much to minimize the losses which must be sustained by private
industry during the continuance of the war. It cannot,
however, eliminate all losses and keep all industry prosperous.
When a nation is at war there are certain lines of industry
engaged in the production of consumptive necessities and war
supplies, which prosper as a result of the war. There are other
lines, such as those producing basic raw materials and even
those producing finished products, where there is a shortage
of equipment for manufacturing purposes, as in precision work,
power equipment, turbines, boilers, etc., which will also find
themselves unusually prosperous because of the incessant
demands for their products. There is a third class of estab-
lishments which throughout the war will devote a part of
their capacity to the manufacture of goods for individual con-
sumption and the remainder to production of war supplies
for the Government. But unfortunately there are other lines,
particularly those not included in the priorities' classifications.
mentioned above, which because of the enforcement of prior-
ities' orders as to fuel and transport, and because of the
falling off in the demand for their products will find themselves
with a declining business and yet without adaptability for
the production of war supplies. This has been the experience
in Germany, in France, and in England, and it is certain to
be the experience in the United States.
All that remains for those engaged in non-essential indus-
tries, where such industries cannot be turned to Government
work, is to seek individual employment elsewhere. It is the
hope of the War Industries Board that these cases may be
reduced in this country to the minimum, but it is vain to
hope that they can be entirely avoided. We may close with
a repetition of the sound advice of the War Industries Board,
which urges each "nonessential industry to look this situation.
squarely in the face now and plan accordingly.
>> *
*War Bulletin, No. 35, Chamber of Commerce, U. S. A., May 20, 1918.
1
Sta
20
Appendix
Restricted Imports-List I
March 23, 1918
T
HIS list is subject to the following exceptions: (1) when
coming by rail from Mexico or Canada, when the goods in
question originated in those countries, or in other countries
from which such goods are being licensed for import; (2) when coming
as a return cargo from European points and then only (a) when
coming from a convenient port or (b) when loaded without delay.
Agricultural Implements
Animals, live except for breeding purposes
Art works
Asbestos
Beads and ornaments
Blacking, and all preparations for cleaning
and polishing shoes
Manufactures of bone and horn
All breadstuffs except wheat and wheat flour,
including imports from Europe
Broom corn
Candlepitch, palm, and other vegetable
stearin
Cars, carriages, and other vehicles
All acids
Muriate of ammonia
All coal tar distillates except synthetic indigo
Fusel oil or amylic alcohol
Citrate of lime
All salts of soda except nitrate of soda and
cyanide of soda
Sumac, ground or unground
Chicory root, raw or roasted
Clocks and watches and parts thereof
Cocoa and chocolate prepared or manufac-
tured
Manufactures of cotton
Cryolite, except not to exceed 2,000 long tons
for the year 1918
Dials
Dice, draughts, chess men, billiard balls,
poker chips
Eggs of poultry
Electric lamps
Explosives, except fulminates and gun powder
Feathers, natural and artificial
Manure salts
Manufactures of vegetable fibres and textile
grasses, except jute
Fish hooks, rods and reels, artificial bait
Fluorspar
All fruits except pineapples and bananas
All nuts except cocoanuts and products
thereof
Gelatine, and manufactures thereof, includ-
ing all from Europe
Gold and silver manufactures, including
jewelry
Sulphur oil or olive foots
Grease
Hay
Honey
Hops
Infusorial and diatomaceous earth and Tripoli
Mantles for gas burners
Matches, friction and lucifer
Fresh Meats
Meerschaum, crude or manufactured
Musical instruments and parts thereof
Nickel
Oil cake
Oilcloth and linoleum for floors
All expressed vegetable oils from Europe only
Lemon oil
Non-mineral paints and varnishes
Pencils and pencil leads
Penholders and pens
21
Perfumery, cosmetics and toilet preparations
Phonographs, gramaphones, graphophones,
and parts thereof
Photographic goods
Pipes and smokers' articles
Plants, trees, shrubs and vines
Plates, electrotype, stereotype and litho-
graphic; engraved
Plumbago or graphite (until July 1, 1918;
thereafter not exceeding 5,000 long tons
for remainder of 1918)
Pyrites (except not exceeding 125,000 long
tons to October 1, 1918)
Rennets
Artificial silk and manufactures thereof
Soap
Malt liquors, including all from Europe
Wines
Other beverages, including all from Europe
Candy and confectionery, including all from
Europe
Tar and pitch of wood
Toys
Restricted Imports-List II
May 13, 1918
Umbrellas, parasols, sunshades, and sticks for
Beans, and lentils, from Europe only
Dried peas from Europe only
IME, Talc, and Soapstone (except from Canada).
Shellfish-does not include crab meat from Japan (except
from Canada and Newfoundland).
Aloxite and boro-carbone
Borax
Cement for Building Purposes
Chloride of Lime
Cyanide of Soda
Dairy Products
Ferromanganese and Spiegeleisen
All vegetables, except beans and lentils, and
peas, either in their natural state or pre-
pared or preserved, including all from
Europe
Vinegar
Whalebone, unmanufactured
Manufactures of wool
Manufactures of hair of camel, goat and
alpaca
Zinc
Molybdenum (except from Canada and Mexico).
Tobacco Leaf (except from Cuba and the West Indies).
Fish, fresh, cured or preserved (except from Canada, Mexico, New-
foundland and Scandinavia).
Lead
Magnesite
Meat Products and Preserved Meats
Paraffin
Pumice
Starch
Stone and manufactures thereof
Animal Oils (except from European countries).
Quebracho Wood (only for shipments coming on vessels unfit for
essential imports).
Except overland or by lake from Canada or
overland from Mexico.
22
Argole or wine lees
Bones, Hoofs and Horns, unmanufactured
Baskets of wood, bamboo, straw or composi-
tions of wood
Cork unmanufactured, and manufactures
thereof
Edible substances, not specifically provided
for in the tariff schedules
Eggs, dried, frozen, prepared or preserved,
and yolks of eggs
Fans
Fuller's Earth
Furniture
Furs and manufactures thereof (does not in-
clude fur hats, fur not on the skin prepared
for hatters' use, nor raw seal skins from
Uruguay)
Glass and Glassware (does not include lenses,
opera and field glasses, optical instruments,
spectacles, eye-glasses, goggles, surveying
instruments, telescopes, microscopes and
plates or discs for use in the manufacture
of optical goods)
Glue and Glue Size
Glue Stock and Raw Hide Cuttings
Hair, human, and manufactures thereof
Horsehair, artificial, and manufactures thereof
Indigo, synthetic
Ivory, animal, and manufactures thereof
Licorice Root
Moss and Sea Weed
Paper and manufactures thereof (does not in-
clude books and other printed matter)
Paper Stock, crude (does not include wood.
pulp)
Straw and Grass (unmanufactured and manu-
factures thereof)
Tea Waste, siftings or sweepings
Vanilla Beans
Except overland or by lake from Canada,
overland from Mexico, or as a return cargo
from European countries, and then only
when shipped from a convenient port and
without delay.
23
Co

The Duty of
the Consumer in
War Time
By Harold G. Moulton
The Union League Club of Chicago
1918
After you have read this pamphlet, please pass it on in order that
the message it carries may reach the largest number of persons
Harold G. Moulton, who has a national
reputation as an economist, is a member
of the Department of Political Economy
of the University of Chicago; Acting
Editor of the Journal of Political Econ-
omy; Secretary of the Western Economic
Society; Author of Industrial Conscrip-
tion; Some Dangers of Price Control;
Unusual Business, Not Business as Usual;
Your Business and War Business, etc..
With J. M. Clark and W. H. Hamilton, he
is joint Editor of a forthcoming volume of
readings on The Economics of War and
Reconstruction, to be published by the
University of Chicago Press.
Copies may be obtained of the
War Committee of The Union League Club of Chicago
at the following prices, delivery prepaid:
Single copies
One hundred copies
One thousand copies
·
5 cents
2 cents each
- 1 cent each
The duty of the consumer in war time
WHAT is the duty of the consumer in war time? Shall he practice
the most rigid economy or shall he save only in the use of a few
necessities such as wheat and sugar, where there is a conspicuous
shortage? Can the war be prosecuted best by a retrenchment of
unessential consumption or must we have a large production and sale
of luxuries as a means of providing the funds with which to finance
the war? The consumer has been subjected to much conflicting advice
on this subject.
At the outbreak of the war it was promptly urged by the President
that everybody should economize as much as possible. But following
a slight shock to industry, the argument was developed that we must
have business as usual. Most of the newspapers of the country have
repeatedly urged the necessity of maintaining business much as usual,
many pamphlets have been widely distributed by manufacturers, which
urge that the continuation of all lines of business is imperative if we
are to finance the war successfully, and advertisements of luxuries are
skillfully written with the idea of showing that it is one's patriotic duty
to buy such commodities. As the months have gone by, however,
government agencies have increasingly insisted that rigid economizing
is indispensable if we are to win the war, and that the purchase of
nonessential commodities is therefore little short of treachery.
Amidst all this conflicting opinion and advice the consumer has
found much difficulty in knowing precisely where lies the path of
patriotism. It is the purpose of this paper to present in untechnical
language: (1) the economic reasons why rigid retrenchment of con-
sumption is considered necessary, and (2) the ways in which we can
most effectively aid the government in the great problem with which
it is confronted.
Arguments for business as usual
THE
HE argument for continuing the production and sale of luxuries
assumes several forms. The first may be called the money
argument.
"To prosecute the war successfully our industries must be
kept busy, and they must make money. The only way in
which industries at large can do this is for as many of them as
possible to do business with others than the Government. And
this volume of non-war business must be big enough and with
profits great enough to meet all industrial expenses and, in
addition, to supply funds for Government war needs. Hence,
unless our non-war business can be made to pay for the war
the war will eat us down to poverty. Therefore, the need of
non-war business is imperative beyond any question. Unless
industries make money they cannot produce money for Gov-
ernment use. They cannot pay taxes. They cannot buy
bonds. Trying to confine the industries of the United States
to war industries exclusively is an effort to send the American
dollar through a narrowing spiral that eventually comes to a
dead stop."
""*
* Charles W. Mears, the Winton Co., Cleveland, Ohio, in the New York
Sun, May 12, 1918.
A second form of the contention for business as usual may be called
the unemployment argument. It is urged that a curtailment of luxuries.
will throw many laborers out of employment, forcing them to become
public charges or subject to the beneficent assistance of our charitable
organizations—thus increasing social discontent and seriously impair-
ing the national morale.
A third form of the argument is that a curtailment of luxuries
might cause a financial panic. The contention here is that the modern
industrial system is extremely delicate and complex and that in conse-
quence any serious curtailment of the production and sale of luxuries.
might precipitate a financial panic that would not only destroy non-
essential lines of production but would paralyze all industry and hence
make the successful prosecution of the war impossible. We may
briefly consider each of these arguments.
The money argument
HERE are two fallacies inherent in the money argument. The
first is the assumption that war industries do not produce as great
monetary profits as non-war industries; and the second is the assump-
tion that what the government needs is funds (money and credit).
Now with reference to the first fallacy, if it be granted that the
man power and the factory power of the United States can ultimately
be diverted from luxuries to war industry, we shall not find then that
we have a "narrowing spiral that eventually comes to a dead stop."
Monetary wages are as high in war industries as in non-war industries;
and monetary profits are just as great in war industries as in non-war
industries. It is only during the period of transferring labor and
capital from non-war to war industry that we find any lessening of
wages and profits. This has been the practical experience of every
nation at war.
The more important fallacy in the above argument, however, lies
in the assumption that the fundamental need of the government is for
money. If dollars and checks could be used in shooting at the Huns,
then it would make no difference whether the "money and credit" in-
struments required were earned in war industries or non-war industries.
But since the actual fighting requires not money, but munitions, mate-
rials, supplies, and food, it makes all the difference in the world
whether money and profits are earned in the creation of the things
with which we fight or the things that cannot be used for war purposes.
When wages and profits are earned in the production of war supplies
we have the wages and profits as before, but in addition we have things
which can be used in waging the war.
This problem of the relation of money to the waging of war need
not be left, however, merely in the form of a theoretical statement. It
has been amply established during the course of the war that the pro-
duction of an abundance of war supplies is the prime necessity and
that this can be accomplished only by a diversion of energy from the
production of luxuries to the production of war supplies. For instance,
our government found during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1918,
that it was able to spend only about one-half the funds which it had
contemplated spending, for the simple reason that the supplies which
it wished to purchase had not been produced. That our maximum
efficiency for war can be obtained only by a thoroughgoing diversion
of energy from non-war to war lines is now recognized by all of the
governmental agencies concerned with the problem, and extensive plans
are now under way designed to secure the necessary conversion to war
industry. This has been the experience, moreover, of all the warring
nations of Europe.*
* See Unusual Business, Not Business as Usual, for a fuller discussion of
this subject. Copies may be secured from The Union League Club of
Chicago.
The unemployment argument
THE
HE argument that a curtailment of the consumption of luxuries
would cause the closing down of factories and result in serious
unemployment may now be considered. There can be little question
that a very rapid curtailment of nonessential consumption twelve
months ago would have thrown many laborers out of work for a con-
siderable period of time. War industry had not then developed to a
point where it could at once utilize all the laborers who are normally
engaged in the production of nonessentials. But the situation now is
totally different. The increasing drain on our man power to meet the
Army and Navy requirements, coupled with the enormous production.
of war supplies, has caused an actual scarcity of laborers in this
country. In many lines it has become extremely difficult to secure the
necessary labor, and there will be an ever increasing shortage of labor
as the war continues.
When months ago it was argued that a producer of luxuries was
competing with the government for labor power needed for the produc
tion of war supplies, it sounded to many people like idle theory. It
seemed too indirect a competition to have any reality. But a few weeks
ago it became almost impossible to hold laborers for a certain impor-
tant war work because manufacturers of musical instruments were
luring these men away with the offer of very high wages. This was a
case where the competition was directly traceable.
Most convincing testimony of the serious shortage of labor for
war industries that now exists is furnished in a statement issued by
the Committee on Public Information, June 27, 1918. The statement
is as follows:
"War industries of the United States are at this moment
short between 300,000 and 400,000 common laborers and the
lack of workers in the coal industry is imperilling all other
war production.
"The solution lies in the recruiting of workers from non-
essential industries as quickly as possible."
""
It has often been urged that there are many workers engaged in
the production of nonessentials who are not adapted for the production
of war supplies or necessities, and who would, therefore, be seriously
affected if nonessential industries should be too rigidly curtailed. It
must be answered that when social and military requirements demand
a given course of action, it is impossible to let the consequences to
scattered individuals be the decisive factor in the situation. We cannot
let sympathy for the few who may be seriously inconvenienced as a
result of the war stand in the way of diverting the energy of the rest
of society to the fields in which it is imperatively needed. To take
such a stand might mean failure to become effectively mobilized in
time to win the war. The boys who have crossed the water are offering
life itself, where necessary; many are daily making the supreme
sacrifice, cheerfully and without reservation. The losses which those
who are thrown out of their customary employment by a curtailment
of nonessential production may have to sustain are inconsequential
at the worst when compared with those of our soldiers in the field.
It should be emphasized in this connection, moreover, that there is
essential work of one sort or another for every person and that the
curtailment of nonessential industries means shifting of employment-
not unemployment.
On this question of sacrifice I quote from a statement of David
Lloyd George:
"We cannot have absolute equality of sacrifice in a war.
That is impossible. But we can have equal readiness to sacri-
fice from all. There are hundreds of thousands who have
given up comfortable homes and exchanged them for a daily
communion with death. Multitudes have given up those
whom they loved best. Let the nation as a whole place its
comforts, its luxuries, its indulgences, its elegances, on a
national altar, consecrated by such sacrifices as these men
have made."
The panic argument
T
HE argument that a curtailment of luxuries might cause a finan-
cial panic was often heard in the early days of the war. It was
believed that reduction of consumption would cause many businesses to
close their doors, make it impossible for them to pay their loans to
the banks, and hence involve the banks in difficulties which would
precipitate a widespread financial and business disaster. Now what-
ever merit there may have been in this argument early in the war-
and the argument possessed little merit even then-it has no founda-
tion at the present time. We have been repeatedly assured by the
members of the Federal Reserve Board that the Federal Reserve system
is able to avert any general panic and to tide American business over
any breaks that might be caused by readjustments incident to the war.
This does not, of course, mean that there may not be some individual
business failures; it merely means that there will be no general busi-
ness paralysis. Moreover, the experience of all the European nations,
none of which has had a general business panic, affords conclusive
evidence that the panic argument is a fiction.
Curtailment of luxuries in order to increase the
supply of necessities
T
HUS far we have been discussing the need of curtailing luxuries
in order that additional war supplies may be produced. It
remains to consider the relation of a curtailment of luxuries to an in-
creased production of necessities. We have all been urged to economize
with certain forms of food in order that more may be left for shipment
to our Allies. The food problem, however, goes much deeper than con-
serving the use of an existing stock of foodstuffs. The real food prob-
lem is how to secure a continuous supply of food large enough
to meet the requirements of this nation and our Allies. This is more
a question of production than of consumption-that is to say, conserva-
tion in consumption is less important than large production.
Why is it that the food supply of the allied nations is short? It is
mainly because of the diversion of man-power from agricultural to
war pursuits. To overcome this shortage in agricultural production
additional labor must be found for agriculture, and this labor can
come only through a release of those engaged in less essential lines of
production. In other words, it is imperative that less essential lines of
production be eliminated not only in order that the munitions and
materials necessary for fighting may be abundant, but in order that the
armies of the allied nations may be adequately fed and in order that
the civilian population may have sufficient food to sustain itself in
a state of physical efficiency for the work that must be done behind
the lines. This, of course, applies not only to the production of food;
it applies equally to the other fundamental necessities of life.
As an ever increasing percentage of our man power is drawn over-
seas, the problem of producing adequate amounts of essentials becomes
increasingly difficult. There is no possible escape from a substantial
shortage of the necessities of life other than through a diversion of
productive energy from the nonessential to the essential industries.
It is not usually understood that the chief cause of the enormously
high prices of the necessities of life at the present time is their rela-
tive scarcity. The supply of necessities in this country has not mate-
rially increased but the demand for them, owing to the requirements of
our Allies, has enormously increased. We can prevent a still further
soaring of prices only by increased production of necessities-increased
production to be accomplished, let it be repeated-through a diversion
of productive power from the nonessential lines.
The wealthy have often been urged since the war started to spend
lavishly on luxuries and to economize on necessities in order that the
necessities may remain for consumption by the poor. This is sheer
shortsightedness; for the energy devoted to the production of luxuries.
for consumption by the wealthy would, if diverted to the production
of essentials, give us a supply of the necessities of life large enough
to permit everyone to have sufficient for physical efficiency. On the
other hand, the result of a policy of spending lavishly on luxuries is
an inadequate production of necessities and hence prices so high as
to cause real privation and lessened industrial efficiency among the
masses. Even the blind can see that those engaged in producing
luxuries cannot at the same time be engaged in producing necessities.
The importance of maintaining an adequate production of the neces-
sities of life and of preventing an enormous rise of prices cannot be
too strongly emphasized. In a war of attrition such as this, physical
deterioration of the masses of society in consequence of inadequate
nourishment results in a serious decline in national morale; and this
is a decisive factor in the final outcome of the struggle. Food and
other physical necessities will win the war. We must therefore not
only conserve food and other necessities, but, more important, we must
insure ample production of them through a lessening of the production
of nonessentials.
It is difficult for us, far distant from the scene of conflict and still
young in the war, to realize the grim need of more food and other
basic necessities. According to the most reliable computations nearly
40 per cent of the agricultural area of France has been lost to cultiva
tion since the war began and the fertility of the most important crop
producing area has declined from 20 to 25 per cent. This means that
unless we increase our exports of food a large part of the population
of France will shortly be close to actual starvation.* If the allied
nations are to have the physical stamina with which to emerge victori-
ous from this world conflict, the United States of America must,
through a diversion of productive energy, supply the basic necessities
for existence and for efficiency.
• See article by Walton H. Hamilton on the Requisites of a National
Food Policy, in the Journal of Political Economy, June, 1918.
What are nonessentials?
E have been speaking of the diversion of energy from nonessen-
tial industries to those that are necessary for the prosecution of
the war.
But what are these nonessential industries of which we
speak? Is it possible to distinguish between essential and nonessential
commodities? Because it is difficult to draw a clean line of demarcation
between absolute essentials and dispensable commodities, many people
are inclined to say that nothing is nonessential. Perhaps the difficulty
may be avoided by the use of the terms more essential and less essential
rather than essential and nonessential.
The best definition that I have heard of nonessential consumption
is "all consumption not required for maintaining physical efficiency."
Every one knows as a matter of fact that his ancestors did not enjoy
the amount of conveniences and luxuries to which this generation
has fallen heir. Nearly every one knows from his own experience that
he has not during his own lifetime always possessed the same high
standard of living which he now enjoys. Every one knows, moreover,
that he can substantially retrench in the matter of personal consumption
without lessening his efficiency one iota. The question which every
individual must put to himself is not, Can I afford to purchase this com-
modity? but, Can the nation afford to have me purchase it? Have I
the right through purchasing nonessentials to compete with the govern-
ment for the limited supply of social energy which we call Labor and
Capital? The question always to be asked before purchasing is "Can
I possibly do without it?" Each person must face the issue squarely
that whenever he purchases commodities which he can do without, he
is working at direct cross purposes with the government, which is
trying to secure labor and capital for war industry, and that he is
thereby aiding and abetting the enemy.
Although the government has not stated explicitly what industries
are nonessential, we have not been left entirely without guidance in
the matter. In the distribution of raw materials, fuel, and transporta-
tion facilities, it has been necessary to draw up lists of industries which
are to have priority treatment. In other words, while the governmental
agencies have not defined what are nonessentials, they have nevertheless
specifically named essential industries. These* in the order of their
priority are as follows:
Ships Including destroyers and submarine chasers.
Aircraft.
WEARING
APPAREL
Munitions, military and naval supplies and operations-
Building construction for government needs. Equip-
ment for same.
Fuel-Domestic consumption. Manufacturing necessi-
ties named herein.
A more detailed list of industries that are to be granted priority
treatment in the matter of fuel and transport facilities will be found in
the Appendix. Moreover, the forthcoming tax bill will contain a long
list of commodities regarded as luxuries and hence subject to heavy
taxation.
Food and collateral industries.
Clothing-For civilian population.
Railroad-Or other necessary transportation equip
ment, including water transportation.
Public utilities-Serving war industries, Army, Navy,
and civilian population.
It may perhaps be of service to individuals seeking light in the
matter of economizing if a concrete list of commodities be presented
as a basis for discussion. I do not set myself up as an arbiter in the
matter of essentials versus nonessentials, but I think all of us will be
aided in making our individual sacrifices if we talk about specific
cases rather than pass the matter by with vague generalities. As a
basis for consideration of this subject I have therefore selected from
the United States Census on Manufactures the following commodities.
which are not included among the lists of essential industries men-
tioned on the preceding page. Let me add that this list is by no
means all inclusive. It has been selected somewhat at random. It is
believed, however, to be representative of a large number of commodi-
ties which many people might regard as "less essential.”
MISCEL-
LANEOUS
EDIBLES
HOUSE
FURNISHINGS
Plumes; artificial flowers; passementerie; lace; furs;
canes; jewelry; cosmetics; perfumes; curling irons;
fans; powder puffs; fancy bags; fancy boots and
shoes; opera glasses; silk hosiery and underwear;
sporting outfits.
{
Liquors; tobacco; confectionery; chewing gum; pat-
ent medicines; pastries.
Art goods; pictures; mirrors; billiard tables; china
decorating; glassware; carpets and rugs; ornamental
clocks and watches; fancy work materials; furniture.
Pleasure cars; pleasure motorcycles and bicycles;
toys; fancy stationery; photographic supplies; society
badges; emblems and regalia; musical instruments;
poker chips and playing cards.
War Bulletin, No. 35, Chamber of Commerce of the United States, May
20, 1918.
I fancy that in connection with particular commodities in this list
there would be a wide diversity of opinion as to whether they are
necessities or not. I suppose the truth is that certain of these com-
modities are necessities for some people and others of them necessities
for other people. But certainly all of them are not necessities for
everybody. It is not expected, however, that there should be universal
agreement; and it is because of this fact that the government has
hesitated to make out a definite list of nonessentials. In the nature
of the case, it seems better to leave the decision to individual con-
siderations.
It will perhaps be of service, however, to show concretely in one
or two instances what the continued consumption of these commodities
means in terms of war work. The elimination of the manufacture
of confectionery, not including ice cream, would release 53,000 per-
sons for war work, and release fuel for war purposes of the following
amounts: 81,000 tons of anthracite coal; 217,000 tons of bituminous
coal; 14,000 tons of coke; 23,000 barrels of oil and gasoline; and
689 million cubic feet of gas. One often hears the statement, however,
that we need confectionery in order to furnish the necessary sweets.
The answer to this is that we can take the sweets straight in the form
of
sugar without a diminution in food value. It may prove of interest
in this connection to note that it was discovered in France that 3,000
laborers were engaged in the making of loaf sugar. This was promptly
stopped and the 3,000 laborers engaged therein were put to producing
war supplies.
Since 1906 the acreage devoted to tobacco in the United States has
increased 77 per cent; in 1916, the land so devoted and therefore with
drawn from food production was 1,412,000 acres. Tobacco land,
moreover, requires the best of soils. There are 179,000 wage earners
engaged in the manufacture of tobacco in this country. Smokers are,
moreover, now supporting lavish advertisements of at least 12 different
brands of cigars, cigarettes, and tobacco. A reduction in the number
of brands would not only save advertising space, but it would greatly
reduce the amount of tobacco which is held in stocks for sale, and
thus effect enormous savings both in materials and in productive power.
It
may be argued by some on reading the above list that many of
these things are necessary for aesthetic and recreational purposes,-
that if we are compelled to forego them people will become discour
aged and rapidly grow weary of the war. With reference to the
recreational argument, it must be borne in mind that the suggestion
to curtail purchases of these commodities does not involve a destruction
of existing supplies. It merely means that additional plumes, opera
glasses, furs, art goods, pictures, billiard tables, household furnish-
ings, pleasure cars, musical instruments, etc., should not be produced.
•
¡
No one can seriously contend that the American people cannot get
along a few years with the existing supply, or very nearly the existing
supply, of such commodities. And if any one contends that powder
puffs, fancy sporting outfits, oriental rugs, and decorated china are
necessary to national morale, he merely ignores the past history of
the human race. We must not forget that this war is not a silk stocking
and kid glove affair. We must not forget that our enemies are fore-
going the consumption of these unimportant commodities and are
diverting every ounce of their energy to the winning of the war.
In this connection one often hears the statement that we may be
forced before the war is over to forego most of the luxuries and con-
veniences of life, but that, thank God, we have not yet reached that
point. But we cannot afford to wait for the pressure of the enemy
to force us to rigid economy; such a policy would mean that during
the interval we would be fighting with one hand tied behind our
backs, we would be going backward in the struggle rather than for-
ward. This is not an untrue description of the experience of our
Allies to date. Too often since 1914 the Allies have played a waiting
game with the notion that time is on their side; while the enemy
meanwhile has seized time by the forelock and made it serve his
purposes. Granting that with America in the fight, victory will ulti-
mately be achieved, a waiting policy will nevertheless seriously prolong
the war and exact an enormous toll in human lives. Shall we allow
ourselves gradually to be impoverished through a policy of "living
for the day, with hopes for the morrow," or shall we now voluntarily
economize to the end that we may produce the enormous quantities
of materials and supplies required for a speedy victory?
Curtailment of consumption in line with government
restrictions
I
any one has any lingering doubts that a reduction of consumption
in the less essential lines is required by or in accord with national
policy, he need merely reflect that such curtailment of consumption fits
in with a curtailment of production which is to be effected by the
government through the enforcement of priority orders. Within the
next year, because of an inadequate supply of raw materials, fuel,
transport facilities, and man power, the government will be forced to
curtail production in the less essential lines.* We can be of great aid
to the administration in enforcing these regulations by curtailing now
the consumption of such commodities.
F
* For a detailed description of these regulations see, Your Business and
War Business. Copies may be obtained from the Union League Club of
Chicago.
Attention should also be called to significant restrictions of imports
that have recently been made by the War Trade and Shipping Boards.
The imports of something like 200 commodities have been seriously
curtailed in order to release shipping for use in trans-Atlantic transport.
These restrictions will require a substantial reduction of consumption.
on the part of the American people in the commodities affected, but
when it is understood that they will release sufficient ships to transport
to France and keep continuously supplied with munitions, materials,
and food from 175,000 to 200,000 soldiers, there will be few who will
not cheerfully accept the sacrifice in consumption that is entailed.
The forthcoming federal tax law will impose unprecedentedly high
rates on retail sales of a wide variety of luxuries. As soon as the law
becomes operative one will hear the argument on every hand that it is
a duty to buy these luxuries and thus furnish the government with the
necessary revenue. Now the truth is that the purpose of this taxation
of luxuries is not to procure revenue, but to deter people from pur-
chasing such commodities, thus hastening the diversion of productive
energy to war industries.
A word about hoarding
THE
HE consumer is often tempted when a shortage in food supplies
or other necessities appears imminent to protect his own interests
by purchasing in advance an adequate supply for all emergencies.
Even where a serious shortage is not threatened he is often impelled
to hoard commodities for future use because of the advice of dealers
who urge the public to buy now because later prices will be even
higher. This policy of hoarding, which has been all too common
since the war began, often results in overstimulating the production of
both necessities and luxuries at a time when the War Industries Board
tells us that they should not be stimulated, owing to a shortage of labor
power. Moreover, so long as we rely upon voluntary rather than
coercive methods, a person who hoards in the face of a general scarcity
is engaged in a kind of “slacking," unwilling though it may be. He is
putting personal comfort above the general welfare of the nation's
needs.
Hoarding often means that those members of the community who
play the game squarely and buy only in such quantities as are necessary
from week to week find that when the pinch comes they must actually
do without, whereas if nobody had hoarded everyone might continu-
ously have had at least a minimum of such commodities for consump-
tive purposes. Among the well-to-do classes the very high prices that
result from hoarding of scarce commodities is not so serious, but
among those whose incomes barely suffice at best to maintain themselves
in a state of physical well-being, it often means serious privation and
lessened industrial efficiency. If we are to escape during the course of
the war a seriously unbalanced social situation and consequent social
disorders, it is indispensable that we play the game with a full recog-
nition that national requirements are of first importance. Individual
good must everywhere be subordinated to the general good. We must
follow explicitly the government's requests with reference to the con-
servation of the basic essentials of life.
Responsibility of the civilian
I'
T has been the policy of our government to coerce the American
people as little as possible-to rely upon voluntary action by the
public for the co-operation necessary to the effective prosecution of
the war. The government looks to us, therefore, voluntarily to aid its
program of industrial readjustment by doing our part as consumers,—
by refusing to buy the things with which we can dispense and by
devoting the money thus saved to the payment of taxes and to the
purchase of Liberty Bonds and War Savings Stamps.
This voluntary co-operation will be successful only if every person
realizes that however small his individual sacrifice may appear it is
nevertheless imperatively required. One of the greatest dangers is the
prevalent assumption that a small saving is too insignificant to be of
consequence. One often hears the statement, How will a sacifice on
my part of 15 cents a day increase the number of ships and war
supplies required by the government? There is an old jingle begin-
" which
ning, "Little drops of water, Little grains of sand
should be recalled in this connection. A saving of unnecessary con-
sumption amounting to 15 cents a day by one hundred million Amer-
icans would mean a saving of $5,475,000,000 a year. A saving of 15
cents a day per family would mean roughly one billion dollars a year.
The Thrift and War Savings Stamps give us the facilities for trans-
ferring these little savings to the government without inconvenience or
trouble. One should always remember, moreover, that all these
reductions in consumption, and the consequent investment in War
Savings Stamps, mean that labor and capital are automatically released
from the production of unnecessary commodities and made available
for the creation of a like amount of indispensable war supplies.
•
We have reached a stage now in the prosecution of the war in
which the fundamental requirements of the situation are perfectly
clear. With more than a million men already in France and with
shipping facilities increasing with great rapidity, the prime necessity
of the time is an enormous increase in the production of war supplies
and materials. To check the military power of the enemy, and to
drive him back out of France, out of Belgium, beyond the Rhine, and
actually to overwhelm him on the fields of battle, will require all the
power that America, with its geographic handicaps, can amass. It is
easy to underestimate the difficulties in the task before us; it is the
popular thing to decry the military strength of the Germans and to
assume that they are "about through." It is the fashion to say that
even if Paris and the Channel ports were taken the war would not be
ended. I grant this. But may it not be equally true that with the
enemy driven out of France and with Berlin in the hands of the Allies
the war would not be ended? There is as yet no evidence that Ger-
many will not defend her gains in the East to the last ounce of her
strength.
But in any event the road to Berlin is beset with well-nigh insuper-
able obstacles. We cannot afford to forget that it is one thing to
check an offensive of the enemy and that it is another thing, under
the conditions of modern warfare, to carry through an offensive that
will completely break the military power of the opposition. One
thing the war has absolutely demonstrated, that if the human losses
are to be kept at a minimum, the attacking party must have over-
whelming superiority in explosives, big guns, and materials and sup-
plies of every description. The question which every civilian must
therefore ask himself is, Shall I do what little I can through personal
sacrifice to lessen the human toll that is to be exacted as the price of
victory?
We must not forget that it is only because the Germans have cen-
tered all their energy on the production of necessities and war supplies
that they have been able to accumulate the stupendous quantities of
materials and supplies necessary to the waging of offensive after
offensive on their far-flung battle lines. We must not forget that it is
this that made it possible for General Ludendorff to state in March,
1918, that the Germans were quantitatively superior to the Allies in
every form of war material—a statement which has not been officially
denied and which subsequent events have not disproved. We must not
forget that in this death grapple, victory will lie with those who are
strong in the effective weapons of warfare and strong in the material
necessities of life. Any admission that the United States of America
is not willing to make the sacrifice of accustomed luxuries would be
an admission that we are not willing to pay the price for making the
world a decent place for ourselves and our children to live in. It
would be an admission, moreover, that we do not desire victory as
ardently as does the enemy.
APPENDIX
List of preferred industries*
Aircraft-Plants engaged exclusively in manufacturing aircraft or supplies and
equipment therefor.
Ammunition-Plants engaged in the manufacture of ammunition for the United
States Government and the Allies.
Army and Navy-Cantonments and camps.
Arms (small)-Plants engaged in manufacturing small arms for the United States
Government and the Allies.
Chemicals-Plants engaged exclusively in manufacturing chemicals.
Coke Plants.
Domestic consumers.
Electrical equipment-Plants manufacturing same.
Electrodes Plants producing electrodes.
Explosives-Plants manufacturing explosives.
Farm implements-Manufacturers exclusively of agricultural implements and farm
operating equipment.
Feed-Plants producing feed.
Ferro-alloys Plants producing.
Fertilizers Manufacturers of fertilizers.
Fire brick-Plants producing exclusively.
Food-Plants manufacturing, milling, preparing, refining, preserving, and whole-
saling food for human consumption.
Gas-Gas producing plants.
Food containers-Manufacturers of tin and glass containers and manufacturers
exclusively of other food containers.
Guns (large)-Plants manufacturing same.
Hemp, jute, and cotton bags-Plants manufacturing exclusively hemp, jute, and
cotton bags.
Insecticides Manufacturers exclusively of insecticides and fungicides.
Iron and steel-Blast furnaces and foundries.
Laundries.
Machine tools-Plants manufacturing machine tools.
Mines.
Mines Plants engaged exclusively in manufacturing tools and equipment.
Newspapers and periodicals-Plants printing and publishing exclusively newspa-
pers and periodicals.
Oil-Refineries of both mineral and vegetable oils.
Oil production-Plants manufacturing exclusively oil well equipment.
Public institutions and buildings.
Public utilities.
Railways.
Railways-Plants manufacturing locomotives, freight cars and rails, and other
plants engaged exclusively in manufacture of railway supplies.
Refrigeration Refrigeration for food and exclusive ice-producing plants.
Seeds-Producers or wholesalers of seeds (except flower seeds).
Ships (bunker coal)-Not excluding pleasure craft.
Ships Plants engaged exclusively in building ships (not including pleasure craft)
or in manufacturing exclusively supplies and equipment therefor.
Soap-Manufacturers of soap.
Steel-Steel plants and rolling mills.
Tanners-Tanning plants, save for patent leather.
Tanning extracts-Plants manufacturing tanning extracts.
Tin plate-Manufacturers of tin plate.
Twine (binder) and rope-Plants producing exclusively binder twine and rope.
Wire rope and rope wire-Manufacturers of same.
Automobile plants are not included in the list.
Trade Publication No. 1, April, 1918, U. S. Fuel Administration, Educa-
tional Division.
T
HERE is sound reason for believing that we shall be
confronted with a grave unemployment problem during
the next few months and until war workers and returning
soldiers can be reabsorbed into normal industry. The resump-
tion of usual industry will be slow in many important branches.
Only prompt action by government and municipal
agencies through the inauguration of public works on a large
scale can avail in meeting the impending critical situation, the
consequent acute suffering and the unrest that will follow in
the wake of wide-spread idleness. Interrupted work should
be resumed at once; deferred work should be begun; new
work contemplated for a later date should be promptly
planned and be taken up now.
The community should not postpone public work while
awaiting lower costs. The cost of human discontent and re-
sentment will overbalance a small percentage on monetary
cost.
We urge you to read this pamphlet carefully, to pass
it on to others in your community who may be in a position to
act on its suggestions, and at once to do what you can to
start the wheels of public work.
WAR COMMITTEE,
Union League Club of Chicago.
me
JJ
Public Works
Public Charity?
Or
How to meet the labor crisis arising from the
demobilization of troops and
war workers
By
Harold G. Moulton
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB
OF CHICAGO
1919
Harold G. Moulton, who has a na-
tional reputation as an economist, is
the author of a notable series of pam-
phlets dealing with the business situa-
tion in war time. These were published
and given wide distribution by the
Union League Club of Chicago and
proved helpful in the speedy adjust-
ment of business to war conditions.
Mr. Moulton is a member of the De-
partment of Political Economy of the
University of Chicago; Acting Editor
of the Journal of Political Economy;
Secretary of the Western Economic
Society; Author of Industrial Con-
scription; Some Dangers of Price Con-
trol; Unusual Business, Not Business
as Usual; Your Business and War
Business, the Duty of the Consumer in
War Time, etc.
Copies may be obtained of the
War Committee of The Union League Club of Chicago
at the following prices, delivery prepaid:
5 cents
2 cents each
1 cent each
Single copies
One hundred copies
One thousand copies
2
Public Works
Public Charity?
How to meet the labor crisis arising from the demobilization
of troops and war workers
Or
T
HE sudden termination of the war has brought this
country to a sharp realization that our man power
and our industrial power must now be demobilized
from the destructive work of war and remobilized for the
constructive work of peace. Millions of soldiers must be
returned from the armies to private employment; millions
of war workers must be mustered out of the industrial armies
and be reabsorbed into the industries of peace. War con-
tracts amounting to many billions of dollars annually must
shortly be replaced by peace contracts for more than a like
amount.¹ The situation with which we are confronted is
without a parallel in our industrial experience.
To present the problem in definite terms, it may be
stated that one, or all, of the following results are not im-
possible during the next two or three years:
(1) There may be a substantial reduction in
the total output of industry-at a time when there
is a greater need than ever before for increased pro-
duction;
(2) There may be a serious reduction in the
rate of wages before there is a corresponding fall
in the cost of living;
(3) There may be a large volume of unem-
ployment, serious privation for millions of people,
and an unparalleled burden placed upon our char-
itable institutions;
¹I say "more than a like amount" because the total production of this
country must in the coming year be larger than it was in 1918, if, in addition
to our present working forces, some 3,000,000 men now in the armies are to
be given employment.
3
(4) There may be an outbreak of industrial
warfare such as this country has not known in
decades;
(5) There may be a rapid increase of revolu-
tionary doctrine-subversive of the principles of
American life.
It is not the purpose of this paper to attempt to prove
that the foregoing possibilities are certain to prove actu-
alities. It is enough that the widespread assumption that
the conclusion of peace would immediately usher in a period
of unprecedented world prosperity has already been proved
quite unwarranted; and that leading students of the problems
of demobilization and reconstruction both in Europe and
America, have reached the conclusion that the period of
readjustment following the war is fraught with the gravest
dangers. The purpose here is merely to plead that we should
face the situation with open eyes, and formulate constructive
policies with which to meet a possible crisis. It is only
common sense in these days to urge that society should
insure itself, wherever possible, against the uncertainties of
the future.
THE SUPPLY OF LABOR.
The broad outlines of the problem of demobilization are
graphically indicated on the chart on pages 10-11. A brief
explanation of the chart will serve to indicate the part that
public works should play in stabilizing the conditions of
employment during the period of transition. The increased
supply of men in the labor market will come mainly from
three reservoirs, as shown on the right hand side of the
chart. The large reservoir nearest the middle represents the
men and women who will be discharged from munitions
factories-perhaps three or four millions in number. These
are already flowing into the labor market; and with the
rapid cancellation of war contracts and the termination of
government work, we may expect this reservoir to be prac-
tically emptied before the end of the winter. The second
reservoir on the right hand side of the chart represents the
men under arms in the United States-about 1,600,000 at the
time of the signing of the armistice. These men, as every-
body knows, are already being mustered out, and within
three months the camps will be practically empty.
The reservoir at the extreme right of the chart repre-
sents the men abroad-roughly, 2,000,000 at the time of the
signing of the armistice. The rate at which these men can
be released from the army depends upon military expedi-
ency—upon the amount of police work required of American
troops in Europe. After being released from military service,
the rate at which they can be returned to the United States
depends upon available shipping facilities. At the upper
right hand corner of the chart is a statement of the con-
tingencies upon which the rate of return depends. (The
statements underscored by straight lines indicate that policies
must be formulated, and those underscored by broken lines
indicate that it is a question of factual ascertainment.) No-
body knows at the present time how rapidly they can be
returned. The best present guess would seem to be that the
rate will not exceed 150,000 a month.
The flow from these three large reservoirs, plus im-
migration (shown near the middle of the chart), and new
laborers coming of working age in 1919, will give us the
total flow into the labor market during the next year. It is
important to note that there is pressure to make the flow
from the large reservoirs very rapid.
There are, however, some deductions to be made in
order to find the net increase in the labor supply, as follows:
(1) emigration, principally to Mexico and Europe; (2) with-
drawal of men of independent means from industry; (3)
withdrawal of women to domestic life; (4) retirement of
working population in consequence of age and death. These
deductions will, however, not substantially lessen the total
supply. During the next twelve months it is probable that
five or six millions of workers will seek employment in
this country.
3
-
THE DEMAND FOR LABOR.
Turning now to the left hand side of the chart we find a
series of reservoirs into which the returning soldiers and
laborers must flow in the process of reabsorption into peace
time industry. The first reservoir at the right is called
"essential industry." By this is meant industry which was
essential before the war and during the war, and which will
be essential after the war-such as agriculture, manufactur-
ing, and trading in the basic necessities of life. The shaded
5
area of this reservoir indicates the present labor supply;
and the unshaded area, therefore, indicates the possibility
of absorbing additional laborers. The next reservoir (read-
ing toward the left) is that of "curtailed industry." This
means industry where full production was not permitted
during the war because of a shortage of labor, raw materials,
etc. The unshaded area, again, indicates roughly the amount
of expansion and employment that may occur there. The
next reservoir is "suspended industry," which means in-
dustry that was closed down entirely during the war, leaving
only an office force. About 700,000 men were released for
war service during the war from these two reservoirs-cur-
tailed industry and suspended industry. If they return to
normal, 700,000 men can, therefore, be employed.
The next reservoir indicates industry which was con-
verted during the war from peace production to war pro-
duction and which may now be reconverted to peace pur-
poses. The next one is industry which was built up during
the war, and which may now be converted to peace pro-
duction. These two reservoirs were at the end of the war
full of workers employed on government orders. Tempo-
rarily, many of them will be thrown out of work with the
stoppage of war orders; but as soon as these plants are
reconverted to peace production, these laborers can be re-
employed. Hence, these reservoirs do not permit any ex-
pansion; on the contrary, many men may be thrown out
of employment for a period of uncertain duration."
The last reservoir on the left of the chart is that of new
industry to be developed after the war. The lower left hand
corner indicates land settlement--a plan for which is now
being worked out by the United States Department of In-
terior.
THE RATE OF REABSORPTION OF WAR WORKERS INTO
INDUSTRY.
It is one thing to draw these reservoirs and indicate
that returning war laborers will eventually find employment
therein. It is another thing to show that the jobs in these
reservoirs will open as rapidly as the men flow from the
reservoirs on the opposite side of the chart. In the upper
2In some cases the process of conversion is relatively simple. In others
it is almost equivalent to building new factories.
6
left hand corner of the chart are indicated the contingencies
upon which the rate of absorption will, in fact, depend.
The main factors in the situation-not to go into a full dis-
cussion of the details-may be briefly indicated. Starting
at the top to read, we find that the rate of opening of em-
ployment depends upon the utilization of the productive
equipment of the country. But the full utilization of this
productive capacity depends upon numerous contingencies:
(1) upon the effective demand for the products turned out
by these factories; (2) upon the supply of raw materials at
satisfactory prices; (3) upon the availability of credits at
reasonable rates. It must be borne in mind that business
men are engaged in production for a profit; that is, they are
producing and manufacturing goods at a certain cost and
selling these goods at a price enough above that cost to give
them a reasonable return for their enterprise. If the costs
are very high and the demand for their products small, they
sustain losses rather than make gains. If industry is to go
ahead, the business man must have assurance that there is
at least a reasonable probability of profits. At the present
time there is, however, much uncertainty as to the strength
of the demand for many lines of peace-time production, and
like uncertainty as to the costs of production. As a result
business is nearly everywhere hesitant.
Numerous sub-headings under demand are listed on the
chart. They are designed to suggest the various factors
which may have a bearing on the rate of industrial re-
sumption. Without going into a discussion of these, it may
be noted that the larger the number of factors that must
work harmoniously together if a quick resumption of normal
industrial life is to be achieved, the greater the possibility
that something may go wrong. The modern highly special-
ized and interdependent industrial mechanism is very deli-
cately adjusted; even under the most favorable circumstances
it works with a great deal of friction. With world industry,
world shipping, world trade, and world politics disorganized,
the possibilities of friction and maladjustment are increased
many fold.
BUFFER EMPLOYMENT ON PUBLIC WORKS.
We may turn now to a consideration of the means of
insurance against the dangers of the transition period sug-
gested in the introduction to this paper. Substantial reduc-
7
tion in the volume of production, serious decline in wage
rates, unemployment, public charity, and social disorder can
be avoided only by providing a large demand for labor. And
in case private industry cannot immediately absorb the
entire flow into the labor market, pubilc employment should
be provided as a buffer-to continue until such time as the
entire labor supply can be employed in ordinary industry.
Buffer employment may be provided by quasi-public enter-
prise, by the Federal government, by state governments,
and by municipalities-by each of them separately, or by
all of them under a co-ordinated policy.
QUASI-PUBLIC, FEDERAL, STATE AND CITY PROJECTS.
The railroads appear at first blush to offer an excellent
opportunity for a large employment of returning soldiers
and war workers. There is no question of the need for
thoroughgoing extension of existing railroad facilities; for
the railway net, owing to a combination of causes, was seri-
ously behind the industrial needs of the country even before
the war.
The industrial progress of the country in the
coming years now waits upon railroad development. But
unfortunately, there is no assurance whatever that this much
needed development will take place during the transition
period. There is apparently not a large amount of postponed
maintenance to be made good. And extensions can properly
be made only with the consent of the shareholders. In view
of the present high costs of railroad construction and the
political uncertainty with reference to the future ownership
and control of the railway system, it is not at all improbable
that railway development will be indefinitely postponed.
Extensions and improvements of public utility corpora-
tions are listed on the chart as possibilities. It is doubtful,
however, if any development will take place here in the
near future, owing to the present financial condition of the
companies. The increased costs of operation during the war,
which, speaking generally, could not be offset by correspond-
ing increases in rates, has produced a situation such that the
public utility corporations feel that they must wait until the
cost of production is lower than at the present before mak-
ing extensions. If we are to provide buffer employment for
returning soldiers, therefore, it must be on distinctly gov-
ernment projects.
FEDERAL PROJECTS.
Among the Federal projects, reclamation in its various
forms is of first importance. It is easy to assume that great
numbers of laborers can easily be employed in reclamation
work; and large numbers could indeed be employed if
enormous appropriation were made for the purpose. It is
important to point out, however, that an appropriation of
$500,000,000 for Federal reclamation work would give em-
ployment at living wages to about 166,000 men for a year.
(This figure is based on the cost records of the United States
Reclamation Service.) It may be of interest to note that
10,000 men is the highest that has ever been employed in
Federal reclamation projects in any one year. Now it is not
inconceivable that an appropriation of $500,000,000 for
reclamation projects might be made. It is utterly inconceiv-
able, however, that the entire expenditure could be made
intelligently in a single year. The reclamation of swamps
and cut-over lands, for instance, requires the most careful
engineering and agricultural surveys, if we are to make sure
that the areas reclaimed will be those which yield the largest
return for the smallest outlay. The same holds true for
flood control, irrigation, what not. It would be nothing short
of a national calamity if, in an excess of zeal, public employ-
ment should degenerate into a "make-work" program re-
gardless of the social value of the work performed.
It would be particuarly unfortunate, for instance, if we
should engage upon an extensive program of river and canal
development without the most careful preliminary study of
the relative advantages to be derived from an expenditure
upon waterways. This is true, whether river and harbor
and canal appropriations be made on the old "pork barrel"
basis or in accordance with the most approved principles.
When such a man as M. Colson, eminent French authority
on transportation-Counsellor of State and Director of Roads
and Bridges in France-has demonstrated that the canal
systems of France and Germany annually result in a heavy
economic loss to those countries, it is highly important that
we make a thoroughgoing analysis of the entire transporta-

-RATE OF OPENING OF EMPLOYMENT
-UTILIZATION OF PRODUCTIVE
CAPACITY OF COUNTRY
-EFFECTIVE DEMAND FOR PRODUCT
· ANTICIPATED DEMAND
↑↑ Lt
↑
NEW
INDUSTRY
AGRICULTURAL
SETTLEMENT
-PRIVATE, DEMAND
Panticipated Trend of Demand
Accumulated After The War Orders
PUBLIC DEMAND
MATERIALÍ FOR DOMESTIC PUBLIC WORMS
MATERIALS FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF EUROPE
· ANTICIPATED ACCELERATION BY CONCIOUS POLICY
PLAN FOR PLANT CONVERSION
GOVERNMENTAL UNDERWRITING OF RISKS
DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC DEMANDS
INCREASE OR DECREASE THROUGH POLICIES SERVING
DOMESTIC
EXTRANEOUS ENDS
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END
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10
11
+
tion problem before we proceed to make enormous ex-
penditures on waterway development.
STATE PROJECTS.
In the various states of the union there are many public
works which have been postponed because of the shortage
of material during the war.
These should now be com-
pleted at once. The public highways of this country are
recognized to be at once a disgrace to American enterprise
and economically wasteful to the extent of millions of dollars
annually. The case is perfectly clear, therefore, that the
states should, wherever possible, put through extensive road
building programs. Not only is the social value of such im-
provements beyond question; but the amount of employment
given to labor is larger in proportion to the total expenditure
than in most other types of public works.
In passing, it may be noted, however, that many states
have reached the limit of their bond issuing capacity and
that some are not permitted to borrow at all. This is a result
of the experience through which we passed in the decade of
the thirties. With high hopes of great financial returns, the
young middle western and southern states of those days
engaged extensively in the construction of public highways,
railroads, and waterways. They built beyond the needs of
the time, however, and the disastrous years following the
panic of 1837 carried the sparsely settled commonwealths
of that day into bankruptcy. The reaction proved so strong
that the amendments of the state constitutions that resulted
in the forties in many cases imposed limitations upon the
borrowing powers of the state so serious that now, although
the conditions which existed in earlier days have passed for-
ever, many states are still debarred from engaging in public
enterprises. True, the constitutions may be amended. But
the time required for such drastic procedure is so great that
it could often not be accomplished until years after the
transitional crisis had come upon us. There is one state, at
least, where it takes six years to amend the constitution.
But whether or no such states can accomplish anything
in the present crisis, it is high time that steps be taken to
remove the financial restrictions which now prevent con-
structive internal development.
12
CITY ENTERPRISES.
The American cities perhaps afford the best opportunity
for extensive construction projects during the coming months
-though as in the case of the states there are frequently
serious financial limitations. Many building projects were
postponed during the war in consequence of the shortage
of labor and building materials, and many of the cities now
have funds in hand and are prepared to begin at once the
delayed construction operations. Data before me from
thirteen typical middle western cities show expenditures of
$27,000,000 which will be made in the near future. It is
estimated that 48 per cent of this will go for labor. It has
been reliably estimated that the total of public money annu-
ally spent in the United States on permanent improvements
is about $600,000,000-about two-thirds of which is spent by
the governments of cities. During the years 1917-18 about
$300,000,000 of such work was postponed mainly in the
states and cities. If in the year 1919 we should spend this
$300,000,000, plus the $600,000,000 normally devoted to new
construction, and add to that another $300,000,000 as an in-
surance for the emergency, we woud be able to employ on
public works (Federal, state, and municipal) during the
year 1919 about 400,000 men.
INDIRECT RESULTS.
The carrying through at this time of a program of public
works would result not merely in giving direct employment
to 400,000 workmen; it would do much to start the hesitant
wheels of industry everywhere. At the present moment the
demands for the production of basic raw materials is at a
low ebb owing to the sudden cessation of enormous war
orders and the uncertainty as to the immediate future of
private industry. Let the national government, the state
governments, and the municipalities engage in a compre-
hensive building program and the materials required will
immediately create a strong demand for the production of
iron and steel, and metals generally, of coal, lumber, cement,
etc. The wages paid to the employes engaged in public
works would at the same time place in their hands pur-
chasing power with which they would go into the markets
and demand the commodities which enter into ordinary con-
sumption. Similarily, the wages paid to those engaged in
13
the production of the raw materials required for the build-
ing operations would serve to create an additional demand
for consumptive goods. The increase in demand thus be-
comes rapidly cumulative, and the foundations are laid for
a period of great activity in all lines of industry.
This is not mere theory. It accords with the facts of
every period of business expansion. The main steps in a
period of recovery from business depression have been
definitely established. They are as follows:
(1) The initial impetus to business recovery
is usually some fortuitous event such as bumper
agricultural crops, which makes the farming in-
dustry prosperous, or a heavy demand for iron and
steel occasioned by war.
(2) The increased demand for commodities
that ensues results in running existing business
establishments at full capacity. This meanwhile
gives steady employment to labor-employment for,
say, 300 rather than 200 days in the year. This is
equivalent to a 50 per cent increase in annual wages,
without any change in wage rates.
(3) The increased industrial activity which
results from the increased consumptive demand
arising in consequence of increased annual wages
causes a still further stimulation of industry. It
results specifically in a great extension of plant
capacity, and an era of great activity in the build-
ing trades ensues.
-
(4) These new building operations in turn
call forth heavy demands for additional raw ma-
terials, factories, machines, etc.; and this in turn
creates an additional demand for labor at good
wages, and we reach a period of intense industrial
prosperity.
The history of business prosperity thus reveals the close
relationship between expanding consumption and expanding
business. And it shows with remarkable clearness the
interdependency of industry and consumptive demand in the
complicated economic system of the modern world.
14
With equal clarity the history of every business de-
pression shows the close relationship of consumptive de-
mand and business prosperity. When a halt has come, for
reasons which we need not here discuss, laborers in certain
important industries are discharged. Demand for the ma-
terials used in additional construction ceases. The decline
in the indirect demand for labor through the cessation of
new building operations plus the decline in consumptive
demand occasioned by unemployment result very quickly in
the discharge of still other laborers who had been engaged
in producing goods to meet the demands which have now
been curtailed. This discharge of other laborers in turn
still further reduces the consumptive demand and this in its
turn has its cumulative effect in throwing still other laborers
out of employment and more effectually stalling the entire
industrial mechanism."
CONCLUSION.
In view of the established facts of our industrial ex-
perience and in view of the grave possibility of depression
during the transitional era-indeed, I think one may say in
view of the facts of the immediate situation-with industry
everywhere hesitant, and unemployment already rapidly
increasing, is it not perfectly plain that a comprehensive
program of public works should be instituted just as soon
as possible? If this nation is not willing to heed the simple.
lessons of experience, and if we are not disposed to seize at
once the opportunity to insure ourselves against the dangers
of the transition periods by establishing a perfectly feasible
program of buffer employment on public works, we deserve
to reap the whirlwind that will lie before us. In view of the
present social temper of the world we cannot afford to sit
with folded hands and await the return of the troops with
nothing but fine resolutions and good wishes to extend them.
If, in our easy-going optimistic American way, we neglect
to provide for those who have so unreservedly offered them-
selves in the nation's service the opportunity upon their
return to earn the means of a self-reliant existence, we will
--
³For a remarkable analysis of the ebb and flow of business activity and
the interacting causes at work the reader is referred to Wesley C. Mitchell's
volume on "Business Cycles." Note also the appendix for a constructive
suggestion which should prove of permanent value in helping to lessen the
fluctuations of trade and industry.
15
Lov
have sown the seeds of a social revolution in this country
that will rock our democratic institutions to their founda-
tions.
We know as a matter of course that we cannot permit
either our returning soldiers or war workers to starve; we
know that the least we can do, if jobs are not available for
all, is to open our charitable purses and extend them such
indirect alms as we may. We have the choice, therefore,
of two methods of meeting the situation: (1) by providing
employment on public works of enduring value (2) by
supporting by public charity an army of unemployed in
non-productive idleness. The former is the way that will
make for satisfied, self-reliant American citizenship; the
latter is but a palliative—it prevents starvation, but it does
not avoid ingratitude and bitterness of spirit, nor make for
orderly social and economic life. The former is the so-
cially efficient way, the way that conserves human re-
sources and increases the productive capacity of the nation;
the latter is the socially wasteful and inefficient way-
that makes for the degradation of the individual and the de-
pletion of national productive power.
The latter is the way of the old era of ill-adjusted and
unregulated industrial life; the former is the way of a new
era of economic and social efficiency. Which way shall we
make the American way?
16
SUGGESTED GOVERNMENTAL POLICY-EMERGENCY
PUBLIC WORKS COMMISSION.
The argument above has been concerned with the
specific emergency arising in connection with the period
of readjustment that must follow the war. It has a wider
bearing, however, in its applicability to the periods of busi-
ness depression that recur with more or less regularity
every eight or ten years. It is possible greatly to reduce the
amount of unemployment at such times by making extraor-
dinary outlays on public enterprises. Slack times in private
industry should be made flush times in public enterprise.
This would tend not only to minimize the volume of un-
employment and distress; it would serve as well to shorten
the duration of the depression itself. All that is necessary
to make such a dovetailing of public and private enterprise
practicable is to establish state and municipal funds for
Emergency Public Works.
The principle involved in an Emergency Fund is very
simple. Instead of spending each year the entire amount
of revenue available a percentage should be set aside in
a fund, to be used only during the next period of depres-
sion. If, for instance, 10 per cent of the annual appropria-
tion for public works, should be set aside each year for ten
years, it would be possible to double the outlay on public
works in a year of depression. An Emergency Public
Works Commission might be required as a custodian for the
fund. Such a commission could be, ex-officio, made of the
regular state or municipal officials-with perhaps an Execu-
tive Secretary to look after details and make investigations
and prepare plans designed to insure that the extraordinary
expenditure shall be made only for projects that are eco-
nomically advantageous. One state-Pennsylvania-already
has such a fund and commission. Several other states are
likely to make similar provision in the near future.
G
Detailed information about the Pennsylvania Public
Works Commission may be procured by writing to Otto T.
Mallery, Secretary. He can be addressed, Department of
Labor, 1607 H. Street, Washington, D. C.
17
Below is an outline of the purpose and possible pro-
visions of an emergency public works law.
PURPOSE OF AN EMERGENCY PUBLIC WORKS ACT.
1. To provide for the development of public works by
the state during periods of unusual unemployment.
2. To persuade the municipalities and counties to adopt
a similar policy, and to co-ordinate all public works within
the state.
3. To provide a fund for state use to be known as the
Emergency Public Works Fund.
4. To create an Emergency Public Works Commission
as trustee of the fund.
5. To enable the state, through the Emergency Public
Works Commission, to co-operate with the federal govern-
ment in doing joint federal-state public works during periods
of unemployment.
POSSIBLE PROVISIONS OF AN EMERGENCY PUBLIC
WORKS ACT.
(These will, of course, vary greatly in different states.)
The Emergency Public Works Commission should con-
sist of three important state officials, such as the governor,
the commissioner of labor and industry, and the highway
commissioner.
It should be its duty to secure from the various depart-
ments of the state tentative plans for extensions of necessary
public works during periods of unemployment. These plans
should be complete enough so that work can be begun on
such projects on the shortest notice.
It should indicate to the state departments the advantage
of saving up portions of their usual public works to be done
during periods of unemployment.
It should recommend to the legislature methods by
which certain appropriations for public works will become
available only during a period of unemployment.
It should recommend methods by which the bond issues
for necessary public works, previously authorized for use
during periods of unemployment, may become promptly
available at such times.
18
It should be its duty, when a period of unusual unem-
ployment is held to exist, to distribute the Emergency Public
Works Fund among the several departments of the state for
definite public works as approved by the commission.
It should submit to the federal government general in-
formation concerning such public works as it may plan and·
also at the time that such works are ordered to be executed
announce the fact and scope of them to the federal depart-
ment of labor. The purpose of this latter provision is that
the United States Employment Service may be informed of
the demand for labor so created and that this information
may be related to demobilization and the movements of war
workers.
It should be the means of co-operating with the federal
government where joint federal-state undertakings are con-
cerned and act for the state in urging, approving, or rejecting
them.
In short, an Emergency Public Works Commission
should be the stabilizer of public work. By all means in its
power it should endeavor to expand necessary public works
during periods of unemployment and to contract them during
ordinary years of good business. In good times it should
prepare for bad times and at the first indication of bad times
it should throw its influence into the scale to restore the
demand for labor and material.
N. B. For a typical act creating an Emergency Public Works Commis-
sion, see 1917 Laws of Pennsylvania, Page 1193, Act 411.
TRADKEOVER COUNCIL 20
14
19
"""imp''

WAR TIME
BUSINESS PAMPHLETS
By
Harold G. Moulton
UNUSUAL BUSINESS NOT
BUSINESS AS USUAL
A pamphlet dealing with the necessity of putting war work ahead
of private work.
15 pages.
YOUR BUSINESS AND
WAR BUSINESS
A pamphlet telling manufacturers how they may adjust their business
to the needs of the nation at war.
23 pages.
THE DUTY OF THE CON-
SUMER IN WAR TIME
-
In which the duty of everyone to economize and forego luxuries
in order that the Government may not lack for labor and supplies,
is forcefully pointed out.
16 pages.
These business pamphlets may be had singly or in quantities at the
following prices: Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00;
1000 copies, $10.00.
Printed by
WAR COMMITTEE
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF CHICAGO
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Ľ
Why We Fight
|| | || / // | / / / / / / / / / | | | | |
BY
{////////////////////////
CLARENCE L. SPEED
Ꮮ
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB
OF CHICAGO
1918
|||||||||||
After you have read this pamphlet please pass it on in order that
the message it carries may reach the largest
number of persons
HI!
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Clarence L. Speed has for many
years been engaged in newspaper
work in Chicago. He long served
as city editor of the Chicago Rec-
ord-Herald, and as financial edi-
tor, city editor and editorial writ-
er of the Chicago Evening Post.
The nature of his work made
necessary on his part a careful
study of the Great War from the
day of its inception, and his con-
clusions as to the basic causes
which forced America into it, to-
gether with the evidence from
German sources on which they
are based, are herein set forth.
Copies may be obtained of the War Committee of the Union League Club of
Chicago, at the following prices, delivery prepaid:
Single copies..........
One hundred copies....
One thousand copies
.5 cents each
2 cents each
.1 cent each
Why We Fight
BY
CLARENCE L. SPEED
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB
OF CHICAGO
1918
I
BECAUSE GERMANY, FOR YEARS, HAS BEEN MAKING
TREACHEROUS WAR ON US
One of the deep, underlying reasons-not just a diplomatic pretext
-why we are at war with Germany is that for a generation Germany
has been making war on us. Germany has made this war not openly,
bravely or humanely, but secretly, treacherously and persistently. She
has sought to create race discord, to corrupt and defile politicians and
office-holders, and to create separate German communities within our
borders. She has poisoned the minds of children in our schools in
an endeavor to make Germans of them instead of have them grow up
into loyal American citizens. She has invaded the sacredness of the
pulpit itself in an endeavor to corrupt our people through the very
leaders of morality to whom they are accustomed to look for guid-
ance.
These may be startling assertions, but they are all true, as you
shall see from the documents of the Germans themselves. We all know
that it was a German fleet which stripped for action when Dewey
sailed into Manila bay. We all know it was the Germans who sought
to bring about a European alliance against us when we were engaged
in the war with Spain. Few of us realized, however, that all these
years Germany has been busy within our own borders, through editors,
teachers and preachers, seeking to break down our national unity, so
that when the time came it would be easy to defeat the United States
in open warfare, to set at naught our cherished Monroe Doctrine, and
to seize, in the western hemisphere, anything that the land grabbing
rulers of the German Empire might desire.
CITIZENS OF DOUBLE ALLEGIANCE
The climax of Germany's underhanded war on the United States
came in 1913, more than a year before the outbreak of hostilities in
Europe. This was the enactment of what is known as the Delbruck
law, which provides that if an emigrant from Germany who is about
to be naturalized makes application to a German consul, he may retain
6
Why We Fight
his German citizenship even after he has become a citizen of his adopted
country.
In plain words, this law and the application of it mean just this:
A German goes into court in this country and solemnly foreswears
allegiance to the kaiser and pledges his word-the temptation was to
say, "of honor"-that he will become a loyal citizen of the United
States. Then he slips around to the German consul and says:
"You know I didn't mean that, at all. Those Americans are easy
marks, and they fell for that stuff right off. But you may put me
down on your list as a good, loyal German, and if the time ever
comes when I can prove it, you can count on me."
So the German consul puts his name down in the little card index
of which the Germans are so fond, and this man, this creature who
swears allegiance to the country which gives him an opportunity to
make a real living and to become somebody in this world, and at the
same time swears secretly to be true to Germany-is turned loose to
work his will, while Americans go carelessly about their business and
refuse to see the danger in the arrangement.
TRAITORS LEFT TO PLOT IN AMERICA
Then along comes the world war. America's sympathy is at once
given to little Belgium, to Serbia, to France and to England. It be-
comes apparent, however, that there are many Germans in this country
who are loyal to Germany rather than to the United States. Industrial
plants are blown up, strikes are fomented, bridges are dynamited, and
ships sunk in American harbors.
Finally the United States is forced into the war. The German
ambassador and the German consuls are allowed, because the United
States even makes war like a gentleman, to pack up all their little
card indexes and go home, taking with them the lists of hundreds-
perhaps thousands of men who have sworn to become loyal citizens
of the United States, and then have secretly promised to serve the
kaiser.
Can you imagine Germany allowing American consuls to take any
such list of spies and traitors out of that country? Would any such
"scrap of paper" as a diplomatic treaty have prevented their searching
the documents of American consuls if the United States had any such
Why We Fight
7
law, and there were millions of Americans going and coming at will in
Germany after war was declared?
Of course the Delbruck law applied to Germans who became nat-
uralized citizens of Brazil or Argentina or any other country as well.
The German lust for world conquest was no respecter of nations. In
fact, it was aimed as much at certain South American nations as at
the United States, and, had the world war been delayed a year or two.
longer, would have so Germanized large sections of Brazil that a
revolution in favor of Germany might have been easy of accomplish-
ment.
SOUGHT TO PREVENT AMERICANIZATION OF IMMIGRANTS
Long before the passage of the Delbruck law, there was formed
the Verein fur das Deutschtum im Ausland-the Union for Germanism
in Foreign Lands. This organization, officially fostered in Germany,
published a quarterly magazine, which, in its very first issue, outlined
its aims as follows:
"The purpose of this Union is the preservation and promotion of
the Germanism of over 30,000,000 people of German blood dwelling
outside the German Empire." All it aims to do, you see, is to keep
Germans who come to this country from becoming Americans.
Again, in another issue of the quarterly, Statsminister Hentig writes:
"The organization of peoples within states and their political rela-
tions to each other do not include all their phases of life. Deep
beneath the soil on which can work political power and the laws of
state lie the roots of national impulses and national sentiments.”
Think of it! This from the same nation which has so ruthlessly
persecuted the Poles and inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine in an effort to
make Germans out of them against their will!
Away back in 1890 the Alldeutscher Verband, or the Pan-German
League, was formed. It now consists of 268 chapters of which two
now are or at least were immediately before the war-in the United
States, one in New York and one in San Francisco. To quote from
the Alldeutsche Blatter, its official publication, "the Pan-German League
is founded for promoting German National interests both in Germany
and in foreign lands."
In the United States this organization worked actively to foster
German national aims through the German language press. It encour-
8
∞.
Why We Fight
aged the teaching of German national aims in the schools, in the
churches, in the German social and athletic societies. All of this is
told of with that characteristic German frankness in the official publica-
tions of the organization, open for the whole world to read.
AMERICA DISREGARDED GERMAN MENACE
A few thinking Americans knew all the time what was coming-
what must come. But America, as a whole, went along with that care-
lessness and indifference with which it treats all things unpleasant, and
allowed this German war on our most sacred institutions to continue
unchecked.
So Germany stands today, with one foot on prostrate Belgium and
the other on the neck of poor, deluded Russia; with a bayonet planted
in the heart of Serbia, and the point of its sword at the throat of
Roumania, while it looks out over the vassal States of Bulgaria and
Turkey to India and the Orient. And as it stands thus, it cries to its
foes on the western front:
"Kamerad! Why go on with all this killing? Let's have a peace
by negotiation?" and, under its breath, adds, "I've got all I want for
the present."
Can we talk of any peace until such a Germany is absolutely de-
feated? Shall we negotiate a peace and allow all these German
preparations for world domination to go on until the time is ripe for
Germany to complete its conquests?
II
BECAUSE GERMANY'S LAW IS THE LAW OF THE JUN-
GLE AND HER DOCTRINE, "MIGHT IS RIGHT"
We are at war with Germany because Prussia dominates Germany,
and from the days of Frederick the Great, Prussia's law has been the
law of the jungle, her doctrine "Might is Right" and her policy, in
dealing with other nations, one of robbing the weak and terrorizing
the strong. Germany has grabbed territory and exacted tribute from
her neighbors, and finally, her greed becoming greater, has looked out
over more distant lands, and has committed herself to a policy of world
domination which menaces the continued free existence of every nation
which will not submit to her will.
Germany's policy is not an accidental one. It has been carried
out with remarkable singleness of purpose, from generation to genera-
tion of Hohenzollern rule, from the time of the Great Frederick until
today. Germany's atrocities are not accidental. They are a deliberate,
well thought out part of this Hohenzollern policy, which was to break
down the resistance of her opponents, not only by fighting and defeat-
ing their armies but by killing, torturing and terrorizing the civil
populations.
TEACH MORAL CODE OF THE TIGER
The German rulers committed themselves to the doctrine of the
survival of the fittest. Through generations of teaching they made the
German people believe that they, and they alone, were the fit. They
built up the world's greatest war machine, and so perverted German
education that the people grew to believe that it was as right for this
machine to crush out all opposition as the tiger in the jungle would
think, could he think at all, that it was right for him to carry off and
devour a baby from a neighboring village.
We have the words of the German rulers and German warriors and
German leaders of thought for all of this. More than that, we have
the performance of German officers and German armies in conquered
lands to prove it.
10
Why We Fight
Let's start with Frederick the Great in presenting the evidence.
This monarch, who earned his soubriquet through despoiling his neigh-
bors, rather than through any real qualities of mind which he showed,
said, in a letter to his minister, Radziwill:
"If there is anything to be gained by it, we will be honest; if
deception is necessary, let us be cheats. One takes what one can, and
one is wrong only when obliged to give back.
""
This philosophy, applied to present conditions, means that Germany
was right when she took Belgium, and will be wrong only if she is not
able to hold it.
BISMARCK'S POLICY OF BLOOD AND IRON
From Frederick the Great to Bismarck is a long jump in the matter
of time; but we find the Prussian policy unchanged. Speaking before
the military committee of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies in 1862
Bismarck said:
"Not by speeches and resolutions of majorities are the great ques-
tions of the time decided, but by iron and blood."
Then, with blood and iron, Prussia went out and despoiled Den-
mark of territory in 1864, beat and robbed Austria in 1866, and finally,
in 1870, brought France to her knees and took her richest provinces.
Creation of the German Empire after the Franco-Prussian war
brought problems of development and consolidation at home which
caused Germany to keep the peace for some time, but it also brought
dreams of further extension of German power, not among the neigh-
boring states of Europe, but over the lands of the earth and the waters
of the sea.
So Germany posed as a peaceful nation, while it made
plans to conquer the world, and talked of its superior culture-kultur
it is, over there while its rulers deliberately taught frightfulness to
its military men, and its educators taught the people to believe that
frightfulness was right.
Here is what the present kaiser told his troops when, in 1900, they
were about to depart for China to put down the boxer uprising:
"Use your weapons in such a way that for a thousand years no
Chinese shall dare to look upon a German askance. Be as terrible as
Attilla's Huns."
+
Why We
We Fight
11
That is why we call the German of this war the Hun. His own
kaiser gave him the name.
RIGHTS OF NEUTRALS DISREGARDED
Coming on down to the present war we find neutral lands invaded,
defenseless cities bombarded, women and children sent to death with-
out warning through the torpedoing of ships, and even the lifeboats
in which hapless survivors attempt to escape, shelled. Such is the
German frightfulness of today. But even this is not enough. We find
a German minister accredited to a neutral state far across the sea,-one
which one would think should be free from the entanglements of world
politics, writing home to his government, in a state paper, advising
the sinking of two ships from this neutral nation, in such a manner
that no trace be left. Dead men, he believed, tell no tales.
It was Baron Luxburg, minister pleni-potentiary to Argentina, who
wrote this amazing dispatch on May 19, 1917:
"I beg that the small steamers Oran and Guazo
which are
nearing Bordeaux
be spared, if possible, or else sunk with-
out a trace being left."
This telegram was intercepted in the United States and published.
It sent a thrill of horror around the world.
Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg is a true disciple of Frederick
the Great, Bismarck and his royal master. In a public speech on Jan-
uary 31, 1917, he said:
"When the most ruthless methods are calculated to lead us to
victory, swift victory, they must be employed.”
So they were used, and are being used today. They include sinking
of hundreds of neutral ships, the burning of cities, the deliberate
devastating of the fair lands of France, the ravishing of women, the
enslavement of workmen and the murder of little children.
HOW GERMANY TREATS CONQUERED LANDS
Horrors such as these are told in detail in "The Prussian System,"
by F. C. Walcott, who, for a long time, was engaged in behalf of
America in trying to get food to the Poles whom the Germans were
deliberately starving by the hundreds of thousands so that they might
not cumber the land which the Germans intended to occupy.
He pref-
aces this pamphlet with the words, "This I have seen," and goes on to
12
Why We Fight
quote from General von Kries, who was in command at Warsaw and
who told him:
"By starvation we can accomplish in two or three years in East
Poland more than we have in West Poland, which is East Prussia, in
the last hundred years. This country is meant for Germany. We
propose to remove the able bodied working Poles from this country.
It leaves it open for the inflow of German working people as fast as
we can spare them."
Commenting on this, Mr. Walcott says: "That is not all. Remov-
ing the men that the land may be vacant for German occupation, Ger-
many does more. Women left captive are enslaved. Germany makes
all manner of lust its instrumentality.
"Coolly, deliberately, officers of the German staff, permeated by
this monstrous philosophy, discuss the denationalization of peoples,
the destruction of nations, the undoing of other civilizations, for Ger-
many's account."
Knowing all this, can the American people talk of any peace by
negotiation? Can they stop this war until this mad dog of nations is
freed from the military rulers who teach frightfulness from the cradle,
and will only seize a respite now to prepare themselves for further
conquests?
"
III
BECAUSE GERMANY, HAVING SPLIT THE WORLD IN
HALF, IS NOW TRYING TO DEVOUR THE HALVES
We are fighting Germany, for one thing, because Germany, having
split the world in half, is now seeking to devour the halves separately.
She has driven a wedge straight through the heart of Europe, and into
Asia, and is seeking to extend it to the Persian gulf.
This is no accidental happening, due to the downfall of Russia
and the sudden shifting in the fortunes of war. Germany planned it
all decades ago. She made no effort to keep the plans secret. She
told us all about it. She had a reputation for making plans and
sticking to them, from one generation to another; yet the world paid
no attention. It seemed too preposterous even for Germany to attempt.
As long ago as 1895 a pamphlet, "Pan-Germany and Central Europe
About 1950," was published in Berlin and had wide circulation. It
laid the whole Mitteleuropa plan bare as follows:
"Poland and Little Russia (the kingdom to be established at Rus-
sia's expense) will agree to have no armies of their own, and will
receive in their fortresses German and Austrian garrisons. In Poland,
as well as in little Russia, the postal and telegraph services as well as
the railways will be in German hands."
PLANNED LAND GRAB FOR TWENTY YEARS
For twenty-three years, one sees, Germany had been planning this
land grab. But the plan was modest then. Even the Germans did not
dream that Russia would be such easy prey, and thought that they
would have to fight for what they got from her.
In 1911 Tannenberg's book, "Greater Germany," was published.
This was only three years before the war, but it showed that the idea
of a German Mitteleuropa had not been allowed to languish. It
says:
"The new kingdom of Poland is made up of the former Russian
14
Why We Fight
portion, of the basin of the Vistula, and of Galicia, and forms a part
of the new Austria."
How the plan has grown since then! Russia's collapse dropped
whole provinces into the lap of the kaiser, and now Germany plans its
empire on a scale which would dwarf that of ancient Rome. It is to
embrace original Central Europe, inhabited by some 73,000,000 Ger-
mans and 100,000,000 vassals, make the Black Sea a German lake, and
extend clear to the Persian gulf, through the states of Bulgaria and
Turkey. Nor is this all. Already German dispatches are talking of
the way being opened to India and the Orient.
The German government started to put its scheme for a Mittel-
europa into effect years ago when it began the construction of the
Berlin-to-Bagdad railway. Little Serbia stood in the way, so Serbia
was attacked and the world was plunged into war.
In the opposite
corner of Europe Belgium was invaded and crushed. The world then
thought that this was only because Belgium offered the easiest route
to France; but study of the Mitteleuropa plan of years ago shows that
Belgium was included in the scheme of conquest. So it was taken.
The German plan, well advertised long before the war, also includes
Holland. Holland has not yet been taken, but it stands trembling in
awe of German might; and it takes no prophet to show that Holland
will be seized, with its rich colonies, should Germany be finally vic-
torious in this war.
MITTELEUROPA NOW WITHIN GERMAN GRASP
Mitteleuropa, with Germany in a position to say who shall and
who shall not pass from Western Europe to the Orient, through her
control of land routes and of submarine bases which would make the
sea impassable, today is an accomplished fact in the German mind.
Only a crushing victory for the Allies on the western front can wrest
it from her.
"How does all this affect America?" one may ask. Germany was
a late comer in the family of great nations. Most of the uncivilized
world had been preempted by other nations before she arrived. Ger-
many wanted colonies. To get them she would have to take them
away from someone else.
Africa and South America offered the best fields for German
colonization. England possessed the best part of Africa-the parts
Why We Fight
15
in which the white man might hope to settle and thrive. England had
a mighty fleet, and a disposition to hold what she had, even though
she did not show a disposition to fight for more.
There remained South America. It was divided among weak na-
tions. It was protected only by the Monroe Doctrine. This Monroe
Doctrine was a sacred thing to Americans, but, not being backed up
by mighty armies and fleets, was not even a "scrap of paper" to the
Germans. Can anyone doubt, should Germany succeed in welding into
a mighty empire the 73,000,000 Germans and the 100,000,000 inhabi-
tants of the vassal and conquered states of her Mitteleuropa, that her
next step would be toward the west. The very fact that she had this
empire would presuppose the defeat of England, so that no British
fleet would stand between us and Germany when the time came for
the kaiser to send his legions across the Atlantic.
On land Germany would be able to put into the field an army of
30,000,000, not the mere ten or twelve million as now, and no European
state would dare to move to thwart her.
MONROE DOCTRINE SCORNED BY GERMANS
This plan has been just as well advertised as her others. Ger-
many makes no attempt to conceal her scorn of the Monroe Doctrine.
Influential Germans have told us in writings and speeches how they
would treat it. They practically set the date.
How much more definite the German plans for world conquest
have become is shown by her action in Russia. A year ago Germany
was anxious to make a separate peace, "without annexations and in-
demnities." Then Russia collapsed and made peace, but Germany
went right on making conquests. Germany encouraged Ukrainia to
form itself into a separate state, and then made an ally of it. German
troops marched with the Ukrainians to Odessa, on the pretext of aiding
them to expel the Bolsheviki from Ukrainian territory, but when Odessa
fell, what did the German wireless message that came across the sea
say? That Odessa had been restored to the Ukrainians? Not at all.
It said:
"Odessa today fell into the hands of the Germans. This opens a
way for German armies to Persia, India and the Orient."
The fact that Persia is supposedly neutral does not bother the
Germans at all.
16
Why We Fight
"STRONG PEACE" NOW THE GERMAN AIM
46
As in the East, so in the West," is a motto which, of recent weeks,
has been much heard in Germany. At a conference of the National
Liberal party, held in March of this year, the following amazingly
frank declaration was made:
"Our policy has been directed to making the government and ma-
jority turn away from the Reichstag resolutions of July 19. (Peace
without annexations and indemnities.) In that we have succeeded.
Peace has just been made in the East under conditions in flat contra-
diction to the policy of July 19, and has received the support and
assent of all the bourgeois parties."
In other words, all Germany is now planning both annexations and
indemnities, such as will leave her without a formidable opponent in
the world.
The Berlin Lokal Anzeiger, only recently, openly advocated the
annexation of the Belgian coast and the French districts of Longwy
and Brie.
Can we make peace now and leave Germany, flushed with victory,
in possession of all she has gained and lusting for further conquest?
If we did, would not the whole world live in perpetual terror of Ger-
man aggression, each country awaiting its turn to be gobbled up?
Can any red-blooded American talk about peace without victory—
victory so decisive that Germany will be forced to disgorge all it has
seized, and the German menace be removed from the world forever?
IV
BECAUSE GERMANY, FOR YEARS, SOUGHT TO UNDER-
MINE OUR GOVERNMENT AND OUR IDEALS
We are fighting Germany for the right to live our own lives as
we see fit. We are fighting for our laws, our ideals, our homes, our
institutions.
"But how," one may ask, "were all these things threatened by Ger-
many before the war started? It is easy to see how they may be
threatened now, for if we are defeated we are lost, but before the war
started did Germany menace those things we hold most sacred?”
Let the Germans themselves answer. After you have read the evi-
dence out of their own mouths, you may decide whether or not Ger-
many planned to upset our institutions, our ideals, our very mode of
life.
We went into the war April 6, 1917. The evidence, given here
from German sources, all dates back to before that time.
In 1901 the National German-American Alliance was formed in
the United States. In 1907 it was incorporated by act of Congress.
In April, 1918, it gave up its charter to escape further congressional
investigation. One of the objects of the Alliance, as officially an-
nounced, was "to check nativistic encroachments." In other words, to
keep the Germans from becoming Americans. Another object was "to
awaken and strengthen the sense of unity among the people of German
origin in America."
SOUGHT TO INFLUENCE AMERICAN POLITICS
Still another was "to combat Puritan influences, particularly in the
form of restrictions upon the liquor traffic."
"The Alliance," its preliminary statement of aims concludes, "is
pledged to bring its entire organization to the support of any state
federation which is engaged in the struggle for any of these objects."
It was pledged, in other words, to have its members vote, not as
18
Why We Fight
individuals but as German-controlled units, for or against anything of
which they did not approve.
The desire for resisting "nativistic encroachments" was particularly
abhorrent to American ideals, because the effort in this country has
always been to keep politics free from racial or religious influences.
Yet here was a body, proclaiming itself German in origin and thought,
seeking to perpetuate this German feeling in the midst of America.
From its very start the Alliance sought to foment discord with
England. It always spoke of the American press as "the Anglo-Amer-
ican" press, and its carried out a long and well directed campaign for
the introduction of the German language into the schools and its use
in civil life. It did not want its members to become Americanized
even sufficiently to speak to their brothers in the land of their adoption
in the language of this country.
"The National Alliance," according to an issue of its official Bulle-
tin before this nation entered the war, "is waging war against Anglo-
Saxonism, against the fanatical enemies of personal liberty and polit
ical freedom, it is combating narrow-minded benighted know-nothing-
ism, the influence of the British, and the enslaving Puritanism, which
had its birth in England.”
THREATENS THOSE WHO OPPOSE GERMANY
Again, in another issue of the Bulletin, it says: "Our own prestige
depends upon the prestige of the Fatherland, and for that reason we
cannot allow any disparagement of Germany to go unpunished."
"The race war which we will be compelled to go through with on
American soil will be our world war," said the New York Staats Zei-
tung in fighting a proposal to amend the New York constitution to make
ability to speak and write the English language a requirement for
suffrage.
Ludwig Fulda wrote a book, “American Impressions." They were
impressions of a German who had studied this nation with a view to
seeing it ultimately Germanized. "Germanization is synonymous with
causing to speak German," he said, “and speaking German means to
remain German.”
This may throw some light on the effort to perpetuate the sub-
sidized German language press in this country. If immigrants from
Why We Fight
19
Germany spoke and read English, they were likely to become Amer-
icans.
The National Alliance called upon all of its hundreds of local
societies to work for the enactment of laws making the teaching of the
German language in the public schools compulsory. At the same time
it was helping to support and encourage hundreds of schools in this
country in which the instruction was entirely in German. Had there
been an effort made to make the teaching of the language of this nation.
compulsory in those schools, you can imagine the outcry against "per-
sonal liberty" that would have been raised.
FOSTERED ALL DISCONTENTED ELEMENTS
Wherever there were signs of discontent, of a movement which might
tend to disrupt this country, or any other which Germany might find
as a commercial rival, the German-American Alliance was sure to be
on the job. It gave support to the Irish-American societies, because
these societies, before the war, were working for the separation of Ire-
land from England, a matter in which Germany, at that time, could
have no legitimate interest. But Germany, even then, was preparing
for war, and was doing every possible thing to weaken its coming
enemies. A disorganized America, one filled with German reservists,
would be in no position to side with her enemies, Germany figured.
On this subject the much-quoted Bernhardi wrote:
"Measures must be taken at least to the extent of providing that
the German element is not split up in the world, but remains united
in compact blocks, and thus forms, even in foreign countries, political
centers of gravity in our favor. The isolated groups of Germans
abroad greatly benefit our trade, since by preference they obtain goods
from Germany; but they may also be useful to us politically, as we
discover in America. The German-Americans have formed a political
alliance with the Irish; and, thus united, constitute a power in the state
with which the American government must reckon."
Can there be anything more deliberate than this statement of Ger-
many's aims to mould American political institutions in favor of the
Fatherland? How far they had succeeded was shown by the actions of
some members of our Congress and Senate just before and after war
was declared.
With the outbreak of the war in Europe the actions of the German-
20
Why We Fight
American Alliance became bolder. The campaign for membership
took on new vigor. An address was issued calling upon Americans of
German origin to come to a consciousness of their duty, to hold fast
to their language and to the customs and culture of their fathers.
Efforts were made to scare the American public into believing that war
with Japan was imminent, though Japan was engaged in fighting Ger-
many.
GERMAN PLOTS AGAINST THE UNITED STATES
So serious were the plots to embroil us with England that arrests
were made here of persons who actually planned a German-American
invasion of Canada. Mexico was so stirred up by German intrigue
that, when the war started, many persons actually believed our troops
would see their first and perhaps hardest fighting on the Mexican bor
der, and the first mobilization was toward that threatened line. An
enormous negro uprising was actually planned, and emissaries were
sent here to foment it by Germans who had made themselves believe
that the Southern states, with their large negro population, could be
made to rebel. The utter ridiculousness of the plan does not detract
from the fact that Germany, by every means in its power, was trying
to disorganize our government and overthrow our institutions.
Can we talk of peace with a Germany that, even in times of peace,
is trying to disorganize our country, foment strife, and destroy our
unity, simply because a strong, united nation on the other side of the
world is not German? Can we make peace with a country that fills
our land with paid emissaries in an effort to make its language supplant
our own?
Can we talk of peace while a government that considers
the world its prey dominates Germany?
Or shall we fight until the world is delivered from this German
menace, and our country is left to develop its own institutions, customs
and ideals free from underhanded interference on the part of an autoc-
racy across the sea?
V
BECAUSE GERMANY MENACES THE FREEDOM OF THE
WORLD, AND RUSSIA CAN NO LONGER RESIST
We are in this war with Germany because it is a war for freedom
more truly than ever before was a war fought for the liberty of man.
In times past, it is true, men have fought for freedom from oppressors.
Sometimes they have won and sometimes they have lost. But always
there has been a place in this big world where those who had lost in
the struggle at home might go and find a country where they might
enjoy the liberty they loved.
Now all is different. If the forces which are fighting for freedom
in this war are defeated, there will be no place in the whole world to
which they may go to find a refuge from Prussian domination. Every
land under the sun will be directly or indirectly under control of the
victor; and if the victor is autocracy, freedom perishes.
The land where freedom is most imminently menaced by the legions
of Prussian autocracy, at this moment, is the land where unwonted
freedom temporarily has run riot and has lost the power to fight for
itself Russia. We are fighting for the freedom of Russia, and must
continue to fight for it until Russia learns what freedom means, and
iş again able to fight. If we do not fight, freedom will die in Russia;
Prussian autocracy will rule and exploit the country for its own ben-
efit; and the very forces which overthrew the Czar will be turned
against the freedom not only of themselves, but of other lands.
MIXED SENTIMENTS AS TO RUSSIA
In years gone by, when the forces of revolution were showing
themselves here and there in Russia, they had the sympathy of America
in spite of the methods of terrorism of which we did not approve.
When the Czar and the Kaiser, leaders of autocracy, were locked in a
death grapple, Russia still had our sympathy because she was fighting
on the side of those who were seeking to safeguard the world from
Prussian militarism.
When the Czar was deposed over night American feelings were
22
Why We Fight
mixed. There was joy at the downfall of an old, and sometimes cruel
autocracy, but there was fear that Russia would become too disorgan-
ized to fight further, coupled with the thought that perhaps the revolu
tion had come too soon to be effective.
Then followed the brief regime of Kerensky, when it began to look
as though freedom in Russia might be an organized freedom, prepared
to fight for its rights, and all America hailed the Russian revolution as
a blessing. It had become absolutely correct to say that the war was
a war of democracy against autocracy. No pro-German could longer
point to the Czar, whenever an argument arose.
Finally came the Bolshevik revolution, in which Kerensky was over-
thrown. Russian industry and Russian society were disorganized, and
Russian armies ceased to fight. The Kaiser's armies pressed on unop-
posed, took what they desired in spite of a signed peace, and Russia
appeared to be about to pass completely under control of Germany.
America stood aghast at the prank freedom had played, and American
opinion turned largely against Russia, but thinking men refused to give
up hope. Russia was and still is incapable of offering resistance, but
Russia is not resigned to autocracy. It devolves upon others to fight
for the freedom Russia must have.
RUSSIAN COLLAPSE BOLSTERS UP GERMANY
The Bolsheviki-literally, the masses-were, on many sides, accused
of being in league with the Germans. Trotsky and Lenine were ru-
mored to be accepting German pay. Betrayal of the revolution for
gold was alleged. All sorts of statements were made and discussed.
None of them has ever been proved. Russia had just collapsed; ignor-
ant Russians refused to fight, and the thwarted lust for conquest was
renewed in German hearts.
The experience of other nations has been that men who loved
freedom were willing to fight for it, and to die for it if necessary.
The Russian attitude of non-resistance was something new in the world,
and is hard to understand. The Bolsheviki represented the extreme
idea of liberty. To them freedom meant not the right of the majority
to choose their form of government, but the right of the individual to
be free from all forms of governmental restraint. They would tear
down the old order completely, at one stroke, and set up the millenium.
Why We Fight
23
They would divide the land, the factories and the tools among the work-
ers, and have no masters henceforth.
All they need do, the leaders believed, was to tell the masses of
the remainder of the world, what they were doing, and the world would
follow. Why should they fight the German armies, when all that was
necessary was to show the Germans themselves how easy it was to
establish the millenium?
DISORDER FOLLOWS BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION
Even in Russia, however, there were dissenters. Some took up
arms; and the Bolsheviki, who fought the Germans not at all, fought
their brothers most ferociously. The result was anarchy, lawlessness,
massacres, the disorganization of the railways and the failure of the
food supply. The millenium refused to come at the mere decree of the
Bolsheviki. It was shown that there must be organization and govern-
ment of some sort.
But still the Bolsheviki clung to their vain hopes. They accepted
an ignominious peace, which was no peace at all, from Germany, and
sat supinely while German fetters were being forged for them. They
have not yet awakened. The peasants who composed their armies are
rushing home to be there when the land is distributed. They are get-
ting as far from the battle line as possible, not realizing that the battle
line is following them. They dream of existence in which one labors
because he alone wills it, and without compulsion of any sort-they
who have been driven by the knout-not realizing that an even more
severe taskmaster, one who will be harsher because he is more efficient,
is at their heels.
The Russian peasant believes today that he has achieved real free-
dom. It will take much bitter experience to teach him otherwise.
While he is getting it, the United States and its allies must be his
guardians.
GERMAN PROPAGANDA POISONS PEASANT MINDS
Russia will no longer fight side by side with her former allies.
So insidious has been the German propaganda that, in many instances,
Russian hatred of the allies seems to be deeper than hatred of Germany.
Allowing Germany to lop off her richest provinces, containing even
her capital, Russia turns a jealous eye toward Japan when the latter
·
24
Why We Fight
country professes to see a necessity for sending troops into Siberia to
block the advance of Prussianism.
*
Therefore the United States cannot render direct aid to the strug-
gling people of Russia. She cannot send them armies and supplies,
for they have refused to do battle for themselves. To fight for Russia
she must fight on the western front. She must do her share toward
humbling the Kaiser, and forcing him to relinquish his grasp on the
East.
Russia must be freed from Prussian militarism. After that no one
can say what is her destiny. She may break up into lesser states, or
may be rejuvenated like the French were after their long period of
disorganization which began in 1789. Any number of things may
happen, but there is one thing that cannot be allowed to come to pass.
That is the Kaiser must not be permitted to enthrall the people who
have thrown off the yoke of the Czar, for if he does he will organize
them into a yet greater military machine to use against the freedom
of the world.
That is why we cannot talk peace with Germany as long as the
Kaiser has one single Russian province under his heel.
VI
BECAUSE GERMAN LUST OF CONQUEST MENACES, IN
MANY WAYS, OUR VERY NATIONAL EXISTENCE
Any one of the reasons why we are at war with Germany, men-
tioned in previous articles of this series, would be sufficient justification
for this nation taking up arms. Only extreme patience, coupled, often,
with complete failure to recognize the seriousness of the German men-
ace to America and the world, kept the United States out of the war
for nearly three years before it finally decided to join in. In fact,
justification for war with Germany existed years before the conflict in
Europe was begun.
It has been shown that Germany, for years, had been plotting within
our borders, encouraging immigrants to become citizens and at the
same time remain faithful to the kaiser. She filled our land with spies
and agents of disorganization when, to all outward appearances, rela-
tions between America and Germany were of the most friendly char-
acter.
From evidence supplied by the Germans themselves, it has been
shown that Germany's doctrine that might alone is right would menace
the very independence of the United States just as surely as it destroyed
that of Serbia and Belgium, just as soon as Germany felt herself
strong enough to make a formal attack. German lust of conquest knew
no bounds.
GERMAN PLANS FOR WORLD CONQUEST
Events of the last year have proven that Germany, having split
the world in half by her creation of Mitteleuropa, extending from the
Baltic almost to the Persian gulf, was planning to devour the halves
separately. The fact that our half of the world was being reserved
for dessert was all the more reason why we should enter the war while
a part, at least, of the other half was still making resistance.
Germany's efforts to build up compact groups of Germanized resi-
dents in the United States, and to dominate our politics from Berlin,
extended back many years before the war. Their extent was never
26
Why We Fight
1
realized until we approached the time to enter the struggle, when the
treacherous power of the Kaiser began to be felt even in the halls of
our Congress.
Finally, when the collapse of Russia revealed the fact that Germany
was fighting, not a war of self preservation, but one of conquest pure
and simple, and that the freedom of the entire world was menaced, any
question of why we are fighting seemed superfluous.
The military party in Germany started the war because it believed
the time ripe for conquest. This fact alone is sufficient justification
for any nation, standing for the ideals of democracy and freedom, to
take up arms. When a government exists which will wantonly plunge
a world into war just to extend its own borders and its own trade, it is
time for other nations to fight.
HELPLESS NATIONS THE FIRST ATTACKED
Proof that ambition, and not consideration of its own safety,
prompted German to begin the war is given by the fact that Serbia
and Belgium, two helpless little nations, were the first attacked. Serbia
blocked the way to the East and Belgium to the West. If Germany
would attack and crush helpless little nations, with scant material re-
sources, there was all the more reason to believe that she would attack
one big and rich and helpless, when opportunity offered. In fact, there
had been much talk in Germany long before we entered the struggle,
of levying an indemnity on the United States to pay Germany's war
costs.
Germany had, under no compulsion, signed a solemn treaty to pro-
tect the neutrality of Belgium. When she branded this treaty "a scrap
of paper," she gave proof that all her treaties would be so considered
when her interests demanded. In other words, Germany's invasion of
Belgium meant the tearing up of every treaty which existed between
Germany and other nations. It was ample justification for America
going to war at that moment.
This did not spur America at the time, but Germany's cruelties in
Belgium, surpassing anything ever before known in modern history,
gave further evidence that the world was not safe as long as such a
government existed in it. If Spanish oppression in Cuba was sufficient
justification for the war of 1898, how much more ground did America
have for declaring war because of German barbarity in Belgium?
Why We Fight
27
At the very outset of the struggle in Europe, Germany gave proof
that no treaties or conventions would govern her acts. She bombarded
undefended cities, enslaved conquered populations, engaged in pillage
and terrorism of the most wanton kind. She disregarded all the stipu
lations which had been made at The Hague convention, and flung inter-
national law to the winds. What more justification could we have
needed than all this cumulative proof that a buccaneer nation was
abroad in the world, and that no one's rights were sacred?
MURDER OF THE INNOCENTS AT SEA
Then came Germany's conduct on the sea. With her battle fleet
cravenly seeking shelter behind the defenses of the Kiel canal, Germany
sent out her submarines and began a war on unarmed merchantmen.
Women and children were her victims. American citizens by the score
went down to death on the Lusitania. The United States made a pro-
test, and Germany promised to mend her ways. This she did, for a
time, until she could build a fleet of bigger and better submarines, and
then her pirate sea warfare broke out with fresh vigor. Vessels of
neutral nations were subjected to the same treatment as those of Ger-
many's foes, and an insolent warning was sent to this country that the
Stars and Stripes could float on the Atlantic ocean only by German
permission, and under the most humiliating conditions. How could
we keep out of war when Germany, after ruthlessly killing our citizens,
deliberately closed the sea to us?
German plotters and spies, under the direct leadership of the Ger-
man ambassador to this country, worked almost openly, blowing up
industrial plants, sinking ships in our harbors, and menacing railroads
and canals.
Germany, spurred by successes, openly began to announce plans
for disciplining the United States. She scoffed at the Monroe Doctrine,
and tried to create a German state in Brazil which, in time, would be
strong enough to bring about a revolution and overthrow the demo-
cratic government there. She tried to create disunity in the United
States itself, and forced this country, at last, to take up arms to preserve
its very national existence.
MAKES THE WORLD AN UNSAFE HABITAT
By her huge armaments, her disregard of treaties, and her evident
28
Why We Fight
reliance on force alone, Germany was rapidly making the world an
unsafe place in which to live, forcing all other nations to adopt the
military system, or be at her mercy. The German military policy,
alone, would have been sufficient justification for the remainder of the
world to combine against her, even though she had not begun the war
when she did. Nations have just as much right to peace and security,
as do individuals who employ policemen to protect them from bandits
and thieves.
The German ambition to force German kultur on the remainder of
the world was well exploited. Kultur, to the German mind, was not
what culture is to us. It was the whole German system, of government,
of commercialism and of life. There was no place for democracy in
a world which bore the stamp of German kultur. If we valued our
form of government, we had to go to war.
Lastly, Germany stood in the way, an insurmountable obstacle, to
any league of nations which might be formed to keep the peace of the
world, and to prevent the strong from preying on the weak. The whole
German doctrine has been that Germany should grow strong at the
expense of her neighbors. Prussian policy for centuries has been to
weaken other nations that Prussia might divide and conquer. There
could be no hope of creating a league of nations pledged to support
right and justice, so long as the Prussian military policy prevailed.
The fight which England and France took up from the beginning,
and in which Belgium and Serbia laid down their lives, was America's
fight from the first, and America's fight long before it began, had
America but realized. Now America does realize, and America cannot
and will not make peace until the Prussian lust for conquest is curbed
and the Prussian military power crushed for all time.

Our Peril on the
Eastern Front
Allied Victory in the West Barren Unless
Slav Peoples to the East are Freed From
German Domination and Formed
Into Strong Independent
Barrier States
BY
SPEED
CLARENCE you
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB
OF CHICAGO
1918
After you have read this pamphlet, please pass it on in order that
the message it carries may reach the largest number of persons
mar TINILITIE
…………………………………
………………………………………………
FOREWORD
A few months ago the cause of democracy was in dire and direct
peril on the Western Front. German armies were driving victoriously
forward. German troops were filled with enthusiasm and the will to
win. There was imminent danger that the British and French armies
would be separated and crushed in detail, and the Allied cause lost in
military defeat before America could make her weight felt.
Today this immediate peril has disappeared. German armies are in
retreat. German soldiers are dispirited. American millions are pour-
ing into France, full of fighting enthusiasm. British and French alike
have been rejuvenated in spirit. Prospects now are bright for a decisive
military victory for the Allied cause.
Nevertheless there remains great danger that Germany will win this
war. The Central Powers have gained hundreds of thousands of square
miles of territory and power over millions of people by their victories.
on the Eastern Front. Even before the war they had millions of Slavs
under their control. All Russia, as matters now stand, lies open to
Teutonic domination and exploitation unless the Allies give effective
assistance.
Our greatest peril now lies on the Eastern Front. After decisively
defeating Germany in the West the Allies must dictate a peace which
will force her to disgorge all she has gained in the East. They must go
further and force Austria-Hungary to set free the Slav peoples-Czecho-
Slovaks of Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia; Jugo-Slavs comprising the
Slovenes, Croatians, Dalmatians and Serbs; the Poles and Ruthenes of
Galicia, and the Rumanians of Transylvania and part of Bukowina-
and consent to their formation into independent barrier states which
will forever bar Teutonic expansion to the Eastward.
If the Allies do not do this, Germany will in time consolidate and
organize these possessions, prepare to feed herself despite all blockades,
form an army twice the size of the one she was able to put into the field
in this war, and strike again when she is ready.
America in times past has paid little attention to the situation in
Eastern Europe. The time has come when every American should study
this complicated question, realize its extreme importance in connection
with the future safety of the world, and demand that no peace be made
which will leave the Central Powers in a position to prepare for a
future and mightier war for world conquest.
Democracies can only fight for causes which are approved by the
masses of their people. They cannot be driven into war at the behest of
a ruler. Those who make peace for democracies must be guided by the
wishes of their peoples. It is the duty of every individual American to
know the facts and think clearly and to demand first a crushing military
victory on the Western Front and then a peace which shall remove
forever the German menace to world safety on the Eastern Front.
[For map, and brief sketches of the nations held in bondage by the Central
Powers, see Appendix.]
I
GERMANY BATTLES TO KEEP LOOT IN EAST
Fifty-five million souls have been reduced to virtual slavery and
494,552 square miles of territory have been overrun by the Germans as
a result of the war on the Eastern Front. From the Arctic Ocean to the
Black Sea the heavy hand of German domination has been laid upon
conquered peoples. A territory more than twice the size of the present
German Empire has come under German rule, and the population of
the German Empire itself is but a few millions greater than that of the
lands which have fallen a prey to the Kaiser's armies or his intriguing
diplomats.
Germany can no longer hope for victory on the Western Front. The
weight of America's millions at last is beginning to be felt, and the
Kaiser's legions are moving backward. But Germany has not lost hope
of keeping what she has gained on the Eastern Front. She believes that
the attention of the Allies can be distracted by large concessions in the
West, and that her diplomats will succeed where her armies have failed,
so that she will be able to retain her conquests to the East, organize and
develop them with German efficiency, and then, when the time is ripe,
strike again with a force which will be irresistible.
The lands which have come under absolute German dominion as a
result of the war are:
*
Finland
Esthonia
Livonia
Courland
Kovno
Area in Sq. Miles
144,253
7,718
18,160
10,535
15,687
Population
3,000,000
500,000
1,500,000
750,000 Serbia
1,750,000
Area in Sq. Miles
Russian Poland 49,130
Ukrainia
163,249
50,720
Rumania
Population
11,500,000
26,500,000
6,850,000
35,000 4,000,000
494,552 55,250,000
In addition the whole of Russia and Siberia will remain open to
German exploitation unless the Allied and Czecho-Slovak armies are
successful in expelling the troops of the Central Powers.
The area of the German Empire itself before the war was but 208,-
780 square miles, and its population was about 68,000,000. Austria-
Hungary, its ally and practical vassal, has an area of 238,977 square
miles and a population of about 53,000,000.
Germany inveigled poor deluded and disorganized Russia into a
peace on the basis of no annexations and no indemnties, and then pro-
ceeded to take what she wanted on one pretext or another in the guise
of setting up separate states whose independence would be but a polit
ical fiction. Finland she induced to revolt, and then sent German troops
in to help Finland against the Russia with which she was at peace. The
result is that Finland now is absolutely dominated by Germany; the
Figures from 1910 Edition of Encyclopedia Brittanica, corrected and
estimated to round numbers, taking into account natural increase in popu-
lation and parts of provinces, where boundaries are indefinite.
4
Our Peril on the Eastern Front
Kaiser's troops are in control, and plans are under way to make Finland
an “independent" nation with a Hohenzollern prince on the throne.
The Russian provinces of Esthonia, Livonia, Courland and Kovno,
lying along the Baltic, Germany proceeded to grab outright, and now
proposes to annex directly to the German Empire. This, with German
domination of Finland, will make the Baltic practically a German lake.
Poland is to be another "independent" state, if the German plans do
not miscarry, with a German or Austrian prince as king. Ukrainia, with
the exception of Poland, the richest part of Russia, is now nominally a
republic, but German troops are in control and already there is talk of
making it a kingdom ruled by a German prince. Rumania was forced
to make a peace which gave Germany practical control, and since the
treaty was signed Germany has been making new and harder conditions
all the time and enforcing them at the point of the bayonet. Poor little
Serbia, though its shattered armies are still valiantly fighting, is abso-
lutely overrun by the enemy. No doubt the peace terms for it will be
harshest of all, unless Germany is beaten on the Western Front.
ན
Pause and consider for a moment what these conquests mean if Ger-
many is allowed to keep and consolidate them. From Finland and the
Russian provinces along the Baltic Germany has gained vast wealth in
timber and complete freedom from any rival trade. From Poland she
has gained a well developed industrial and agricultural region, amply
able to add greatly to her ability to make war in the future. From the
Ukraine and Rumania, the grainary of Europe, she will have gained
cereals which would make her independent of the outside world, and
oils and minerals in such vast quantities that practically the whole con-
tinental European supply would be in her grasp. From Serbia she has
gained the open door to the Orient through her vassal states of Bulgaria
and Turkey.
From of all these states Germany will have gained an industrious
and virile population which, if organized under the German plan, would
furnish an addition of some 8,000,000 men to Germany's armies. The
Central Powers, then, if allowed to keep these conquests, would be able,
after a few years of rest and recuperation, to put an army of 30,000,000
men in the field, to feed and clothe them without calling upon the out-
side world, and to so dominate the avenues of communication that the
remainder of the world would be at their mercy when they chose to
strike again.
Laying aside all humanitarian reasons, that is why America and her
allies cannot afford to make a peace until German militarism has been
destroyed. Even if we could stand by and see fifty million people en-
slaved in Eastern Europe, we cannot, nor can any other nation which
hopes in future to live in peace and security, dare make a peace which
will give an uncrushed Germany an opportunity to organize such a vast
territory and population into a military machine beside which the pres
ent German armies are dwarfed, and strike again for world conquest
when the time is ripe.
II
STRANGLING OF RUSSIA SOUGHT BY GERMANY
Russia, with its millions of square miles of undeveloped territory in
Europe and Asia, and its remaining 130,000,000 inhabitants, will be
cut off from the open sea and economically strangled by Germany if
the Kaiser is allowed to keep the vast territories he has taken possession
of by force of arms and intrigue on the Eastern Front.
With Finland and the Baltic provinces in Germany's possession,
Russia will be cut off from the Baltic except for the port of Petrograd,
and there is no assurance that Germany, if allowed to do so by the
Allies, will not find some excuse for taking possession of that city.
Domination by Germany of the Ukraine and the territory seized by
it with the aid of German and Austrian troops, will cut Russia off from
the Black Sea, and communication with the outside world by water in
that direction. Only the Pacific Ocean, separated from the main por-
tion by thousands of miles of railroad, will remain as an export and
import outlet free from German domination.
Thus will the whole of Russia, the vastest field for industrial and
commercial development left on the globe, be at the mercy of German
exploitation. Russia will, to all intents and purposes, have ceased to
be a European nation. It will have no communication with Western
Europe except through German controlled lands. It will not be able to
ship its grain Westward except by permission of Germany. Nor will it
be able to import the vast amount of agricultural and industrial machin-
ery it must have except from Germany or through Germany, except
over the single-track 8,000-mile long Trans-Siberian Railroad to the
Pacific Coast.
Russian history, for ages, has been made by the efforts of this semi-
Asiatic people, endeavoring to embrace European civilization, to expand
their territories toward warm water. It has been counterbalanced by the
German and Austrian "Drang nach Osten" or "pust toward the East,"
which expresses the imperialistic aims of the Teutonic countries. They
have long recognized that their future lay toward the East, where the
lands were peopled by a Slavic population and were ripe for exploita
tion, commercially or through out and out conquest.
With the collapse of Russia as a military power the great barrier to
the "Drang nach Osten" is removed. Even in the days before the war,
when the Czar and his Cossacks offered something like real opposition
to German military encroachment, the German commercial interests had
penetrated Russia to such an extent that a large section of the business
of the Czar's empire was under German control.
6
Our Peril on the Eastern Front
No less successful had been the German secret propaganda. Court
circles, headed by the German-born Czarina, were notoriously pro-Ger-
man. Official circles in the army were affected, and such was the
German hold on business interests that the production of war supplies
by Russia was, for a long time, almost impossible.
If Germany, because of its proximity and because of its nationally
supported spy and commercial systems, was able thus to dominate
Russia before the war, think what it will be able to do now unless the
Allied nations, by a smashing victory, force it to disgorge the spoils it
has taken in the East.
The great export ports of the Baltic, and the ports of the Black Sea
will be in German hands if, by any chicanery, Germany can persuade
the victorious Allies to allow her to keep possession of them. Constan-
tinople will be ruled by Germany's vassal state, Turkey, unless the
Allies force Turkey out of Europe. All Russian goods will thus either
have to pass through Germany or land controlled by Germany or take
the tremendously expensive Pacific route. The Kaiser's merchants will
have first call on everything which Russia will have to sell, and the
Kaiser's manufacturers will have everything their own way in supplying
the things which Russia will need to buy.
German capital will build Russian factories and railroads, develop
Russian mines and forests, and furnish the machinery for Russian agri-
culture. German merchants will become established all through Russia,
and will buy their goods from Germany. German "kultur" will be
imposed upon the Russian peasant, and Germany as a whole will grow
rich through this monopoly of Russian trade and industry.
It may go even further. Powerful Germany, no doubt, will find
additional excuses for actually taking territory away from weak and
disorganized Russia. Every time some exasperated Russian explodes a
bomb under some German diplomat, the Kaiser will likely enough use
it as a pretext for seizing another Russian province.
The Czar's wall of Cossacks has been removed. Nothing will re-
main, unless German militarism is crushed, to prevent the more or less
gradual subjection of 180,000,000 people of non-Teutonic races, and
their exploitation for the benefit of the German privileged class. Ger-
many will see to it that there is no Eastern Front the next time she sets
out to fight the nations of Western Europe for complete domination of
the world.
Russia is a long ways from the United States. Most of the people of
America are disappointed with the way Russia collapsed and failed the
Allies in the war.
Our Peril on the Eastern Front
7
"What concern is it of ours what happens to Russia?" is the question
one hears on many sides.
The concern is just this:
A Germany with predatory ideals allowed to despoil Russia will
become so powerful that no nation or combination of nations can
oppose it when next it is ready to strike.
It will have ample funds for financing its next world war.
It will have such enormous resources that no blockade can interfere
with its supply of food and munitions.
Such a Germany is a direct menace to the United States because it
sees in this country its greatest rival in world trade; and Germany, gone
mad, cannot conceive of commercial rivalry divorced from political and
military rivalry. And so when Germany strikes again, it will strike the
United States; and one nation or the other must perish.
The United States, in common with its Allies, must see to it now
that no peace is made with Germany which will leave it in a position
ever to strike again as it did in August, 1914.
Therefore there can be no peace until Germany has been forced to
disgorge all it has gained on the Eastern Front, and more.
III
GERMANY STRIPS RUSSIA OF NECESSARY RESOURCES
It is not just square miles of territory that Germany takes when she
wins a war. Germany is very careful, when she takes territory, to take
just that part which will most cripple her neighbors, and make them
least able in future to resist her aggression in a commercial and military
way.
Thus in 1870, when Germany had France at her mercy, she took
Alsace-Lorraine. These provinces contained what was then thought to
be all the iron ore deposits in France. Since then other deposits have
been discovered and developed in the Briey basin, and now Germany is
seeking to take that region. Likewise all the coal and iron of Belgium
and the coal of Northern France now are in German hands.
So it is with Russia. German leaders realize that the whole of Russia
cannot be taken over right now. Russia is too vast to be swallowed and
digested all at once. So Germany plans to take now those portions of
Russia which are richest in natural resources and industrial develop-
ment. Thus the remainder of the vast country will be reduced to im-
potence, and made dependent entirely upon Germany for the things
which make for individual progress in modern times.
In carrying out this policy the seizure of Poland and the Ukraine
are Germany's trump cards right now. Poland, before it was devastated
by the Germans, was the chief industrial region of Russia, and the
Ukraine and portions of the Caucasus which the Germans are trying
to control, contain the greatest part of Russia's developed natural
wealth-coal, iron, copper and oils and in addition its chief agri-
cultural resources, which four years of short rations have taught Ger-
many to consider as important as coal and iron.
The case of Poland is one which particularly merits the attention
of the United States and the Allied nations. Poland was a great nation
when the states now composing the German Empire were weak princi-
palities with no sense of national unity. Despite more than a century
of oppression the Poles still retain their language, their customs and
their sense of national unity. They are capable of being converted into
a strong and virile and independent nation, if Germany's strangle hold
can be broken, and an independent Poland will do much to block a
predatory Germany's military and commercial progress toward the East.
Poland, it will be remembered, at the end of the Napoleonic wars,
was partitioned among Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Russia oppressed
the Poles, sometimes brutally, but made no effort to cause them to cease
being Poles. Austria in the Polish province of Galicia, adopted a more
Our Peril on the Eastern Front
9
liberal attitude, allowing the Polish language and customs to be used,
and there was comparatively little friction. But Prussia set out upon a
deliberate policy to cause the Polish language to be forgotten, to drive
Poles from the higher offices and finally to oust them from ownership
of land and to Germanize that part of Poland which fell to her share
so completely that the very name of Poland would be forgotten.
Prussia, despite a century of persecution, failed. But it learned a
new lesson. It learned that a Pole ceased to be a Pole only when he
was dead. Therefore when Germany overran Russian Poland, it saw
to it that there were as many dead Poles as possible.
Through starvation and through deliberate wholesale murder Ger-
many set out to depopulate Poland, and lay all this region open to
German immigration and colonization. We have ample testimony to
the effect that hundreds of thousands of Poles met death by actual starv-
ation. The factories in the industrial centers were closed, and Polish
workmen were forced to go into Germany to work to keep from starv-
ing. Germany would not even let Polish mills grind Polish grain, but
forced the Poles to ship their grain to Germany to be milled, and then
whatever flour Germany did not seize, was shipped back to the people.
who grew the grain.
It is plain that Germany, if allowed to keep possession of all
Poland, plans so to destroy the nation that there will no longer be a
compact Polish people with national aspirations able to oppose it.
Poland is to be colonized from Germany and its industrial resources
allowed to reopen only when they have been thoroughly Germanized.
The United States, aside from the threat to its future safety if a
predatory Germany is allowed to extend its empire, will see a great
nation-one which has fought for freedom as valiantly as America
itself did—practically wiped off the face of the earth unless the Kaiser's
hold on Poland is broken.
Ukrainia furnishes the greater part of the iron and coal for all
European Russia. It furnishes most of Russia's vast wheat exports-
more than enough to make Germany independent of the rest of the
world. It furnishes the greater part of Russian sugar, of Russian oil
and Russian copper. If Germany is allowed to take possession of all
these, Russia would be placed in a position where she never again could
assert her rights against Germany. The German Empire would be
practically doubled in population, more than doubled in area, and
would have a monopoly on the iron with which to make shells and on
the oils so indispensable for modern war. Italy is without metals.
France will be if Germany can keep only a little French territory and
Belgium. Russia will be practically so, if Germany keeps what it has
10
Our Peril on the Eastern Front
in its clutches right now. Nowhere in Continental Europe will there be
a nation with fuel and iron to wage a war of self defense, and in times
of peace they will all be at the commercial mercy of a soulless Ger-
many.
The result will be that only England and the United States will
remain of the great nations with fuel and iron at their disposal. Ger-
many will have 140,000,000 people to draw upon for soldiers instead
of 70,000,000. Another hundred million will be available to Germany
through Turkey and the enlarged Austria and Bulgaria, which are even
now Germany's vassals.
No nation will be in a position to resist the mighty forces that a
predatory Germany would be able to throw into the field for the next
war-perhaps twenty years hence. No other Continental nation would
be able to furnish the raw material for its own guns and shells. Ger-
many, if the Allies do not prevent it by force, would simply consolidate
its present conquests, organize and train their manhood, and, when it
is ready, set out to conquer all Europe and Asia, and perhaps even
America.
The United States cannot afford to let predatory and soulless Ger-
many remain in this commanding position. Leaving aside all motives
of humanity and regard for the rights of other peoples, it must, if it
itself hopes to continue to exist as a free republic, continue this war un-
til this German power for aggression is shattered completely for all
time.
IV
MUST FREE OPPRESSED PEOPLES OF AUSTRIA
Austria-Hungary must be dismembered before the United States and
its Allies can make a lasting peace with Germany.
This may seem a startling assertion, in view of the fact that this
country did not declare war on Austria-Hungary until months after it
was drawn into the conflict with Germany, and that now, as always,
Germany is recognized as our chief enemy. One might ask, "Why not
dismember Germany?", and many probably will so ask unless they stop
to think what the objects of this war really are.
In the first place this is a war of democracy against autocracy.
The cardinal principle of democracy is that the people of any given
nationality shall have the right to choose their own form of government.
Austria-Hungary is not a nation in the true sense of the word. It is
a conglomeration of peoples of several races and tongues ruled against
their will by two dominant races the Germans and Magyars-under a
historically corrupt and incompetent dynasty.
These subject peoples, mostly Slavic in blood, constitute a clear
majority of the population of Austria and almost half that of Hungary,
yet they have no voice in choosing their form of government. If they
dared raise their voices some would choose union with Italy, some with
a greater Serbia or Poland, some union with Rumania and some abso-
lute independence, according to their race and geographical location.
The same cannot be said of Germany. Barring rather restricted
areas peopled by unwilling subjects, such as the Poles to the East and
the inhabitants of Alsace-Lorraine on the West, which must be lopped
off when the peace treaty is written, the German Empire consists of a
homogeneous people of the same race and national aspirations. While
it may be necessary to assist in a change in the form of government
which will enable this people to get rid of the Hohenzollern and the
military aristocracy, any enforced division of the German Empire itself
which would place portions of its inhabitants under foreign domination
would be doing the very thing which the United States and her allies
are fighting against-it would be denying a people the right to choose
for themselves the state of which they shall form a part.
many
That is why we hear no agitation for the dismemberment of Ger-
our arch enemy-while the conviction grows more and more
that Austria-Hungary, that unfortunate monarchy, must be disrupted
at the conference table at which the peace treaty is written, if it does
not fall apart itself before that time.
“How, then, is the dismemberment of Austria-Hungary necessarily
12
Our Peril on the Eastern Front
#
involved in any consideration of the ambitions of the predatory Ger-
many that brought on this war?" one may inquire.
It already has been shown how Germany must be forced to restore
all that she has taken from Russia either to Russia or to allow the
peoples of these territories to form their own independent govern-
ments. It has been demonstrated that Poland, when erected into a free
state, with no hint of domination, will be a powerful barrier to German
military and political expansion to the Eastward.
The setting free of the oppressed peoples of Austria-Hungary, and
the giving to them permission to unite with nations already in existence
with which they have national sympathies, or to form their own inde-
pendent governments, as the case may be, will complete that barrier and
forever bar Germany from forcible expansion to the Southeast.
A free Bohemia will take its place beside a free Poland as a buffer
between Germany and disorganized Russia. A restored and strength-
ened Rumania, with the millions of Rumanians added to those now
nominally independent, will extend the barrier to the Black Sea, pro-
vided Ukrainia is fred from German domination. A Greater Serbia,
with the millions of Jugo-Slavs in the southern parts of Austria and
Hungary incorporated in it, will be an effectual block to Germany's
military oneness with Bulgaria and Turkey.
Thus, and only thus will the German dream of a Mittel-Europa
extending from the Baltic to the Persian Gulf, and opening the way for
further conquests in India and the Orient, to be followed by a world
domination, be brought to an end. Only thus will the German people
be shown that their rulers who have promised them the spoils of a
conquered world, have misled them, and that their future lies not in
military and political expansion but in thrift and industry and legiti-
mate commerce which other nations of the world can respect.
Austria-Hungary, as now constituted, and Bulgaria and Turkey have
been reduced to a state of vassalage by Germany as completely as
though they had been conquered by force of arms. Austria-Hungary
could not make a separate peace if she wanted to as long as Germany
remains unbeaten on the Western Front. If she could do so and pre-
serve her rule over the peoples she now oppresses, she probably would
be glad to do so. But the time for that has gone by. She would be
overrun by Germany in a week if she tried it, and the Allied nations
have already recognized the fact that any peace, to be lasting, must
remove the causes of friction. The chief cause of friction in Southeast-
ern Europe now is, and has been for centuries, the struggles of op-
pressed peoples to escape from their oppressors. There must be no
Our Peril on the Eastern Front
13
more oppressors, or, in time, the war will have to be fought all over
again.
President Wilson has declared unequivocally for the right of self-
determination of peoples as one of the conditions of peace. The Allied
Council of Versailles in June, 1918, pronounced in favor of giving the
oppressed peoples of Slavic blood held in bondage by Austria their
liberties.
Both the President and the Allied diplomats at Versailles realized
that this war, on which so much blood and treasure has been spent,
when it is settled must be settled on the basis of right. They see, and
every American should see, that, if it is not thus settled, the struggle
will have to be faced once more, after Germany and her allies have had
time to recuperate, and that when Germany, if allowed to keep its
Eastern conquests and complete the organization of her vassal states, is
ready to strike again she will strike in a way that the world cannot
successfully resist.
V
MILLIONS IN AUSTRIA HELD IN BONDAGE
Considerably more than half of all the people in Austria-Hungary
are held in bondage-in practical servitude against their will-by the
two dominant races, the Germans of Austria and the Magyars of Hun-
gary.
These bond-people of Austria-Hungary represent eleven national
groups, and though they form a clear majority of the population, have
so little voice in the affairs of the empire that they might as well be
said to have none at all. All are clamoring for their freedom, and all
would fight for it were they given a chance. But few remain at home
now except the decrepit old men, the women and the children. Their
able-bodied men are drafted into the army and forced to fight against
their will. Thousands are deserting, but so complete is the discipline
that the majority of them must remain, sandwiched in between Hungar-
ians and Germans, until the ramshackle empire falls to pieces or is
dismembered at the peace council table.
In 1910, the time of taking the last census before the war, there were
in Austria proper 9,950,266 Germans belonging to the dominant race
of the Austrian half of the dual monarchy and 10,050,575 Magyars
formed the dominant race in Hungary. They ruled over the following
subject peoples:*
*
Czecho-Slovaks
Poles
Little Russians
Slovenians
Serbo-Croatians
In Austria
6,435,983
4,967,984
3,518,854
1,252,940
In Hungary
1,967,970
472,587
2,939,638
Italians
Rumanians
2,949,027
In Austria the German population, numbering only 35.58 per cent,
has a clear majority in parliament, and treats the Slavs and Latins as
inferior peoples. In Hungary the Magyar population outnumbers the
Slavs only slightly, but gives them few political rights.
It will be remembered that little over half a century ago the Mag-
yars themselves were engaged in a terrific struggle for liberty, and were
only subdued by Austria through the assistance of the then Czar of
Russia. The dual monarchy was then formed, and the Magyars were
placated by the granting to them rule over portions of the various Slav
races. From a people battling for freedom they have since been trans-
formed into a people who apparently enjoy the oppression of others as
783,344
768,422
275,115
*Statistics from the Statesman's Year Book, 1917, census of 1910. These
are official statistics, which favor the ruling nations. For instance, nearly
all the 1,300,000 Jews in Austria are classed as Germans, while in Hungary
not only the Jews, numbering 960,000, but almost everyone else able to
speak the Magyar language, are classed as Magyars.
Our Peril on the Eastern Front
15
much as the Germans themselves.
Most of the Slavs in the dual monarchy came under the Hapsburg
rule originally, because of the invasion of Europe by the Turks. The
Holy Roman Empire, of which Austria is the decrepit descendant, was
the bulwark of Europe against Mohammedanism in those days.
Bohemia, threatened with Mohammedan conquest, allowed herself to
fall into the power of the Hapsburgs. Hungary was "rescued" from the
Turk. As the years and centuries went on other territories were "freed,"
the last ones to be thus liberated being Bosnia and Herzegovina, which
were only formally incorporated into the Austrian empire in 1909. The
inhabitants of these two provinces are almost purely Serbian in blood
and language, and the seizing of them by Austria would in all likeli
hood have provoked a world war at that time had it not been for the
fact that Russia, the protector of the little Slav nationalities, was so
weakened by the Japanese war and torn by revolutionary movements
that it dared not to take up arms.
Bohemia, with the neighboring provinces of Moravia and Slovakia
forming the most compact and numerous group of Slavs in the em-
pire, familiarly known as Czecho-Slovaks, was, before the war, the best
educated, the most prosperous and the most highly developed part of
Austria-Hungary, in spite of the fact that the Bohemians were under
the domination of the Germans of the empire. They clung tenaciously,
however, to their desire for freedom, and when the war broke out Bo
hemia was soon a seething mass of suppressed revolt.
'Five years ago it might have been possible to placate the Slav races
of Austria-Hungary by giving them equal rights with their German and
Magyar oppressors. Now it would be impossible. The avenue of
expansion for Germany to the Southeast must be closed forever. The
just national aspirations of oppressed peoples must be satisfied, or the
Balkan problem will remain after this war just what it was before, a
continual menace to the peace of the world.
It was this Balkan unrest which brought about the Sarajevo murders
and which gave the pretext for this war. All the Central Powers were
looking for was a pretext. They will continue to look for pretexts in
the future unless their military power is shattered completely and the
idea that they can enforce their will on subject races is removed forever.
Already the experience of the Central Powers in subjecting other
nations, a bit at a time, has been such that they now think they can
treat the whole world that way. For half a century they have been
getting ready for this course of action. Now they have definitely em-
barked on it. They have in their grasp conquered territory and subject
populations of sufficient magnitude to assure them of practical success
if they are allowed to keep what they have gained.
They must give up all they have won and more or no spot on the
earth will be safe from their aggression in the future.
2
VI
AUSTRIAN SLAVS DIE BY THOUSANDS FOR ALLIES
"If the Austrian Slavs want their freedom so badly, why don't they
fight for it? Why should we be fighting for their freedom?"
The answer to the first question is that the Austrian Slavs, thousands
and tens of thousands of them, ARE fighting for their freedom, and
fighting more heroically, if possible, than the people of any other
nation. They are fighting with the French on the West Front, and with
the Italians; they are fighting with the Serbs in the Balkans, and they
are fighting alone, surrounded by hostile millions, in Russia.
Wherever the Slav from Austria fights, he fights under conditions
more appalling than those of any other soldier. Like other Allies, he
takes the chance of death as he goes into battle, but he takes more.
If his army is forced to retreat, the wounded Austrian Slav knows that
death is his portion if he falls into the hands of the enemy. He will
be executed as a traitor, because, originally he came from Austria.
Other wounded may, or may not, be given medical attention and
allowed to eke out a miserable existence in a prison camp, but the fate
of the captured Austrian Slav, be he wounded or unwounded, is death.
At the outbreak of the war, in 1914, it was plain that the Slavs in
the Austrian armies would not willingly fight against the Entente Allies.
The Germans knew it and the Magyars knew it. They controlled the
government, and they at once took steps to see to it that the soldiers
from Bohemia, Moravia, Croatia, Slavonia, and Bosnia, who numbered
hundreds of thousands, were so intermixed with German and Magyar
regiments that they always formed a helpless minority.
All the disagreeable tasks-the dirty work-of the army were given
to these Slav troops. They were constantly watched, and constantly
abused. They were put into the firing line where artillery fire was
hottest, and deliberately used as cannon fodder. When they went "over
the top" in a charge they went in small bodies, sandwiched in between
Germans and Magyars, instead of in whole divisions and army corps.
But all of these precautions could not prevent the Slav soldiers from
carrying out their purpose to desert to the Entente Allies wherever pos
sible. Individuals, small groups, and even, on occasion, whole regi-
ments passed over to the Serbs and the Russians, not to seek security in
internment camps, but to turn and fight their Austrian oppressors.
More than once Czech regiments revolted, and were shot down in cold
blood by German and Magyar troops. Hundreds were mown down in
pitched battles by machine gun fire, and others were executed by firing
squads.
Our Peril on the Eastern Front
17
Nevertheless, at the time Austria was making its first big invasion
of Serbia, enough Slav soldiers deserted to contribute very greatly to
the Austrian debacle and disastrous retreat. The same was true on the
Russian front when the Russians were making their, great drives through
Galicia. It was plain that the Austrian troops could not stand before
the Russians because so many of the Austria-Hungarian soldiers were
of Slav blood, and would not fight their friends.
So numerous were these desertions to the Russians that it was esti-
mated, at the time of the ignominious peace that Germany forced on
Russia, that there were from 60,000 to 100,000 of them in the Russian
army. The Bolshevist government first agreed to permit these forces,
now generally spoken of as Czecho-Slovaks, to keep their arms, and
to transport them to Vladivostock, on the Pacific Ocean, some 9,000
miles from the fighting front, that they might embark for a journey
around the world to appear as foes of Germany on the Western Front.
Great Britain made plans to furnish the ships.
But Germany interfered. It caused the Bolshevist government to
rescind this order of safe conduct, and to interpose armed resistance to
the efforts of the Czecho-Slovaks to reach the Pacific. It went further
and induced the Bolshevist government to arm German and Austrian
prisoners in Siberia to assist the disorganized Russian forces which
were unable to stay the eastward mach of the Czecho-Slovak armies.
That is how the Czecho-Slovak forces which we hear so much of
today came to be in Siberia. Nothing in all history approaches the
heroism of these little bands. Surrounded by enemies in overwhelming
numbers they continued to fight their way eastward. City after city
in Siberia fell into their hands. They fought the Russians and they
fought the German and Austrian veterans whom the Russians armed.
They won battles against overwhelming forces, and they are still hold-
ing out, though thousands of miles from home and ringed by enemies.
Their sole desire was to get back to the battle front, even by a journey
around the world, that they may fight with the Allies and help to
liberate their helpless relatives at home.
These are the heroes that the Italian, French and English govern-
ments have recognized as the army of an independent and allied nation.
and that the United States and Japan are now moving to aid in Siberia.
We cannot permit the Russians to hand tens of thousands of them over
to the Central Powers for certain execution, any more than we can per-
mit the Central Powers permanently to control Russia and Siberia.
Thousands of these Czecho-Slovaks have died fighting for the Allied
Thousands of others have died the death of traitors because
they would not fight the Allies. Thousands more, held down by the
cause.
18
Our Peril on the Eastern Front
severest terrorism the world has ever known, are only waiting for an
opportunity to desert and join the Allied armies.
They have proved, beyond all question, their willingness to fight
for their own freedom at every opportunity. After such heroic proof
would it not be the basest ingratitude for the Allied nations to make a
peace which did not free from bondage the Bohemians, the Slovaks, the
Croats, the Serbs, and all other groups which are held against their
will in Austria-Hungary?
Our President has said that we are fighting to make the world safe
for Democracy. There can be no democracy in Southeastern Europe
as long as millions of Slavs are held in bondage, and there can be no
lasting peace until these loyal friends of the Allied cause are erected
into strong independent nations and the German plan of expansion to
the eastward is definitely blocked.
APPENDIX
The Slav Peoples, Who They Are, Where They Live,
and Their Historic Claims to Independent Existence
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
The word, "Czecho-Slovak," is a comparatively new one, brought
into general use since the Russian revolution. It has been called to the
attention of a wondering world by that little band of fighters who, since
the East Front crumbled away in the great Russian collapse, have been
the principal barrier to German penetration of the vast interior of that
once mighty empire.
Czech and Slovak are different forms of the same ancient Slav word.
The Czechs and the Slovaks are the same people in blood and in lan-
guage, but have been struggling along for centuries under different op-
pressors. The Czechs inhabiting Bohemia and Moravia have been under
Austrian rule for some four hundred years, and those in Silesia have
long been subject to Germany. The Slovaks, on the contrary, are the
inhabitants of the province of Slovakia, which has been long under
Magyar domination in Hungary, and of a portion of the province of
Galicia, which is likewise inhabited by Poles and Ruthenes.
The Czechs number some six and a half millions, and the Slovaks
something like two and a half millions. They composed the Slav tribes
which, centuries ago, penetrated furthest into middle Europe. It was
they who most strenuously resisted pressure from the East when the
Huns-those amateurs whom Attila led-invaded Europe, and from the
West when the Germans, who in this Twentieth Century of Christianity
have given a new meaning to the word "Hun," first began to exercise the
"Drang nach Osten" which today has set the world aflame. The result
is that they were cut off from their Slav brothers to the South by the
German wedge and the Hungarian wedge which came together on the
border between Austria and Hungary.
The Czecho-Slovaks remain a Slavic wedge extending far into the
heart of Teutonic Mittel-Europa. Their sons are fighting in the armies
of all the Allied nations, while the Czecho-Slovak army in Russia and
Siberia has conducted itself with so much bravery and diplomatic wis-
dom as well that it has been recognized as a belligerent by Britain,
France, Italy and finally by the United States.
Away back in the middle of the Fourteenth century Prague, the
capital of Bohemia, became the seat of one of the earliest of the great
universities of Middle Europe. Bohemia was famous for the learning
and prosperity of its people, students going there from all Europe to
absorb the culture that had ebbed so low elsewhere because of the
feudal wars and the instability of governments. A good illustration of
the commanding position Bohemia had obtained in educational matters
is the fact that in 1638 Johann Amos Comenius, noted Bohemian relig-
ious leader and secular educator, was called by the government of Swe-
den to set up a scheme for the management of the schools of that coun-
try, and a few years later was invited to join a commission that the
English parliament then intended to appoint to reform the system of
education in England.
For two centuries Bohemia maintained its lead in the intellectual
awakening which was overspreading Europe.
In 1526 the Czechs and the Austrians, both menaced by the Turks,
entered into an alliance on terms of equality, with the Hapsburgs_as
joint rulers; but almost immediately the Hapsburgs began to treat Bo-
hemia as a subject province. In 1618 the Czechs rose in revolt and were
crushed in a disastrous defeat in 1620. The Austrian Germans uprooted
the Czech aristocracy and filled their places with foreign adventurers
and the Czech nation, as a nation, practically ceased to exist.
Little was heard of the Czech nation for more than two hundred
years. Its very memory almost was lost. But, in the middle of the
Nineteenth Century there was a renaissance of national feeling. In
spite of all persecutions and repressive measures the sterling Czech
character again asserted itself, and Bohemia, as of old, once more be-
came a seat of learning. The percentage of illiteracy in Bohemia is
lower than anywhere else in Austria-Hungary, and even lower than in
Germany itself. Industrially Bohemia became the most developed and
prosperous part of Austria-Hungary, and remained so until the out-
break of the world war.
In spite of many provocations Bohemia remained essentially loyal
to the Hapsburgs during the latter half of the Nineteenth century. It
began to clamor for its rights, but would have been satisfied with equal-
ity within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
For twenty years or more, however, there has been a growing feel-
ing among the Czechs and Slovaks that they could never hope for justice.
from their German and Hungarian oppressors, who, with the greatest
severity, tried to crush out all revival of national feeling. More and
more they were convinced that only absolute independence would ever
bring them the justice to which they were entitled.
Thus it was that the opening of the world war found the Czecho-
Slovaks ripe for revolt. They were, of course, drafted into the Austro-
Hungarian armies, like all other peoples within the dual monarchy, but
they would not willingly fight their Slav brothers in Russia and Serbia.
They seized every opportunity to surrender, but not from cowardice, for
they immediately enlisted in the armies of the foes of the Central Pow-
ers. Even when Russia collapsed the Czecho-Slovaks continued to fight
with great bravery—a bravery which has at last won them recognition
from the Allied powers-a recognition which virtually amounts to a
declaration that the terms of peace which the nations of the Entente
Alliance will impose will insist on the creation of an independent
Czecho-Slovakia.
The United States was the last of the great powers among the Entente
Allies to grant this recognition, having acted on September 3, 1918. Its
recognition of the Czecho-Slovak State, however, went further than that
of any of the other powers in that it recognized the Czecho-Slovak Na-
tional Council as the de facto government of this new state, and ac-
corded to Thomas G. Masaryk, president of this council, who is making
his headquarters in Washington, the right to represent the Czecho-Slo-
vaks in a diplomatic way with the American government.
The moral qualities and political sagacity of the Bohemians are tes-
tified to by the fact that in 1871 the Bohemian Diet, alone among the
representative deliberative bodies of the world, had the wisdom and
courage to protest against the seizure of Alsace-Lorraine by Prussia.
THE JUGO-SLAVS
"Jugo" is the Slav word for "South." The Jugo-Slavs are the Slavs
who were cut off from their more northerly brothers by the Huns and
the Germans. They, at one time, inhabited practically all the Balkans
and that portion of Southern Hungary and Austria around the Adriatic
Sea, extending clear to the Alps at what is now the Italian frontier.
It was these Southern Slavs who felt the full force of the Turkish
invasion of Europe. For centuries those who resided in Bulgaria
and Serbia languished under Turkish rule. In the Fourteenth and
Fifteenth centuries there were what almost amounted to national migra-
tions into the lands of Austria and Hungary. The migrating Slavs were
welcomed by the Hapsburgs, and were promised lands and an autono-
mous government time and again. They were permitted to form the
border guard against the Turks and to do most of the hard fighting, but
they never reaped their reward. They were used, time and again by the
Hapsburgs, as pawns in their various controversies with the Magyars,
and time after time, after they had loyally helped to keep the Magyars
in subjection, they were handed over to the latter for persecution in a
settlement to appease Magyar anger.
In the Nineteenth Century, after the Serbs in Serbia had obtained
their freedom from Turkey, their blood brothers under the Austro-Hun-
garian yoke began to look to them for the freedom which they had never
been able to obtain from the Hapsburgs. This resulted in more and
more persecution from the Magyars of Hungary and the Germans of
Austria until, at the time of the outbreak of the war, the Jugo-Slavs,
likewise, were ripe for revolt, and, like the Czecho-Slovaks farther
north, refused, wherever possible, to fight in the Austrian armies.
At present the Jugo-Slavs some 12,000,000 in number-inhabit the
Austrian provinces of Goritzia, along the Italian border, the neighbor-
ing provinces of Carniola and Istria and part of Styria; Croatia and
Slavonia in Hungary, Dalmatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as
Serbia proper and Montenegro. Along the Adriatic Sea there is a little
fringe of Italian population, especially in Trieste and a few other cities,
but the great mass of population is Slavic.
All of this territory, united under one Slav government- a greater
Serbian kingdom of republic, as the case may be would form a state
of sufficient size and population to check effectually the German dream
of a German Mittel-Europa extending to the Bosporus.
Just how far the plans for uniting all the Jugo-Slavs under one
government have gone among themselves is shown by the fact that on
July 20, 1917, there was issued from the Island of Corfu, where the
Serbian government had taken up its seat, what is known as "The
Declaration of Corfu."
This provided for an establishment of "The Kingdom of the Serbs,
Croats and Slovenes" as a constitutional, democratic parliamentary
monarchy with the Karageorgevitch dynasty at its head. It made defi-
nite provision for equality of the different religions and of the flags and
coats of arms of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and provided that "the
territory of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes will comprise all the terri-
tory where our nation lives in compact masses without discontinuity,
and where it could not be mutilated without injuring the vital inter-
ests of the community.
""
This leaves room for compromise along the borders where the popu
lations are intermixed with Italians or people of other nationalities.
The declaration was signed by Nikola Pashitch, president of the
council and minister of foreign affairs of the Kingdom of Serbia, and
Dr. Anto Trumbic, president of the Jugo-Slav committee.
Professor Hinko Hinkovic, former member of the Croatian parlia-
ment, and delegate to the Hungarian parliament, now an exile from his
native land, is in the United States representing the Jugo-Slavs of Aus-
tria-Hungary. He is strongly in favor of a union of all the Jugo-Slavs
under one government.
THE RUMANIANS
Rumania took its name, its language and its culture from Ancient
Rome, and its people are partly Latin in blood. In ancient times their
country formed the outpost of the Roman Empire toward the East. Ru-
mania, like the other Balkan countries, was long under the domination
of the Turk. It was liberated part at a time with the result that some
3,000,000 Rumanians who were delivered from the Moslems before the
remainder of their brethren, found themselves subject to the domination
of the Hapsburgs and residing in the province of Transylvania and part
of Bukowina.
It was to liberate these Rumanians from the Magyar yoke that Ru-
mania entered the war. The fatal peace, which Rumania was forced to
make, following the collapse of Russia, is well known. Nominally free,
Rumania itself is now under Teutonic domination, and the hope of the
Rumanians of Hungary of joining their brethren rests solely upon an
Allied victory in the West which shall force Austria-Hungary to give up
these provinces to a really independent Rumania which will then be
large and strong enough to keep the Teutons away from the Black Sea
and to bar for them the route to the Orient.
THE CASE OF POLAND
The wrongs of Poland are too well known to need extended treat-
ment here. It will be remembered how Poland was dismembered, three
times, by Prussia, Russia and Austria. In each case the dismember-
ment was purely land grabbing. The Poles once formed one of the
most powerful nations of Europe. They were invaded on three sides
by strong neighbors, and their lands and their independence taken
away without any excuse whatever.
In territory the largest part fell to the share of Russia. Prussia,
however, followed out its policy of taking the most valuable part for
strategic reasons, and seized the Baltic coast line. To Austria went
what is now the Polish part of Galicia.
The Poles long dreamed of and occasionally fought for the recon-
struction of their independent nation, but at last it began to seem
that this could never be achieved, and the Austrian Poles, at least, had
become almost reconciled to continued existence under a foreign yoke.
The world war, however, threw the whole of Russian Poland under
German domination. Austria, likewise, is completely dominated by
Germany. The sufferings of Poland under the German invasion made
the whole world stand aghast. It is now seen that the German policy
is deliberately to depopulate Poland, so that it will not have the trouble
trying to Germanize it that it did with the portions of Poland that orig-
inally fell to Prussia's share.
With all Poland in Germany's grasp, directly or indirectly, and
Allied victory certain on the West Front, nothing short of the creation
of a completely independent Poland, strong enough to form an effectual
barrier against Germany's expansion toward the East, should satisfy the
Allied nations.

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Clarence L. Speed has for many
years been engaged in newspaper
work in Chicago. He long served
as city editor of the Chicago Rec-
ord-Herald, and as financial edi-
tor, city editor and editorial writ-
er of the Chicago Evening Post.
The nature of his work made
necessary on his part a careful
study of the Great War from the
day of its inception.

Copies may be obtained of the
War Committee of the Union
League Club of Chicago, at the
following prices, delivery pre-
paid:
Single copies
$ .05
One hundred copies............. 2.00
One thousand copies
15.00
7
Their Job and Ours
By
CLARENCE L SPEED
Published and Distributed by
JAMES MULLENBACH
ALLEN B. POND
GRAHAM TAYLOR
CHICAGO
1918
Work or fight!
That is the order that has gone out to the men of draft
age throughout the country. It is the order that every
really loyal man in America must give himself. It is the
order that even the women must heed if the United States
is to hope to overmatch that merciless autocracy which,
through its iron discipline, has mobilized every fighter,
every worker, every machine and every ounce of material
for the sole purpose of preying upon its neighbors and
making the world march to the goose step.
Their job is to fight-those boys of ours, brothers and
sons, who have gone across the seas. Day and night
they will stick to their job. Through snow and rain, heat
and sun, they will fight. They know no eight-hour day.
They have no Sundays and no holidays. Always on the
job, they brave the rain of shells and the clouds of poison
gas. They will oppose the German war machine with
their unprotected bodies, if necessary, that the outposts
of freedom may be defended and, it may be, in the end
extended.
The job of those of us who remain at home is to furnish
those boys of ours-our sons and brothers-with the
material wherewith to fight.
If we slack up on our job, they pay in lifeblood. If
we fail to supply in time the shells to break up the Hun
waves as they sweep across no-man's land, flesh of our
flesh and blood of our blood must be sacrificed to stem
the advance of the enemy. If we fail to supply the ships,
the cannon, the machine guns, the rifles, the food and the
clothing, through lack of energy and persistence in our
job, we are murdering-yes, murdering-our sons and
brothers across the sea.
Wars of today are won not by armies, but by nations.
Machinery and supplies are as important as fighting men.
The armies in the field form but the first line. Unless
they are properly equipped, they are powerless. They
can stand and die-American armies will do that if
necessary but their sacrifice will be vain unless they
can match, shell for shell, gun for gun, the power of the
enemy.
America is the richest nation in the world. But wealth
and latent resources do not count unless and until they
are turned into the machinery and equipment necessary
for use in war. The iron ore must be taken from the
ground and forged into guns and shells and ship plates
before it counts. Our forests of spruce must be felled
and planed and cured, and made to take the air before
our aviators will be of value. The sheep must be sheared,
the fields plowed and the harvests reaped before our
soldiers can be fed and clothed.
All of this means work-unremitting toil on the part
of all who remain behind.
*
"It is not money but labor which will win the war,"
says Harry Gordon Selfridge, American merchant in
London, who has seen industrial England revolutionized
since the war began. He has seen the factories which
once made luxuries for the world turned into munition
plants. He has seen members of labor unions speeding
to the limit in mines and factories, producing every
possible pound of coal and ore, guns and shells. He has
seen delicately reared women, whose hands had never
known toil, take places on farms and in factories, that
their husbands and brothers might go to face the foe in
Flanders. He knows that all the wealth in the world
will go for naught unless it is transmuted into work.
We all abhor the slacker who will not fight, and we
reverence the hero who risks his life on the battlefield.
There are slackers as well as heroes at home. The man
who deliberately slows up the driving of rivets in the
hulls of ships which are to beat the pirate submarine, is
just as much of a slacker as the man who dodges the
draft. The man who, despite aching muscles, and blind
with fatigue, staggers to his bed after breaking a world's
record in driving those same rivets, is just as worthy of
a medal as the soldier who saves the life of his comrade
under fire.
The difference between slow and fast work in shipyard
and factory may easily mean life or death for the sons
of the very workers employed there. Slowing up on the
job at home may cost the lifeblood, not of some unknown
soldier, but of your own son or brother abroad. America
must have ordnance, munitions and ships in unheard of
quantities or America cannot win the war. It is our job
to see that these things are provided promptly, amply
and continuously.
We may not be directly concerned in the manufacture.
of munitions or the building of ships, but we can help.
Every bit of useful work we do will release the labor of
someone else for the things the Government directly
needs. Every household servant employed needlessly is
robbing the nation of a worker. The woman of fashion
may release her chauffeur for army or factory, and use
the street car. She may make her own beds, care for
her own rooms, do her own cooking, and feel assured she
is working for her country. Or she may maintain, as in
times of peace, an army of help to minister to her own
comfort, and know that she is sacrificing the lives of
American boys-perhaps her own-on the altar of luxury.
Even the boys and girls may help. In Germany they
have been herded into the munition factories. It is to be
hoped that America will not have to come to that, but
American boys and girls should be shown that whatever
useful work they do releases the labor of someone else.
A
Mowing the lawn and trimming the shrubbery may seem
a thankless task to the boy until it is explained to him
that this very work may release the gardener to work on
a farm and help furnish food for our armies and our
allies. The girl who helps her mother in the home helps
release a maid for work more directly connected with the
winning of the war. War gardens tended by boys and
girls not only make available that much more food, but
they help relieve the strain on our railroads.
John Mitchell, former president of the United Mine
Workers, thus phrases the duty of those at home:
Every member of the industrial army here at home-
every wage earner-has before him a great opportunity
and a great duty. These are the things he can do:
Matth
"Do his part in speeding up the production of all the
material of war so urgently needed.
"Help save materials in order that those who have
gone 'over there' may not want for anything."
Organized labor has staked its all on the winning of
the war by America. Every individual remaining at
home should be equally determined to do everything in
his power to see that production keeps pace with the
needs of the now enormous American army in France.
Lloyd-George, premier of England, has described the
war as a race between the kaiser and Wilson. The kaiser
is desperately trying to win the war before Wilson can
bring to bear the great American resources in men and
materials.
Which side are you on, the kaiser's or Wilson's? If
you are slowing down, marking time, doing as little work
as possible, hampering the creation of the American war
machine in the slightest degree, you might as well be
an ally of the kaiser.
If you are doing your best, working and not just play-
ing at work, releasing the labor of others through self-
denial, and doing it all cheerfully, you are on Wilson's
side.
20
Copies of this pamphlet may be obtained by addressing
ALLEN B. POND,
64 E. Van Buren Street, Chicago, Ill.
Look Out for the German
Peace Trap!
By
CLARENCE L SPEED
Published and Distributed by
War Committee, Union League Club of Chicago
CHICAGO
1918
Look out for the German peace trap!
The world war, right now, is at its most critical stage-
more critical, even, than it was back in those July days
when only a handful of American marines blocked the
road to Paris.
We know today and the Kaiser knows that Germany
cannot win on the field of battle. General Foch's strategy
has mastered that of Hindenburg and Ludendorff. Ger-
man armies are in retreat all along the line.
But the German armies are making their retreat most
successfully. Nowhere have the Allies been able to cut
off and capture any large bodies of men. German military
power is still unbroken; still capable of making a long and
bloody defense.
There is real peril to us in this situation. It lies not
so much in a danger that the leaders of France, England,
Italy and the United States are going to permit themselves
to be tricked in the peace settlement which must come
sooner or later. These countries have sacrificed and
suffered too much, and the men who are guiding their des-
tinies, no doubt, are fully aware of the German wiles and
determined on the demands which shall be enforced.
But to us who remain at home, far from the fighting
line, there is danger that we may be caught; like poor,
deluded Russia, in the German peace trap. We may be
lured into a false belief that peace is immediately at hand
and that there is no use doing anything more.
We may
slow up in our efforts in shipyard, shop and mine. We
may interrupt or delay the steady, ever-growing flow of
munitions to France.
The German armies and the German people are still
under the control of the Kaiser and the same old military
machine that started the war, made of the neutrality of
Belgium a "scrap of paper," bombarded defenseless cities
from the air and sank neutral ships without warning.
The German Kaiser has proven himself a true Hohen-
zollern; an apt disciple of Frederick the Great. To him,
as to Frederick, there is no right but might; no honor but
self-interest.
"If there is anything to be gained by it we will be
honest," said Frederick the Great. "If deception is neces-
sary, let us be cheats. One takes what one can, and one is
wrong only when obliged to give back."
That is the Hohenzollern code of morality we now
have to deal with. The Kaiser is now ready to admit he
probably was wrong about Belgium because he is having
to give it back. He may even admit his grandfather was
wrong about Alsace-Lorraine, because, very likely, he will
have to give that back, too.
But if deception is necessary we have, judging from
his own acts in the past as well as 200 years of Hohen-
zollern policy, every right to assume that the Kaiser and his
advisers will be cheats. It is plain, in fact, that the cheating
already is going on on a large scale.
The Kaiser knows very well that in America there
is considerable prejudice against autocrats. He has been
told quite plainly by President Wilson-so plainly, in fact,
that he has at last begun to believe it, that this country
can make no peace with a German government which is
not responsible directly to the people.
Therefore his first job of cheating is mapped out for
him. If he can make the people of America believe that
the people of Germany have been given a voice in their
government he thinks they will tire of the war.
America, he knows, has no ruined cities like those of
France and Belgium to serve as constant reminders of
German ruthlessness; no shattered tenements and factories.
as has England; no hundreds of thousands of women who
have been forced to submit to the brutalities of the invader;
no gold star in every home.
True, America has the Lusitania to remember; and
the Tuscania; but those tragedies did not reach into every
household in the land. The Kaiser counts on the horror
aroused by these outrages having worn away. He banks
on the natural desire of every American father and mother
to have their sons back home at the earliest possible mo-
ment. The mothers in Britain and France, hundreds of
thousands of them, know that their sons are sleeping for-
ever beneath the poppies of Flanders and in the shell-torn
fields of France. No peace can bring them home. But
the Kaiser counts on the desire of the mothers in America
to see their boys speedily to aid him to make vain the
sacrifices of the mothers of Britain and France.
So the Kaiser calls in his press agents and his news
mongers.
"Tell the world that the government of Germany is
heing turned over to the people,” he says.
And the word goes out. Did you ever notice how.
ever since the war began, and in fact for years before, the
news coming from Germany has always been just best
suited the purpose of the German rulers at any particular
time?
Well, the news coming out of Germany now is all
about how the Kaiser is agreeing to let the Reichstag-the
German parliament-have the sole right to declare war in
the future; how bills are being passed making the German
ministry responsible to the representatives of the people
instead of to the emperor; how this or that reform is being
accomplished in record time.
From the German-controlled rumor factories in Hol-
land and Denmark and Switzerland come stories of riots
in German cities; of mobs shouting "Down with the
Kaiser!" and of all sorts of happenings indicating popular
uprisings.
Meanwhile the same old Hohenzollern sits on the same
old throne under the same old constitution.
What the Kaiser gives, the Kaiser can take away.
Nothing has happened to indicate that all these reforms.
got up for the benefit of the liberty-loving American people,
will not become mere "scraps of paper" just as soon as peace
has been declared.
"If deception is necessary, let us be cheats!"
The Kaiser will have to give us something more than
fair words and promises to convince us that he is not
cheating now. Some little guaranties, for instance, like
the disbanding of his armies, the surrender of his cannon,
rifles and ammunition; the turning over of his battle fleet
and his submarines to the Allies.
:
Then, when big Allied garrisons have been placed in
Metz, Strassburg, Cologne, Essen and a few other such
places to assure us that the Kaiser is not up to any old
Hohenzollern tricks, we may be inclined to believe that he
is somewhat in earnest.
But until then it seems safe to assume that his Imperia!
Majesty, the All Highest, is still on the job, trying to save
his army, to get a breathing spell to manufacture more
cannon and machine guns, to keep control over the vast
territories he now has in his power on the Eastern front
and to create dissensions among the Entente Allies which
will permit him to get away without losing his throne and
having to pay for all the misery and damage he has caused.
America has been fully awakened and the Kaiser
begins to see his doom. But if he can lull America to
sleep again while his own millions are straining every
nerve in the great Krupp works and building lines of de-
fense on their own frontiers; it is more than probable that
Germany may reappear next spring with fresh supplies
of guns and ammunition and renewed determination to
fight the war out to the finish.
If we slow down and Germany does not, it will mean
that hundreds of thousands more of American lives must
be sacrificed before the Kaiser can be crushed.
20
Copies of this pamphlet may be obtained by addressing
ALLEN B. POND,
64 E. Van Buren Street, Chicago, Ill.
After you have read this pamphlet, please pass it on in order that
the message it carries may reach the largest number of persons.
THE WORLD'S NEXT STEP-
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
1
By
Clarence L. Speed
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB
OF CHICAGO
1919
After you have read this pamphlet please pass it on in order that the message it
carries may reach the largest number of persons.

Clarence L. Speed, a newspaperman
of long experience as writer and editor,
during the war period, at the instance of
the War Committee of the Union
League Club of Chicago, prepared sev-
eral pamphlets and much material for
the press, tending to bring about solid-
arity in support of the Government.
Among his pamphlets which were given
wide circulation by the War Committee
were Why We Fight, and Our Peril on
the Eastern Front, both of which were
used as reading texts in the Chicago
High Schools.
Additional copies may be obtained of the
War Committee of The Union League Club of Chicago
at the following prices, delivery prepaid:
Single copy
One hundred copies
One thousand copies.
5 cents
$ 2.00
$15.00
·
THE WORLD'S NEXT STEP-
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
At the Parting of the Ways
WO great forces are at work in the world as the peace
conference which is to play such an important part in
directing the future course of civilization, is about to
T
convene.
One is an intense nationalism, a spirit which has been
gaining ground for the last three or four decades, and which
the stress of war fanned into a bright flame.
The other is internationalism, a spirit of world brother-
hood, which likewise long has been making progress and
has gained great impetus through the sorrow and misery
entailed by the life and death struggle of nations.
Both of these forces, properly guided, contain within
themselves powerful influences for good. Either, misused,
may work infinite harm.
Nationalism, at its best, is nothing more nor less than
patriotism. We, in America, feel it when we thrill to the
strains of the Star Spangled Banner; when tears, not of sor-
row, but of pride, fill our eyes as we see a regiment of sol-
diers marching away to war; when we salute the flag. We
cannot but admire the nationalism by which the Poles, the
Bohemians or the Southern Slavs kept alive their language
and traditions despite centuries of oppression, and the
French of Alsace-Lorraine clung to the ideals of the land
of their nativity.
C
Nationalism, at its worst, was an arrogant Germany
feeling that the Germans alone were God's chosen people
and that the remainder of the world was made but to serve,
starting out to enforce its will on mankind by the sword.
Oppressed Become Oppressors.
Between these two extremes we see many variations of
nationalism. We see peoples, barely freed from oppression
themselves, starting out to oppress others in order to restore
ancient national greatness founded on conquest and despot-
ism; we see nations which have fought steadfastly against
4
THE WORLD'S NEXT STEP
aggression voicing their claims to rule over others who
should rule themselves, seeking thereby to extend their
power and influence or to increase their national wealth.
Internationalism, at its best, means a world actuated
solely by fairness and justice, imbued with a desire to live
and let live, to profit not on the misfortunes of others, but
with others as they progress.
At its worst internationalism is seized upon as a medium
of expression by the sentimental pacifist, the oft misguided
socialist, the bolshevist and the anarchist, and, through
them, gives opportunity for the volunteer agent or paid spy
of an unscrupulous power to work against organized society
on which the state is founded.
Nationalism, at its worst, means war, and ever more
war, as long as it is unrestrained. At its best it means order,
prosperity, and a justifiable pride in national achievement.
Internationalism, at its worst, invites disorder, and
chaos-the destruction of much of the progress which man
has made since he first learned to act in common with his
fellows. At its best it means guaranteed peace, guaranteed
prosperity, guaranteed opportunity to progress without fear
of attack from the arrogant or warlike.
Opposing Interests May Clash.
These forces-nationalism and internationalism-will
shape the outline of the peace conference. Whether or
not they will clash depends largely on how the nationalism
manifests itself-on how far down the scale from its best it
makes itself felt.
As for internationalism, it already has become apparent
that it is to appear at its best. Short-sighted pacifism and
anarchy will have no voice in the conference. The inter-
nationalistic spirit will be typified by the presence in person
of President Wilson, who as the spokesman for the United
States, stands for an ordered peace, a lasting peace, a guar-
anteed peace. And the only way to get such a peace, he has
declared repeatedly, is to form a League of Nations-a
league not to tear down, but to upbuild and strengthen the
free nations of the earth, leaving free play to patriotism,
to progress and to justifiable national pride; a league just to
the weakest, but strong enough to curb the ambitions of the
most powerful.
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
5
In April, 1918, England, France and Italy were fighting
for their very lives, but fighting a divided fight, each nation
acting practically as it pleased. The hot breath of destruc-
tion fanned their very faces. They could feel the point of
the conquerer's sword pressing ever nearer and nearer the
heart.
In the crisis they put aside their pride and their jeal-
ousies. When life itself is at stake little else matters. Com-
pelled by the power of the aggressor they pooled all their
resources under a single command, much as a League of
Nations might do. England gave up the control of its army;
Italy resigned its troops to another; Belgium, Serbia, Greece,
even the United States, whose peril was less immediate if not
less certain, all handed over the supreme command of their
armies, which, heretofore, in spite of many disasters, had
been acting as individual units, picking their own time to
attack and making their own plans for defense, to Marshal
Foch, the French commander in chief.
<ta
Victory Follows Unified Command.
And what was the result? Victory, swift and decisive.
Marshal Foch was enabled to choose the manner of defense,
the time to make it, and the troops on which to call, no
matter where they might be stationed. To stem the final
German onrush and block the path to Paris he called in from
a distance the young, vigorous, enthusiastic troops from the
United States eager to try their mettle. They held. To
make the first counter attack he again chose the Americans.
They succeeded at Chateau Thierry. And then, from one
end of the line to the other he called in succession on the
British, the Belgians, the French, the Italians, the Greeks
and the Serbs. Wherever the enemy showed a sign of
weakness he struck. Not a moment's rest did Foch give
him. Blow after blow, first here, then there, and then in two
or three theaters of war at once were struck, and soon the
great German army was beaten to its knees and begging for
mercy-within a few months after these separate sovereign
states agreed to act as one.
Unification of command showed the nations opposed to
Germany how to win a war. Will it fail to show how to
guarantee a peace? The war itself showed the world the
6
THE WORLD'S NEXT STEP
horror of nationalism run riot. The collapse of the German
military autocracy removed the immediate peril, but at the
same time it revived long repressed national ambitions and
aroused dread of internationalism with power in the hands
of extremists. Armies had held at bay the march of the
conqueror, but they could not prevent the infiltration of
bolshevism, manifesting itself as merely the substitution of
utterly lawless oppression for a social condition which,
whatever its defects, was not wholly chaotic.
Nationalism to Have Big Voice.
At the peace conference the representatives of the vic-
tors will dictate terms to the vanquished. Also they will
have to make terms with each other and settle upon the
status of the new nations carved from the wreck of despotic
empires. Nationalism, wise or unwise, will have a big voice.
At times it may-undoubtedly will be heard on the side of
justice.
Unwise nationalism, it is to be hoped, will be held in
check by the new internationalism-the kind that demands.
a sane enforcement of peace, a sane but firm curbing of the
ambitions not only of monarchs, but of nations. This new
internationalism points to the creation of a League of Na-
tions, not the formation of separate groups of allies intent
upon maintaining the so-called balance of power, which is
thrown out of balance every time any member puts a new
regiment into training or a new warship into commission.
Great as is the task of fixing new boundaries and de-
termining the amount of indemnities, it is only minor work
of the conference, as compared to the job of making the
world safe from wars in the future, relieving the people of
the economic burden of militarism and freeing mankind of
the age-old terror of attack.
The conference, no doubt, will accomplish the first part
of its task. Whether or not it can accomplish the second,
and more lasting part, depends upon the knowledge and
sentiment of the free peoples of free lands. They must let
their statesmen know, in no uncertain terms, what they
want. If they want so-called glory, and extension of boun-
daries, and more wars, they will get them. If they want
guaranteed peace they can go far in that direction by unit-
ing in a League of Nations.
The World's March Toward
Justice
I
Sa League of Nations to Enforce Peace possible?
The whole history of the progress of mankind indi-
cates that it is. What is more, it points to such a league
as the logical next step.
Man is distinguished from the lower animals chiefly
because of his capacity for reasoned action in concert with
his fellows. It is easy to imagine our early ancestors, each
acting for himself, struggling for what they could wrest,
with fang and claw from the other beasts of the jungle.
A great step in human progress was made when man
learned that he could be more effective if he hunted or
fought in packs. But man progressed further. He learned
to work in concert with his fellows. He learned to delve
and to build, to till the soil-never alone, but always in co-
operation with others of his tribe. Then he learned to dele-
gate authority-or rather the authority of the strong was
imposed upon him-and there appeared some semblance of
order, of tribal government.
This brings us down to recorded history. Man de-
veloped fastest in regions of the earth in which the ancient
empires arose. We need not go back to them, but may look
among the peoples now most concerned in the formation of
a League of Nations, and whose development toward this is
recent enough for us to be able to study it carefully, for the
various steps leading up to the now very apparent need and
very evident desire for such a league.
Wild Tribes Destroy Rome.
Some fifteen hundred years ago, as the great Roman Em-
pire was breaking up, western Europe was overrun by wild
tribes, intent only on despoiling their neighbors, and recog-
nizing no law but brute force. Those who fell before them
were made the victims of all manner of cruelty and lust.
The invaders, however, profited morally and mentally
as well as materially from contact with the people of the
more developed lands. They learned, slowly and painfully,
8
THE WORLD'S NEXT STEP
it is true, the benefits of a settled life. They camped where
it was convenient, and oftentimes turned their camps into
cities and towns.
Here it would seem, civilization took a step backward.
Great groups under single leaders broke up into smaller
groups under many leaders. Each leader, dubbing himself
chief or count or king, as the case might be, built himself a
castle, gathered his henchmen about him, and ruled as his
despotic will might dictate.
As a result there descended upon the world that period
known as the dark ages. Every noble made petty wars upon
his neighbors as he saw fit. A drunken brawl or a quarrel
for a lady's favor would provoke a war in which thousands
of innocent men might perish.
But time went on and the spirit of nationalism mani-
fested itself anew. More and more, power was centralized.
The authority of petty nobles was gradually curtailed and
nations, such as we see them today, grew up. This process
was not completed in Germany until the nineteenth century.
Many a man now living remembers when more than a
score of petty kingdoms and principalities were merged into
a centralized empire.
Alliances the Next Step.
Following the creation of nations able to restrain the
powerful within their own borders, the next step was an
alliance of nations. There have been alliances of nations-
leagues, if you please for many centuries. But the early
alliances were for the purpose of making war and not to
enforce peace. They worked. It was an alliance of nations
which partitioned Poland. It was something like a real
League of Nations which overthrew the power of Napoleon.
But the world had not progressed to the point where
war was considered an unmitigated calamity. The rights
of peoples were not respected. Patriotism was centered
about dynasties or leaders. It was intensely personal. Ex-
tension of territory over unwilling subjects was considered
the proper thing.
Following the French revolution in Europe, and pre-
ceding it in England and America, there began to grow up a
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
9
new conception of the state. The rights of peoples began
to take precedence over the glory of monarchs. The spirit
of nationalism grew amazingly; but it began to be real
nationalism. Men of similar blood and language and aspira-
tions felt drawn to each other and away from rulers repre-
senting different ideals. It began to be recognized, too, that
the people and not the kings were the sufferers when wars
were made and that the people of conquering states had to
sacrifice and suffer as well as the conquered.
The growth of this movement was slow. The old idea
of national glory and national expansion died hard. In fact
it may not be extinct even yet, though we may hope that the
last powerful survivor perished on Nov. 11, 1918, when the
armistice which ended the world war was signed.
Balance of Power Shields Turkey.
Previous to that time there had been numerous occa-
sions when nations acted together to prevent wars, to localize
them, or to stop an aggressive empire from growing more
powerful. Turkey was maintained, for a century after it
should have been expelled from Europe and curbed in Asia,
by the concert of nations, each fearing to let the other gain
territory at Turkey's expense. Sometimes entire peoples,
but more often sections of them, were given their freedom,
not usually because the right of peoples to freedom was
genuinely recognized, but because one group of nations was
afraid to see another aggrandized and did not feel like pay-
ing the price of a general war to aggrandize itself. Thus
were Rumania, Serbia and Bulgaria rescued from the Turk
and at the same time saved from Russia and Austria.
Europe, just prior to 1914, was, in effect, organized into
two hostile leagues of nations, with three powerful nations
on each side and the smaller countries out in the cold.
These two leagues, known as the Triple Alliance and the
Triple Entente, were chiefly concerned in preserving the
balance of power, and each side had a different interpre-
tation of what the balance should be. Until, at last, one
group felt itself strong enough to risk a general strife, each
group would offset gains by the other, either through do-
mestic growth, or progress or foreign acquisition of territory,
10
THE WORLD'S NEXT STEP
by helping itself to as much of someone else's property as
it could get away with.
Central Powers Seek World Rule.
The Central Powers finally came to the conclusion they
were strong enough to risk a final battle for world suprem-
acy. Italy, for various reasons, refused to act with them,
and they were forced to make it a struggle of Teutonism
against the world, only two neutrals siding with them while
nearly a score of neutral nations, recognizing a world peril,
took sides with the Entente.
The defeat of the Central Powers brings us up to the
logical next step. The whole world has finally learned that
war, no matter how just the cause, entails enormous suffer-
ing. The world today is a unit, as never before, in demand-
ing that war, if possible, be abolished.
Twenty-one nations either were allied or working in
close harmony on one side of the struggle the victorious.
side. Only four were on the other side, and they were utterly
defeated. There can be no more balance of power in the
old sense.
The victors are about to impose terms upon the van-
quished. They will have to act, for some time to come, in
concert to enforce these terms. Whether they wish it or
not they will have to maintain some sort of co-operation
for years.
Here, then, is the nucleus for a League of Nations already
in action. Why not make this league permanent? Why not
take steps to this end during the peace conference?
All Nations to Come In.
Germany, one predatory nation, will have to abide by
its rulings, whether or no, and co-operative machinery of
law enforcement must be maintained to see that Germany
does so abide. The nations now remaining neutral, lack-
ing power to oppose the decisions which the victors in the
war might propose now or in future, naturally would seek
to join in order to have a voice. Germany itself, being for
the time under the tutelage of this league, might be admitted
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
11
either now or as soon as she has proven her worthiness by
her acts of reparation and repentance. The newly created
weak nations, emerging from oppression, no doubt would
welcome the protection and guidance of the league and seek
membership at once.
The spirit of nationalism, having been brought to its
logical development by the freeing of peoples formerly gov-
erned against their will, would find by co-operation with the
spirit of an enlightened internationalism determined to put
an end to wars of aggression, opportunity for the fullest
advancement, free from the burden of militarism which
heretofore has held back the weak and allowed only the
strong to forge ahead.
National Honor and National
Safety
W
ORLD leaders having found that it is possible for
nations to act in concert when the motives are suf-
ficiently compelling, and believing that the pres-
ervation of peace is at this moment a motive almost uni-
versal, see remaining many details to be settled before a
League of Nations can be so organized as to be considered
to be operating on anything like a permanent basis.
A
Among those who emphatically favor the formation of
such a league there are many who would have it as elastic
as possible, interfering as little as may be with the ordinary
functions of nations, leaving them free to provide for their
defense as they see fit, but operating under a general under-
standing that peace must be kept and justice must be done.
Another group would organize on very definite lines,
with all the rules laid down in black and white as to how
nations must conduct themselves, what their armaments
shall be, on what basis they shall have representation in the
league, how much each shall contribute to the world police
force of armies and navies, and just how these armies and
navies shall be commanded. By these means alone, they
believe, can national ambitions be curbed and national ani-
mosities and jealousies prevented from resulting in war.
Local Interests Affect Attitude.
Local perils, local needs, local ambitions, will have much
to do with the lengths to which individual nations will be
prepared to go in delegating to a league any attribute of
sovereignty and their abilities to organize, for defense or
even offense. It is conceivable that weak nations, ringed
by powerful neighbors, such as Czecho-Slovakia, or Belgium,
or Switzerland, might be perfectly willing to go very far
in placing the burden of their defense on the league, in view
of the fact that they exist under present conditions only so
long as it does not suit the convenience of some more power-
ful country to conquer them.
Again it is evident that a powerful nation like Great
Britain which, for centuries, has found its fleet an impreg-
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
13
nable defense, would hesitate a long time before being will-
ing to surrender such a weapon to other hands. It first
would have to be assured, by years of successful operation,
that a League of Nations would be strong enough and wise
enough and just enough to give it the protection which it
now has and absolutely must have and which it believes
itself capable of maintaining.
T
On the continent of Europe where, almost since the
dawn of history, nations have faced each other at frontiers
which are only imaginary lines, and have relied upon power-
ful armies to defend themselves from aggression-not to
mention the times each one has used armies as instruments
of aggression-it is easy to see that the move to disarm and
trust everything to a league in which there might arise fac-
tions and cliques, would be of slow growth.
How Germany Would Run It.
We can conceive of a nation like Germany-such a
Germany as we have learned to know in the last few years
-desiring, if it entered a league at all to have everything
mapped out according to rule, with this and that and the
other thing "verboten," and an international police force,
overbearing and insolent, going up and down the world
making governments toe the mark.
There is much talk among statesmen-for such the men
who direct the great internal and foreign affairs of nations.
like to be called-about the honor of nations, which cannot
be confided to the care of any superior power, but must be
defended at whatever cost and by whatever means.
On the other hand there is a growing feeling among
peoples that the sort of national honor which is mostly
talked of by the people who puff out their chests and put
chips on their shoulders, is composed of ignorance, insular-
ity, prejudice and selfishness.
In all lands which make any pretense to civilization
individuals have delegated to the state or had taken from
them by the state, rights and privileges which they once
possessed without feeling that they have sacrificed one whit
of their individual honor. The average American citizen
does not feel himself the least bit aggrieved because there
is a power above him which will prevent him from stealing
14
THE WORLD'S NEXT STEP
his neighbor's goods, setting fire to his neighbor's house or
murdering his neighbor's wife and children. Even if he
and his neighbor quarrel he is perfectly willing that the
matter be settled in the courts instead of by a duel. Those
who refuse to submit to this power he considers criminals.
He rejoices in the punishment of a thief or a murderer. He
is more than willing to submit to having his privileges to
steal and kill curtailed in order to obtain the protection
afforded him by having his neighbor's privilege to commit
violence likewise checked.
Private Honor and National Honor.
If a man is willing to put the honor of himself and his
family in the keeping of the law, why should he not like-
wise be willing to put the honor of his country in such keep-
ing? What honor, more than that of the individual, could a
nation have which could not be settled by an international
court? Individuals, long ago, substituted the trial by jury
for the trial by battle. Why should not nations?
It cannot be within the province of this paper to attempt.
to designate the form which a League of Nations should
take. The combined wisdom of all the great men who sit
about the peace table will be taxed to the utmost even to
work out the beginnings of such a league. It would be folly
to presume that they will make it perfect at the start. It is
to be hoped that they will not attempt to make it so rigid that
it will be too inflexible to meet changing conditions. It
would be ridiculous to assume that mankind has reached
the pinnacle of development and that a League of Nations
or anything else should attempt to maintain things just as
they are today, allowing for no future progress and prevent-
ing all future change.
Most Americans, however, would be willing to see the
so-called sovereign rights of their country more or less
abridged in the interests of world peace. In their own his-
tory they saw thirteen sovereign states, with conflicting ter-
ritorial claims, divergent religious beliefs and widely differ-
ing customs and ideals, voluntarily surrender a large share
of their powers to a central government. They saw this
central government, not without many trials, it is true,
settle these conflicting claims and interests and weld these
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
15
thirteen states and others which since have been admitted
to the Union, into one homogeneous whole, not one of which
now would any more think of going to war with another
than an honest man would consider murdering and robbing
his brother-in-law.
Expect Nation to Be Honest.
Most Americans expect also, that their government is
not likely at any time ever to start out to grab from another
territories to which it has no right. They do not believe our
national honor would in any way be infringed upon if this
country voluntarily joined in a League of Nations which
could and would, by force if necessary, prevent the United
States or any other country from wantonly attacking and
despoiling its neighbors.
Feeling thus, it is their duty to let their sentiments be
known so that those who represent them at the peace con-
ference may proceed with the greatest assurance that they
are acting with the full knowledge and consent of the great
majority of the people-a people who will fight to the death
for a principle, but will never make a war of aggression.
The Stand of America
H
OWEVER much difference of opinion there may be
as to the form and powers of the proposed League
of Nations, it now seems that France, Great Britain
and the United States, the three most powerful countries in
the world today, will go into the peace conference definitely
committed to the plan. They will seek to organize the
league and cause it to begin to function at once so that its
machinery will be in action when the peace treaties are
signed and the time comes for demobilizing the vast armies
that are still held in readiness to enforce upon the vanquished
the will of the victors.
President Wilson, long before he went to Europe, was
definitely committed to the proposal to form a League of
Nations. Following his conferences with the leaders in
France and England, responsible heads of the governments
of both of those nations announced their adherence to the
plan.
France for League of Nations.
Stephen Pichon, French minister of foreign affairs, on
Dec. 29, 1918, formally committed his government to it when
he outlined France's peace program to the Chamber of
Deputies. "The French government has adopted the prin-
ciple of a League of Nations," he said, "and is now busy
working towards its effective realization."
A day earlier Premier Lloyd George announced to the
assembled correspondents of American newspapers who had
gone to London with the President, that England was in full
accord with President Wilson on the proposal to create a
League of Nations as one of the early proceedings in the
peace conference. Coming just after the elections in which
his government was returned to power by an overwhelming
majority, the Premier's statement may be taken to mean that
the proposal to form a league will have no formidable
opposition in England.
On Dec. 6, 1918, Arthur J. Balfour, secretary of state for
foreign affairs, in`a formal interview given to the Asso-
ciated Press, said:
"I think a League of Nations is a vital necessity if this
war is to produce all the good we expect to come out of it.
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
17
The United States would have to bear a large share of the
work it involves. It should be something more than a mere
instrument to prevent war. I believe a League of Nations
will be required to superintend and control not only the
criminal ambitions of great autocracies, but to prevent any
rash and inconsiderate countries from going to war. Hold-
ing this view I regard a League of Nations as the greatest
work of the conference."
In the United States, especially in the Senate, the body
which has the power to ratify or reject treaties, there has
been considerable tendency to point out the practical diffi-
culties in the way of organizing a League of Nations if not
actually to oppose it in principle. A great many hypothetical
questions have been raised as to what would happen in this
event or that, giving the public the impression that a league
would not be able to deal with them.
President Wilson's Attitude.
Up to the present time neither England nor France has
attempted to outline just what form they propose the league.
should take to do anything like drawing up a constitution
and by-laws for it. Nor has President Wilson himself gone
so far, though, in his New York address of Sept. 27, 1918,
he went much further than the statesmen of other countries
when he said:
"We accepted the issues of the war as facts, not as any
group of men either here or elsewhere had defined them,
and we can accept no outcome which does not squarely meet
and settle them.
"Those issues are these:
"Shall the military power of any nation or group of
nations be suffered to determine the fortunes of peoples
over whom they have no right or rule except the right of
force?
"Shall strong nations be free to wrong weak nations
and make them subject to their purpose and interest?
"Shall peoples be ruled and dominated, even in their
own internal affairs, by arbitrary and irresponsible force or
by their own will and choice?
"Shall there be a common standard of right and privi-
lege for all peoples and nations or shall the strong do as
they will and the weak suffer without redress?
18
THE WORLD'S NEXT STEP
"Shall the assertion of right be haphazard and by casual
alliance or shall there be a common concert to oblige the
observance of common rights?
All Must Pay the Price.
"If it be indeed and in truth the common object of the
governments associated against Germany and of the nations
whom they govern, as I believe it to be, to achieve by the
coming settlements a secure and lasting peace, it will be
necessary that all who sit down at the peace table shall
come ready and willing to pay the price, the only price, that
will procure it; and ready and willing, also, to create in
some virile fashion the only instrumentality by which it
can be made certain that the agreements of the peace will
be honored and fulfilled.
"That price is impartial justice in every item of the
settlement, no matter whose interest is crossed; and not only
impartial justice, but also the satisfaction of the several
peoples whose fortunes are dealt with. That indispensable
instrumentality is a League of Nations formed under cove-
nants that will be efficacious. Without such an instru-
mentality, by which the peace of the world can be guaran-
teed, peace will rest in part upon the word of outlaws, and
only upon that word. For Germany will have to redeem
her character, not by what happens at the peace table, but
what follows.
"And, as I see it, the constitution of that League of
Nations and the clear definition of its object must be a part,
is in a sense the most essential part, of the peace settlement
itself. It cannot be formed now. If formed now, it would
be merely a new alliance confined to the nations associated
against a common enemy. It is not likely that it could be
formed after the settlement. It is necessary to guarantee
the peace; and the peace cannot be guaranteed as an after-
thought. The reason to speak in plain terms again, why it
must be guaranteed, is that there will be parties to the peace
whose promises have proved untrustworthy, and means
must be found in connection with the peace settlement itself
to remove that source of insecurity. It would be folly to
leave the guarantee to the subsequent voluntary action of
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
19
the governments we have seen destroy Russia and deceive
Rumania.
The Particulars of Justice.
"But these general terms do not disclose the whole mat-
ter. Some details are needed to make them sound less like
a thesis and more like a practical program. These,
then,
are some of the particulars, and I state them with the greater
confidence because I can state them authoritatively as rep-
resenting this government's interpretation of its own duty
with regard to peace:
"First, the impartial justice meted out must involve no
discrimination between those to whom we wish to be just
and those to whom we do not wish to be just. It must be a
justice that plays no favorites and knows no standard but
the equal rights of the several peoples concerned;
"Second, no special or separate interest of any single
nation or any group of nations can be made the basis of any
part of the settlement which is not consistent with the com-
mon interest of all;
"Third, there can be no leagues or alliances or special
covenants and understandings within the general and com-
mon family of the League of Nations;
"Fourth, and more specifically, there can be no special,
selfish economic combinations within the league and no em-
ployment of any form of economic boycott or exclusion
except as the power of economic penalty by exclusion from
the markets of the world may be vested in the League of
Nations itself as a means of discipline and control;
"Fifth, all international agreements and treaties of every
kind must be made known in their entirety to the rest of
the world.
C
"The confidence with which I venture to speak for our
people in these matters does not spring from our traditions
merely and the well-known principles of international action
which we have always professed and followed. In the same
sentence in which I say that the United States will enter
into no special arrangements or understandings with par-
ticular nations, let me say also that the United States is pre-
pared to assume its full share of responsibility for the
maintenance of the common covenants and understandings
upon which peace must henceforth rest."
Two Organizations Work for
League
I'
N the United States two active organizations, with main
headquarters in New York, are working for the estab-
lishment of a League of Nations. They have made
some attempt to work out a program of organization and
purposes for the league, recognizing, of course, that their
efforts are only tentative. They agree on general details,
and differ only on minor points. Both have worked out or
revised their platforms or statements of principles since the
armistice was signed, though one was in existence even
before the United States entered the world war.
The elder organization is The League to Enforce Peace,
of which William Howard Taft is president and Alton B.
Parker is vice-president. Its list of honorary vice-presidents
contains the names of many important men and women. Its
revised platform is as follows:
"The war now happily brought to a close has been
above all a war to end war, but in order to ensure the fruits
of victory and to prevent the recurrence of such a catas-
trophe there should be formed a League of Free Nations,
as universal as possible, based upon treaty and pledged that
the security of each state shall rest upon the strength of the
whole. The initiating nucleus of the membership of the
league should be the nations associated as belligerents in
winning the war.
Opportunity for All Nations.
"The league should aim at promoting the liberty, prog-
ress, and fair economic opportunity of all nations, and the
orderly development of the world.
"It should ensure peace by eliminating causes of dis-
sension, by deciding controversies by peaceable means, and
by uniting the potential force of all the members as a stand-
ing menace against any nation that seeks to upset the peace
of the world.
"The advantages of membership in the league, both
economically and from the point of view of security, should
be so clear that all nations will desire to be members of it.
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
21
"For this purpose it is necessary to create-
1. For the decision of justiciable questions, an
impartial tribunal whose jurisdiction shall depend
upon the assent of the parties to the controversy;
provision to be made for enforcing its decisions.
2. For questions that are not justiciable in
their character, a Council of Conciliation, as medi-
ator, which shall hear, consider, and make recom-
mendations; and failing acquiescence by the parties
concerned, the league shall determine what action,
if any, shall be taken.
3. An administrative organization for the con-
duct of affairs of common interest, the protection
and care of backward regions and international
places, and such matters as have been jointly ad-
ministered before and during the war. We hold
that this object must be attained by methods and
through machinery that will ensure both stability and
progress; preventing, on the one hand, any crystal-
lization of the status quo that will defeat the forces
of healthy growth and changes, and providing, on the
other hand, a way by which progress can be secured
and necessary change effected without recourse to
war.
4. A representative Congress to formulate and
codify rules of international law, to inspect the
work of the administrative bodies and to consider
any matter affecting the tranquility of the world or
the progress or betterment of human relations. Its
deliberations should be public.
5. An Executive Body, able to speak with au-
thority in the name of the nations represented, and
to act in case the peace of the world is endangered.
"The representation of the different nations in the
organs of the league should be in proportion to the responsi-
bilities and obligations they assume. The rules of interna-
tional law should not be defeated for lack of unanimity.
"No member of the league should make any other of-
fensive or defensive treaty or alliance, and all treaties of
22
THE WORLD'S NEXT STEP
whatever nature made by any member of the league should
at once be made public.
"Such a league must be formed at the time of the definite
peace, or the opportunity may be lost forever."
The League of Free Nations.
The other organization is known as The League of Free
Nations Association. It has in its list of charter members
many well-known men and women. In its statement of
principles it points out the general need of organizing a
League of Nations and epitomizes its idea of what the league
should be in the following words:
“A universal association of nations based upon the prin-
ciple that the security of each shall rest upon the strength
of the whole, pledged to uphold international arrangements
giving equality of political right and economic opportunity,
the association to be based upon a constitution democratic
in character, possessing a central council or parliament as
truly representative as possible of all the political parties
in the constituent nations, open to any nation, and only such
nation, whose government is responsible to the people. The
formation of such an association should be an integral part
of the settlement itself and its territorial problems, and not
distinct therefrom. It should prohibit the formation of
minor leagues or special covenants, or special economic com-
binations, boycotts, or exclusions. Differences between
members should be submitted to its judicial bodies. Its ad-
ministrative machinery should be built up from the inter-
allied bodies already in existence, expended into interna-
tional bodies differentiated in function and democratized in
constitution. The effective sanction of the association
should be not only the combined military power of the
whole used as an instrument of repression, but also such use
of the world-wide control of economic resources as would
make it more advantageous for a state to become and remain
a member of the association and to co-operate with it, than
to challenge it."
Seek to Harmonize Plans.
These plans are submitted, without indorsement as to
details, as illustrations of how far two intelligent and earn-
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
23
est groups in America have gone toward devising a work-
able scheme for a League of Nations. There are groups,
likewise, in England and France, which have drawn up more
or less comprehensive programs, and a movement is on foot
to bring together all of these associations, take from the
programs of each that which seems most fitting, and submit
to the peace conference a draft of a plan which would come
most nearly to meeting the needs of all the nations involved.
So far as is known President Wilson and the govern-
ments of England and France have not definitely worked out
their scheme for the establishment of a League of Nations.
The problem, however, is being given the most careful study
here and in Europe. Recognizing fully the many difficulties
to be overcome, it would seem that the people of America,
without waiting for the definite program to be announced,
should consider carefully the general idea, should decide
for themselves whether they wish the world to wag on in
the same old way or desire that a new and better order
should result from the tremendous conflict just closed, and
that, having decided, they should let their representatives
in Congress know their decision in order that constructive
suggestion may replace captious criticism.
20
PAMPHLETS OF INTEREST
DURING THE
RECONSTRUCTION
PERIOD
Printed by
THE WAR COMMITTEE
OF THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF CHICAGO
THE BASES OF
DURABLE PEACE
Being the five addresses of President Wilson in which he sets
forth the famous "Fourteen Points" and other condi-
tions which Germany accepted as the bases of
negotiations for an armistice.
(Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.50; 1,000 copies, $20.00.)
PUBLIC WORKS, OR
PUBLIC CHARITY?
By Harold G. Moulton
A pamphlet dealing with the necessity of providing “buffer em-
ployment" to prevent suffering during the
demobilization period.
(Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00; 1,000 copies, $15.00.)
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
By Ralph B. Dennis
An address delivered by the Chicago educator, who was one of
the last Americans to leave Russia, on conditions and
their causes in this much misunderstood land.
(Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00; 1,000 copies, $15.00.)
Russia In Revolution
And Its Lesson to America
An address delivered before the Union League
Club of Chicago, December 12th, 1918
By
Ralph B. Dennis
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB
OF CHICAGO
1919
After you have read this pamphlet, please pass it on in order that the message
it carries may reach the highest number of persons.

Ralph B. Dennis of Northwestern
1
}
F
University, first went abroad as a rep-
resentative of the Young Men's Chris-
tian Association. After being in Russia
six months, he was retained by the
United States Government as Consul at
Moscow, and was among the Americans
besieged.
Mr. Dennis was on the last train for
foreigners out of Russia, and his pic-
ture of conditions there gives informa-
tion of vital interest at this time.
6
Copies may be obtained of the
War Committee of The Union League Club of Chicago
at the following prices, delivery prepaid:
5 cents
$ 2.00
- $15.00
Single copy
One hundred copies
One thousand copies
1
Russia in Revolution
"
And Its Lesson to America
I
HOPE that I may, as the speaker of the evening, be
pardoned for appearing before this assemblage in the
habiliments of everyday life. I have been so long sep-
arated from my trunk that it has become a habit for me to
wear with pleasure the one suit of clothes I own.
There are several subjects about which I'd like to talk
tonight. I'd like to talk about our American Army, about
the new Americanism, about the League of Nations, but it
so happens that I was in Russia for nearly a year and hence.
I am to speak about that country and its troubles.
In November, 1917, I landed in Vladivostock. On the
second day of September, 1918, I and a hundred and more
other Americans on a special train arrived at a little station
about thirty-five miles from Petrograd. We walked about
two hundred yards to a little country bridge across a coun-
try stream, presented our passports, and were soon in Fin-
land. We were out, and glad to be out. Things had been
getting a "bit thick" back there in Moscow and Petrograd.
Sees Much of Russia.
During my stay in Russia I passed across Siberia to
Moscow, went south to Rostov-on-the-Don, had an oppor-
tunity there to see the Kaledine-Kornilov attempt to raise a
Volunteer Army, was there when Kaledine killed himself
and when Kornilov made his last rear-guard defense of
Rostov. After that show was over I went back through the
Ukraine to Kharkhov and Moscow, making the trip on the
private car of a second Captain Kidd, though this gentleman
operated on land and not on sea. A month in Petrograd, a
few weeks in Moscow again, and three months in Nizhny
Novgorod completed the itinerary.
In that time I twice rode first-class. The remainder
of the time I did it second-class and third, and fourth, which
last is in a box car with plank seats about the sides. Rail-
road conditions were beyond description. In these box cars.
were jammed many people, soldiers and peasants, men,
4
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
1
women and children. I traded food with them. Sight-un-
seen I traded vermin with them and always got the worst
of the bargain, be it said. We all had a lively time. Twice
I lived in the homes of wealthy people, as fine folk as I wish
to meet in this world. And out of my experience I want to
say that I like Russia and that I like the Russian people. I
believe in their future. They have in them the possibilities
of a great nation. I thoroughly believe in their potential
greatness.
Urges Background of Sympathy.
For the background of this talk I wish that I might
take the time to make you feel about Russia as you felt
before this war. Feel now as you did when you read Ken-
nan's stories about the exiles in Siberia, as you did after
hearing the Grandmother of the Revolution! Create again
the horror and indignation that were yours when you read
Artzibashev's little story "Nina," or his "The Revolutionist."
Go back to your memory of Dostievsky's story of his years
in exile, for if Russia ever deserved your sympathy she de-
serves it now. And while you may not approve of what the
present rulers of Russia are doing you will understand much
better if you think of that great country in terms of sym-
pathy.
May I give a little information about Russia. Most of
us think of that country as a land of whiskers where words
end in either "ski" or "vitch." Russia owns one-seventh of
the earth. It is like our country and Canada put together.
There are about 200 million of people, some 35 races and
over a hundred dialects and languages. Petrograd, a great
city in Russia and in the world, is 60 degrees north and if you
follow the line around on a map you will find that it runs
north of Chilkoot Pass, Alaska. And Rostov-on-the-Don,
down on the Sea of Azov, is as far north as Duluth. And
hence almost all of Russia knows the long winter and the
long night and that very fact has had something to do with
the psychology of Russia.
Live Under Shadow of Tragedy.
Remember, too, that no race in the world has lived under
the immediate shadow of so terrible a tragedy as the Russian
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
5
people. All their lives it has hung over them like a great
black cloud. And those of you who know Russian literature,
who have read the Russian play and novel, can still recall
the strange effect it made on you at first, how much you
marvelled at the psychology displayed, how different it all
was from anything produced by the Anglo-Saxons. If you
go to the movies in Russia the film story ends unhappily,
so often it is one "morass of woe." If you hear music it is
sad music-always the note of tragedy. A Russian friend,
trying to explain this to my American mind, said simply,
"It is life as we know it."
Remember this, also, that from 75% to 85% of the people
in Russia are illiterate. All figures given in this talk are
"happy mediums;" absolute accuracy is not claimed. Eighty-
five per cent of the people of Russia are peasants and work-
men. Eighty per cent are peasants. Hence Russia is over-
whelmingly an agricultural country and is overwhelmingly
illiterate. This does not mean that the people know nothing.
Ignorant though they may be and are about geography, gov-
ernments, history, and other "book learning," they know
much of the fundamental integrities and verities; these
things come to a people who toil and slave and dream. So in
Russia you have an 85% below and a 15% above. The upper
15% are described, all of them, by a Russian word, slang, I
think it is, "boor-zhoó-e." In this group are the intelligencia,
the wealthy, the aristocrats, the bourgeois. The 85% are
the so-called "Dark People." The intelligencia were the
social-minded people, tremendously so they were. And you
know that anybody who went from that group to carry the
light of education to the dark mass and was caught at it,
received a through pass to Siberia, one way. And thousands
of them accepted that challenge, be it said to their credit.
-
Wide Gap Between Classes.
The gap between the upper and the lower groups was
wide. Many in the 15% were ashamed of their country, of
their tongue, of their race. They felt no blood tie with that
peasant. Their children learned French first, now speak
Russian with an accent. There is nothing in Russia com-
parable to the patriotism of America, even among the
"boor-zhoó-e" group. The great masses have been held to-
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
gether by two things, a mystical religion and force-the
Cossack and the police. The controlling power of the church
with the Tsar at its head received a hard blow with the
Rasputin affair, for the peasants everywhere knew of this
scandal and resented it. Indeed, Rasputin was killed by
friends of the Tsar to save that gentleman his throne. It
was too late.
Two of the multitudinous causes of political unrest
should be kept in mind. First, the land hunger of the people.
The Tsar, the state, the nobility, about ½ of 1% of the
population, the clergy and the Cossacks owned some 55%
of the land. In the Kiev district it is said that the average
holding of a peasant was 1 acre and that one noble family
owned one million acres. Second, the limitations of educa-
tion. Only about 5% of the people were permitted a real
education. The peasant was kept in mental darkness as a
matter of policy.
"Dark Man" Breaks Shackles.
And now this dark man is loose. He has torn off the
shackles of centuries, has taken the whips from the hands
of those who beat him, and he is staggering forward with
eyes unaccustomed to the light, with a mind unable to grasp
the true meaning of democracy and freedom, with many who
are his enemies trying to impede his progress, with thou-
sands who are his self-constituted advisors shouting con-
tradictory directions at him-and it is no wonder that he has
"wrought confusion worse confounded."
I have no feeling of hatred, only of pity, for the peasant
and the workmen of the illiterate, "dark" group. Terrible
things happen in a time of revolution. The guilty are higher
up, are those who loosed this flood of hatred and cannot now
control it.
One of the first things I asked when I got to Russia was,
"Why did you go out of the war?" And invariably I re-
ceived the same reply, "We were tired."
That did not satisfy me, as it does not you. And I said,
"France is tired, England is tired, but they are fighting still."
To this they said, "Yes, but that is different." And then they
began to tell me a story of the betrayals of Russia by the
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
7
To
pro-German elements in the government and in the army.
Echoes of this appeared in our papers, you will recall. Add
to the unwieldiness and clumsiness of Russia, to the mis-
takes made in the early years of the war by all the Allies,
the fact that many people high in authority did all in their
power to handicap Russia and you have the situation. Muni-
tions went wrong, food went wrong, guns went wrong,
armies were betrayed and destroyed.
How Russia Was Fettered.
May I tell one story as an illustration. I got this from
two sources, English and Russian, and believe it. On the
Baltic no Russian vessel could engage with an enemy vessel
until permission had been received from the Russian Ad-
miral. And that gentleman was generally on shore and in
front of his name was the highly indicative syllable, von.
An English submarine and a Russian vessel sighted two
German ships. The Englishman signalled, "You take that
one and I'll take this." And the Russian had to answer, "I
must secure permission before I can engage." The Britisher
told him to go to a hotter place than this and went ahead
and got them both.
Russia called to the army about twice as many men as
she could use, from 14 to 16 million of men. The food con-
ditions were getting worse and worse, due in part to the
fact that the government had been unwise in taking over
factories for munition work and that railroad equipment was
getting much depleted as a consequence, disorganization was
worse and worse, and yet the army fought. Remember that
these men were peasants and workmen, that they had no
idea against whom they were fighting and for what they
were fighting. And yet they fought-and they died. Don't
forget that. There were between four and five million
casualties, between a million and a million and a half dead
men. And I believe that history will say that twice Russia
saved the Allies.
Political Unrest Is Chronic.
Always there has been political unrest in Russia. On
top of that this situation! And finally the spirit of the Rus-
sian people broke, and the first revolution came, and the
8
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
Tsar abdicated, and all Russia, outside of the nobility and
the monarchists, rejoiced. A dream, dating back through
many, many generations, had come true.
Certain characteristics of the Russian people you know.
In art their record is not unenviable. There are great musi-
cians, poets, novelists, a fine theater, an excellent opera, a
wonderful ballet. But perhaps you do not know how char-
acteristic are the Christian virtues of tolerance, kindliness,
charity, forgiveness. Few races have so keen a sympathy
for the downtrodden and oppressed.
And with the first revolution they did a very wonderful
thing, though perhaps a foolish one. Exalted to heights of
emotion they had never before known, they opened up the
prison doors and welcomed back thousands and thousands
of political exiles. The story of that home coming must be
written some day. From Siberia they came, from France
and England and Switzerland. There was no discrimination
and it is quite possible that Russia would have fared better
had there been some thought given to the matter of the
desirability of certain of these returning exiles. In too many
cases they had been thinking, thinking, and never doing.
Impracticality was a common characteristic. And they all
came back and began to pour out a flood of mixed advice
upon Russia. If there is a Russian in the audience I am sure
that he will agree with me when I say that no people in
the world so love to talk, and that no people in the world so
hate to listen.
Criminals Also Set Free.
Believing that everybody must be regenerated in this
new birth which had come to Russia, in many cases they
released criminals, not political exiles, but criminals. And
that did little to stabilize the situation.
The first government was under the direction of the
Constitutional Democrats, nicknamed the "Cadets." Of the
first revolution I have no time to tell you. Suffice it to say
that the leaders were not big enough for the job. Had they
been, they'd be there yet.
Behind the scenes, and often openly, two men were
working. With German consent one of them had come back
through the Central Empires, from Switzerland to Russia.
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
They were spreading a certain doctrine among the soldiers.
of that great army, among the discontented everywhere.
Working with them were hundreds and hundreds of Ger-
man agents.
What was their program?
Programs of the Parties.
The "Cadet" party wanted to establish a government
very much like ours, free speech, a free press, a popular
government, with the wealthy and intelligent playing the
important part that they play here. The Menshiviki, never
in power, but very strong in numbers, wanted the peasant
group to dominate since it is 80% of the population. The
Bolsheviki had another idea. They demanded the national-
ization of the land and of all industry, the theory being, as
you know, that all the ills of society, such as war and pov-
erty, are due to society's capitalistic organization. To cure
this the property-owning class must be turned out of power,
and the government turned over to the workers. Their
agents went everywhere saying to the peasant-soldier, "Go
home with your gun, take the land, it is yours. You are a
free man and nobody can give you orders." And to the
workman-soldier, "Go back and take the factory, the mine,
the mill. They belong to you. Take your gun and if any-
body opposes you, shoot. You are a free man now."
-
And once that doctrine had been spread, and that body
of men had begun to move, the second revolution was at
hand, and I arrived in Moscow just after the five days of
fighting which overthrew the Kerensky government. We
have arrived at the rule of the Bolsheviki.
Scheme Is Fine on Paper.
Now there was on paper a fine plan for the organization
of this new scheme. You can get a copy of it from Wash-
ington, I think. But things did not go according to plan and
schedule. Why? For several reasons. Russia is vast, Rus-
sia is ignorant, was thoroughly disorganized by the war and
the two revolutions. Everything was at sixes and sevens.
Orders might be issued by the central authorities, but to
have them executed was the problem. And things began to
io
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
happen. The peasant went home, and in some cases he
killed the landlord and the landlord's family, burned the
manor buildings, killed the blooded stock, destroyed the ma-
chinery; in other cases the landlord and his family escaped;
in one case that I knew of the peasants divided the land and
allotted a share to the former owner.
With the factory and mine the situation was more or
less the same. Naturally the owners looked with no enthusi-
asm on what was happening. In some cases those in au-
thority withdrew altogether, in other cases hung on as long
as possible, in others did their best to keep the institution
going under the new conditions. The net result, however,
was to exclude from industry all the trained brains of Rus-
sia, and this did not make for efficiency as you can imagine.
Too, it became increasingly apparent that the central author-
ity could not issue orders and be sure that these orders
would be obeyed. Groups showed a sorry inclination to
"run their own show." They had been told to use force,
that they were free, and of what use is freedom if one must
take orders? An illustration of this will be given later in
my talk.
Industry Goes to Pieces.
What happened to industry?
Under changing work-
men's committees, much concerned with shortening hours
and raising pay, with the trained brains out of the business,
with raw materials scarce and daily growing scarcer, with
the most amazing flood of talk the world has seen, with the
"cost of living" going up and up, industry went to pieces.
I know of factories where in weeks and weeks not a rouble
was taken in from sales, not a machine finished or sold.
Production fell to zero in many, many cases. And today
hundreds of thousands of workmen are idle, factories and
mines are closed, and to find a factory running full time
would need a careful search. And yet the workmen are
drawing their wages, such as they are when one considers
the cost of living. Where does the money come from? The
government prints it. On paper with ink. What is behind
it? Ink! Nobody knows how many hundreds of millions
have been printed and paid out. And a cheap piece of print-
ing it is. It is easily imitated and imitations are not scarce.
-
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
11
And today I believe that the great majority of the people
of Russia are against this government. Let us see!
When the peasant took the land he was through with
the revolution. What more did he want? He was satisfied.
But now he is dissatisfied. Why?
Peasants Now Are Dissatisfied.
The two great industrial centers of Russia are Moscow
and Petrograd. The workmen of Moscow, where the central
government sits, must be kept contented. If they are dis-
satisfied out goes the government. Food became scarce,
prices reached the sky. What to do? Make fixed prices.
And so they made fixed prices and said to the peasant, "Sell."
But the peasant could not see why he should sell at prices
much below the going level and he refused. And twice I
went to the market early in the morning to see the Red
Guard take the peasants' foodstuffs. And after that we sent
our servant across the river and into the country to buy
food, for the peasant did not come to town. And then the
Red Guard went to the peasant villages and took the food.
And then the peasants organized and fought back. Had not
Lenine told them to take their guns home with them? Were
they not free? And that kind of warfare is going on all over
the country. And the people are against the government,
not because they like or dislike any kind of "ism," but be-
cause it does not work. Lenine promised bread and peace,
and there is no bread and there is no peace.
And the end is not in sight. Many, many people will
starve in Russia this winter. There is no free trade between
the different states of Russia and flour costs 15 roubles a
pood (36 pounds) in Kazan Government, 250 in Nizhny
Novgorod, 400 in Moscow and 600 in Petrograd. This under
date of Sept. 1, 1918. It costs much more now, I have no
doubt. Manufactured necessities are virtually nil, clothes,
shoes, cloth, etc. Stores are denuded. A pair of shoes in
Moscow cost from 600 to 1500 roubles. Translating the
rouble into terms of ten cents, the rate, when I left, a suit
of clothes cost from $100.00 to $150.00, sugar from $2.50 to
$3.50 per pound, coffee and tea from $2.00 to $3.00, tobacco.
from $10.00 to $30.00 a pound. I bought 4½ pounds of
cheese in Petrograd on September 1 and paid $12.25, a pint
12
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
of strained honey and paid $4.00. And I saw a man buy
coal at $1.00 per pound. And prices going up every day.
As to the Point of View.
And now to answer one or two questions which have
been asked again and again. Who are Lenine, Trotsky, and
Tchecherin? I note that you do not cheer! When I went
to the Coliseum a few weeks ago the capacity audience there
cheered for five minutes when those names were first men-
tioned. A difference in location, I take it.
Lenine is a Russian, well educated, speaks several lan-
guages. He is looked upon by many as the greatest living
socialist writer and authority, the equal of Marx. He is, I
believe, honest in his convictions.
Trotsky is a Russian Jew, though he would deny it and
call himself an internationalist. He has lived in America.
He was sent to Siberia for participation in the 1905 revolu-
tion and later escaped. He is, I believe, honest in his con-
victions.
G
Tchecherin, the minister of foreign affairs, is a former
Russian noble and landowner, is a man of education, speak-
ing several languages, among them English. He is, I believe,
honest in his convictions.
Not Agents of Germany.
Were they sold out to Germany? Were they German
agents? I do not think so. They accepted money from Ger-
many, indeed took everything that they could get and gave
what they thought they had to give. Germany had one
She did it. Lenine
object to put Russia out of the war.
had two objects to succeed in Russia and then to go over
and do the same thing to Germany. And to all the other
capitalistic nations of the world, the U. S. A. included. And
right now it is Lenine's turn to laugh.
My quarrel with the leaders of this government is this:
that they let loose a wave of passion and hatred against the
“boor-zhoó-e" group which they cannot now control; that
they based their new democracy upon the exclusion of a large
group from any participation; that their main reliance is the
machine gun. And if this makes for democracy or perma-
nency, I need a large revision in my thinking.
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
13
マ
​And now to give you one example of how they cannot
control the force they have let loose. After the arrest of
the English and French in Moscow we Americans finally
secured permission to leave Russia. Lenine, Trotzky and
Tchecherin gave their consent. Our passports were officially
signed. But even they had their suspicions of Petrograd and
through that city we had to go. So Tchecherin sent a right-
hand man with us to see that all was well. And the com-
mune of the north, Petrograd, refused to accept our papers
and held us for four days. Finally, Uretsky, the commissar
who had our case in hand, was shot by a Russian student,
which didn't help matters much. The valiant efforts of
neutral officials finally got us out. And when we arrived at
the little border town on the Finnish line the commandant
there refused to let us go. We paid him and got out.
Graft Rules on Every Hand.
Graft? Yes. More than Russia ever saw in her palmiest
days. It appears that not all men are honest, thus again
vindicating the prophet.
What has become of the "upper classes?" They have
been thoroughly intimidated and are now being extermin-
ated. It would be conservative to say that not less than 500
people were executed each day in Soviet Russia. Class
hatred has grown more and more bitter and the utter ex-
termination of the "boor-zhoó-e" is openly advocated.
Can Russia save herself? I do not think so. She needs
outside help. And, while we have a small number of troops
there, as yet we have no policy. And there is no indication
that we shall have one in the near future. Russia will starve
and freeze this winter and will continue to disintegrate in
all probability. Russia wanted a Constitutional Assembly
and should be allowed to have it. With that end as the goal
outside military aid would receive strong support. To go
into Russia to collect her debts to the Allies would be folly.
There is one interesting thing in Russia about which I
want to tell you. I found a lot of men there who had lived
in America. I found them in positions of authority, and I
found them the most bitter and implacable individuals over
there in their hatred of the capitalistic system and class.
14
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
Why! To answer that correctly is worth your while
and mine.
Want Something Beside Money.
On the platform one dark night at Rostov-on-the-Don I
asked my way of four soldiers and found that three of them
had lived in the United States. When we left, my com-
panion said, "Boys, you'd better come back to America;
there's more money over there." And one of them replied
in broken English, "We want something beside money; we
want a good life; maybe we find it over here."
A
What! Those fellows went back from here! To Rus-
sia, to find a "good life!" There must be something wrong
with them. But let's see. I am willing to believe that that
boy, and he typifies thousands, came to America with a
dream in his heart, undefined perhaps, but there. A dream
that he expected to find fulfilled in "free America." And
what happened to him. He landed in a steel town, or an oil
town, or a coal district, this boy from the peasant village.
He was a hunkey. He didn't speak our language; perhaps
he wasn't any too bright or quick. He was a hunkey. And
nobody gave much of a damn where he lived or how he
lived. And nobody taught him American history, or Amer-
ican ideals, or the American language. He came a hunkey
and he remained a hunkey. And the same thing is true of
the Dago and the Wop and the Grik and the Sheeny.
A few months ago we had occasion to raise an army.
And who went and who died? Read the casualty list and if
you don't know the European languages you can't pronounce
half of the names. They are redolent of Serbia and Poland
and Bohemia, and Greece and Italy. The boys are coming
back pretty soon, all except those who remain forever be-
neath the soil of France to tell the world that Right must
and will prevail. They are going to march down the streets
of our cities. And in that parade will be boys who must ride
in automobiles now, boys with arms and legs gone, boys
who never again will see the rising or the setting of the sun.
And in that procession will be Hunkies, and Griks, and
Dagoes, and Sheenies. And you're going to have a hard time
picking them out. They're all Americans now!
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
15
And what are they coming back to, these soldier boys
and the great industrial army which stayed behind? Pre-
war conditions, pre-war attitude of nobody-gives-a-damn,
pre-war antagonism between capital and labor? If so, look
out for bolshevism.
I know that there are men, I've talked with them, em-
ployers, who stick out their lower jaw and rip off a cuss
word and say, "We'll show 'em." And they talk about a
standing army and machine guns! And I have a feeling that
at this time in this world the man who talks that way has
no more right to be running around loose than a maniac with
a meat axe.
These are great days. Much is in the balance, perhaps
even the civilization of Euope. Is there anybody here who
dares predict what will happen?
We have just helped to write a great page of history.
A new page has been turned. To write it demands more
brains and more effort than were needed to complete the
page just closed. The Lord help us if at this time we sag
back into a pre-war attitude.
Not many months ago fate and our consciences set for
America a new goal in a new game-the elimination of the
German menace, the making of the world safe for democ-
racy. We rallied, worked-and we crossed the goal.
STRADER
-
New Goal Before Us Now.
There is a new goal before us now, a new job to be done.
We must bridge the gap between capital and labor, must do
it by democracy, by getting together as man and man, by
more "humanness." And if we put one-half of the time,
one-half of the brains, one-half of the unity, one-thousandth
part of the money on this job that we put on licking the
kaiser, the job is done.
We worked, shoulder to shoulder, to make the world
safe for the little democracies, for Poland, Serbia, Bohemia.
Are we going to do less for America? Is this democracy,
born of, and built upon, the aspirations of human hearts, to
fail in the slightest degree? It must not, shall not, cannot
fail.
20
PAMPHLETS OF INTEREST
DURING THE
RECONSTRUCTION
PERIOD
Printed by
THE WAR COMMITTEE
OF THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF CHICAGO
THE BASES OF
DURABLE PEACE
Being the five addresses of President Wilson in which he sets
forth the famous "Fourteen Points" and other condi-
tions which Germany accepted as the bases of
negotiations for an armistice.
(Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.50; 1,000 copies, $20.00.)
PUBLIC WORKS, OR
PUBLIC CHARITY?
By Harold G. Moulton
A pamphlet dealing with the necessity of providing "buffer em-
ployment" to prevent suffering during the
demobilization period.
(Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00; 1,000 copies, $15.00.)
THE WORLD'S NEXT STEP-
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
By Clarence L. Speed
A study of the proposal to associate the civilized nations into a
world league in order to try to prevent war, together
with the details of the plans of the two Ameri-
can organizations working to this end.
(Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00; 1,000 copies, $15.00.)
The Present
Railway Situation
An address delivered before the Union League
Club of Chicago, February 6th, 1919
By
js
Samuel O. Dunn
Editor
"Railway Age"
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB
OF CHICAGO
1919
Foreword
I
N presenting in pamphlet form in the interest of further publicity
the admirable address delivered by Mr. Samuel O. Dunn before
the Union League Club, the War Committee at whose instance
the address was delivered, desires it to be understood that the Com-
mittee takes no position as to what should be done with the railways.
Various solutions of the railway problem are put forward in current
popular discussion-some looking toward temporary and some
toward a permanent solution, some involving no considerable change
from old methods and some a radical departure. It may be that in
some of the data presented by Mr. Dunn readers will find or seek
support for one or another type of solution; but the Committee in
issuing the pamphlet expressly disclaims any intention of arguing for
or against any particular form of solution, either temporary or
permanent.
We do, however, strongly urge that Congress, assembled in
special session at the earliest practicable time, should at once, on con-
vening, take up the consideration of the question of the status of the
railways for the immediate future and should arrive at a prompt
decision in regard thereto. Our reasons for this position are briefly
these:
There is the most urgent need for the expenditure of large sums
on railway rehabilitation. The financing of this rehabilitation offers
a serious problem whether undertaken under government or private
control. No considerable progress can, in our judgment, be made
until the status of the roads for the immediate future shall have
been clearly established. In the meantime a continuous deterioration
is taking place in the railway plant.
Quite aside from the interests of the railways as such, there is
involved in the question of railway rehabilitation and extension a
social-economic question of the first magnitude. We are anxiously
seeking the return of our industrial life to a healthy and normal
basis. By virtue both of the variety and extent of the materials and
mechanisms required and of the numbers of men employed in con-
nection, directly or indirectly, with railway extension and mainte-
nance, there is no other single factor in our industrial life whose full
and vigorous activity will so speedily, widely and successfully assist
in bringing about a return to normal industrial conditions.
It is to bring this aspect of the matter home to a wider circle
whose wishes may influence events in Washington that we are print-
ing and distributing Mr. Dunn's searching analysis of present rail-
way conditions.
THE WAR COMMITTEE
Of the Union League Club of Chicago.
2
The Present Railway Situation
I
N the brief address I shall make, I shall try to outline
the present situation in the railway field and also show
how the way in which it is handled will affect the
workers and the industries of the country, both during the
period of readjustment we are in, and after it has passed.
For more than three years, beginning in the fall of 1915
and ending in the fall of 1918, the available traffic taxed,
and even overtaxed, the facilities of our railways. Since the
armistice was signed there has been a sharp reduction of
traffic. This is still going on; and there is now a nominal
surplusage of railway facilities and capacity.
During the period when the movement of traffic was so
large, there occurred an enormous increase in the cost of
operating the railways and of providing new facilities. Most
of the increase occurred in the year 1918. The increase in
expenses last year was partly due to advances in the price
of fuel and materials, and partly to a decline in the efficiency
of operation, but mainly to very large advances in the wages
of labor. Since January 1, 1918, under government opera-
tion, advances in wages amounting to over $800,000,000 a
year have been made. Advances amounting to $350,000,000
a year had been made in 1916 and 1917. Therefore, the
advances within these three years amount to approximately
$1,150,000,000 per year. This is more per year than the
largest net operating income the railways ever earned, and
exceeds by at least 50 per cent the largest amount of interest
and dividends they ever paid on their total capitalization.
The average annual wage of a railway employe in 1915 was
approximately $850; in 1917 it was over $1,000. It is now
close to $1,500.
The enormous increase in the cost of making additions
and betterments on the railways, and even of maintaining
them, would tend to cause their owners to hesitate to make
large expenditures at this time, even though the manage-
ment were in their hands. But the management is now in
the hands of the government.
3
This combination of extremely high costs, with private
ownership and government operation, is aggravated by com-
plete uncertainty as to how long government operation of
the railways will be continued. If it were certain that they
would be returned soon to the management of their owners,
and the terms on which they were to be returned were set-
tled, the companies would have an incentive to encourage,
and help provide funds for, needed maintenance and im-
provement work. If it were settled that government opera-
tion was going to be continued for a long period or indefin-
itely, the government would have an incentive to proceed
with an adequate program of maintenance, and additions
and betterments. But the government doesn't know how
long it is going to keep the properties; the companies don't
know when or whether they are going to get them back; and
both, so long as there is such uncertainty and divided re-
sponsibility, are disposed to keep expenditures down as much
as practicable.
S
T
The result is that the maintenance work being done or
prepared for is not sufficient to keep the properties in their
present condition, much less improve it. As to additions and
betterments, no program for 1919 is in preparation or is con-
templated which would cause as large an expansion of rail-
way facilities as occurred annually during the years immedi-
ately preceding the Great War, in spite of the fact that in
those years the expansion of facilities had declined greatly
as compared with that of earlier years.
Ca
Situation Causing Unemployment.
The state of affairs I have outlined, as long as it lasts,
must have the effects of depressing American industry in
general, and of substantially increasing unemployment. The
railways normally employ about 2,000,000 men. There has
been a marked decrease in the average efficiency of their
employes and a large increase in the number of them under
government operation. The heavy decline in traffic which
has been occurring since the armistice was signed ought to
result in a sharp reduction in the number of employes
directly engaged in handling traffic. The public has to pay
the cost of railway operation; and to keep on the pay-roll
men whose services are not needed would be to impose upon
the public an indefensible burden of expense. If, besides dis-
charging men who have become unnecessary because of the
4
decline of traffic, the railways shall also refrain from doing
maintenance and improvement work which is needed, it is
evident that, being such very large employers, they will
directly contribute largely toward causing unemployment.
They will, by following this course, contribute indirectly
even to a larger extent, toward causing unemployment. The
railways, besides employing approximately 2,000,000 men
themselves, normally make purchases of equipment and sup-
plies amounting to about $1,000,000,000 annually from con-
cerns which are themselves large employers of labor. Prob-
ably the raway equipment and supply manufacturers
normally employ almost as many men as the railways. The
equipment and supplies the railways buy are used in opera-
tion; in the maintenance of their permanent way and struc-
tures and rolling stock; and in making additions to and
improvements in their facilities. By curtailing their out-
lays for maintenance and for additions and improvements,
the railways will curtail their purchases of equipment and
supplies; and by curtailing their purchases, they will render
it necessary for manufacturers of equipment and supplies
to restrict their purchases of materials and to reduce the
number of their employes.
Thus, directly and indirectly, the policy of drastic re-
trenchment which is being adopted on the railways tends
very strongly to cause general industrial depression and to
increase unemployment, not only in the railroad business,
but in many other important lines of industry.
Is Railway Retrenchment Justifiable?
There are certain arguments which might conceivably
be advanced in defense of the present policy of retrenchment.
One is that railway properties are now in a good state
of repair and do not need large expenditures for mainte-
nance, and that present railway facilities are sufficient to
handle not only the present business, but to develop and
handle all the business which the welfare of the country
may demand that they shall develop and handle in the com-
paratively near future.
Everybody familiar with conditions in the railroad in-
dustry, and in business in general, knows, however, that
this argument would be without foundation. The railroads
are not in a good state of repair. Some of them were not
being normally or adequately maintained when government
5
operation was adopted; and, as a whole, although there has
been an enormous increase of expenses, they have not been
normally or adequately maintained since government opera-
tion was adopted. The amount of new rail laid has been
millions of tons less than was normally laid before the war.
The renewals of ties have been tens of millions less annu-
ally than they should be. As a result of these and other
things of like nature, the tracks of many railways are not
up to their normal condition. It is fortunate for the Rail-
road Administration and the public that we have had a mild
winter. If we had had such severe weather this winter as
we had last winter, we probably should have had a very bad
series of wrecks due to rail breakage and other failures
of track.
-
The general condition of freight cars is relatively worse
still. The normal number of new cars has not been bought
for several years, and the normal number of old cars has not
been retired. In consequence, there are at least 100,000
freight cars that are reported as "in service" which, under
conditions existing before the war, would have been
"scrapped" because it would have been cheaper to have
replaced them than to have operated them. Furthermore,
there has been a serious deterioration of freight cars in gen-
eral, and there are hundreds of thousands of them that need
heavy repairs.
Not only are existing railway facilities not in a satis-
factory condition, but there has been an abnormally small
increase of facilities for several years. Formerly we built
about 5,000 miles of new railway annually. During the
entire last five years we have built only 5,263 miles of new
line; and in 1917, and again in 1918, more miles of railway
were torn up or abandoned than were built. Now there are
some parts of the country in which, as a result of competitive
construction, there is more railway mileage than is needed.
But there are much larger parts of the country which have
not enough railway mileage, or none at all. The resources
of these parts of the country can never be fully developed,
they can never be inhabited by the number of people they
are potentially capable of sustaining, until they are provided
with a larger mileage of railroads.
The needs of the public with respect to railroads are
not confined to the adequate maintenance of those existing,
and the construction of new lines. Experience has demon-
W
6
strated that the present productive capacity of the country
exceeds the transportation capacity of the existing railways,
and that therefore extensive improvements in and additions
to the facilities of the existing lines must be made to enable
them to handle the country's traffic in periods of heavy busi-
ness. In 1915 and 1916, before this country entered the
Great War, the freight traffic overtaxed the facilities of the
railways. In 1917, after we entered the war, the railways,
under the Railroads' War Board, tried, by better-co-ordina-
tion of their efforts, to handle all the available business, and
they succeeded in handling a largely increased amount, but
still they were unable to handle all that was offered to them.
It was expected by many that under unified government
operation there would be a very large increase in the busi-
ness handled, but the number of passengers moved in 1918
was only 8 per cent greater and the amount of freight moved
was only 2 per cent more than in 1917, in spite of an increase
of over 40 per cent, in the operating expenses incurred.
Railway Rehabilitation and Expansion Needed.
In view of all this experience, we are amply justified in
reaching the conclusion that our existing railway facilities
are incapable, under any system of operation, of satisfac-
torily handling all the business that our existing productive
industries—agriculture, manufactures, mining, forestry, etc.
-can give them when these industries are being run at
their maximum capacity, or at any rate approaching it.
At present, many of our productive industries are not
being run to their maximum capacity. This is the case
because we are in a period of transition from a war to a
peace basis. There is an enormous potential demand at
home, and a world-wide potential demand abroad for things
that America can and should produce. If we pass through
this period of transition without disaster, our great pro-
ductive industries should within a comparatively short time
be operating at full capacity again.
Suppose that there should be no improvement in or
expansion of the facilities of our railways before then.
Suppose the railways should be so managed that even the
large amount of maintenance work which has been deferred
should not be done. The result would be that the railways
would increase depression and unemployment during the
period of transition, that they would cause the period of
7
transition to be prolonged and the resumption of full pro-
duction by the country's industries to be delayed; and that
when capacity production by other industries was renewed,
the railways would be unable satisfactorily to handle the
increased traffic, and even unable to handle a large part of
it at all.
Should Large Expenditures Be Made Now?
The need for carrying out an extensive program to
make up deferred maintenance and to increase the facilities
of the railways is clear. But, it may be said, the prices of
equipment and materials, and the high wages of labor, make
this a very bad time to carry out a large program of expend-
itures. Railway men are not the only business men who are
reasoning thus. Most American business men are. This is
one of the main reasons why industry in general is slowing
down.
Now, the railways are either going to be kept by the
government, or they are going to be returned to their owners.
If it were settled that they were going to be kept by the
government, it would be the duty of the government to con-
sider this entire matter from the standpoint of the long-run
interests of the industries and workers of the country. No-
body knows how long the present prices and wages will last,
or how great the reductions will be when they come. There-
fore, considering the long-run interests of industry and the
workers, as a whole, it undoubtedly would be better, if the
government were going to retain the roads, for it to make
large expenditures immediately for the maintenance and
expansion of railway facilities, so that they would be ready
for service when they were needed, than for it to postpone
these expenditures, at the risk of not having the facilities.
ready when they were needed. In other words, it would be
better for all concerned for the government to provide needed
facilities now, even if the cost should be so high as to
make it necessary to advance rates in order to pay a return
upon the new investment, than for it to so manage that it
would intensify and lengthen the depression during the
period of transition, and at the same time fail to provide
facilities that will be needed when business again becomes
good.
Would the argument for going ahead with needed ex-
penditures be any less strong in case the railways were
8
returned to private operation? No; and, yes. The reasons
why, from the standpoint of the public, it would be desir-
able to go on with them would be equally cogent. But the
companies would be in a very different position from the
government. The government does not require a certain
amount of net operating income to enable it to raise capital
for railway purposes. If it did, it would be very hard put
to it to raise capital for railway purposes just now, since,
from the railway point of view, it is bankrupt. In 1918 it
incurred a deficit of over $200,000,000 in operating the rail-
ways, and if government control continues and the present
disparity between income and outgo is not reduced, it will
lose at least as much in 1919. The government can con-
tinue to raise capital for railway purposes only because it
does not raise it on its credit as a railway manager, but on
its general credit as the government of the people of the
United States.
-
The railway companies, on the other hand, must, under
private management, raise capital on their credit as owners
and managers of railways, and their credit as such depends
chiefly upon the amount of net operating income the rail-
ways make. In the three years ended on June 30, 1917, the
railway companies earned an average of $950,000,000 net
operating income a year; and in the year ended on December
31, 1917, they earned approximately $1,000,000,000. In June,
1918, under government operation, passenger rates were ad-
vanced 50 per cent and freight rates 25 per cent; and yet in
the year ended on December 31, 1918, the government, as a
railway manager, earned only about $700,000,000 net operat-
ing income, or about $300,000,000 less than the companies.
earned in 1917, and about $250,000,000 less than the average
amount they earned in the years ended on June 30, 1917.
New Revolving Fund Needed.
Now, as to the present and the immediate future, the
Railroad Administration is being obliged sharply to limit
all its expenditures, including those for maintenance, be-
cause the revolving fund of $500,000,000 granted to it by
Congress has been almost exhausted by the deficit incurred
last year by loans to needy railway companies, etc. The
Railroad Administration has asked Congress for another
revolving fund of $750,000,000. If it should be promptly
granted this, there would be no good reason why it should
9
not enter at once upon a vigorous program for making up
maintenance which has been deferred since it has been in
control, for if it returns the roads to the companies, it must,
under the law, return them in as good physical condition as
it received them. From every standpoint, it is desirable that
Congress, at its present session, should provide this new re-
volving fund. The Railroad Administration needs it now,
and will need it, whether the railways are soon returned to
private operation or not. The Railroad Administration must
be provided with this new revolving fund in the near future
if it is to do merely the maintenance work on the railways
which conditions imperatively demand shall be begun at
once.
Looking farther into the future, it is plain that if the
government should either long postpone its decision on
whether the railways are to be returned to private opera-
tion, or should return the railways to private operation with-
out having first adopted remedial legislation, the conse-
quences would be very serious. If a decision is postponed,
the needed expenditures for permanent improvements and
additions will also be postponed. On the other hand, if the
railways should be returned to their owners without remedial
legislation, many of them would find themselves in a situa-
tion where they would not only be unable to raise capital
for extensive improvements, but would be forced to adopt a
policy of the most drastic retrenchment. This would be due
to two things: First, under government operation much
traffic has been diverted from some lines to others and the
earnings of the lines from which it has been diverted have
been unfavorably affected to a very serious extent. Second,
in spite of the large advances in rates made last year, the
net operating income of the railways, as a whole, is at pres-
ent very unsatisfactory. The net operating income of Class I
(large) roads during the last six months of 1918, when the
higher freight and passenger rates were in effect, was $539,-
000,000, which was actually $4,000,000 more than in the last
six months of 1917. This might seem to indicate a satis-
factory condition of affairs. The fly in the ointment is that
in every month of that six months, the net operating income
was lower than it was in the immediately preceding month,
and that it declined from $139,000,000 in July to about $28,-
000,000 in December. The heavy decline in operating in-
come during the last few months of the year 1918, and
-
10
especially in December, was largely due to the fact that big
retroactive advances in wages were charged into the accounts
for those months and, therefore, the financial position of the
railways is not as bad as might be inferred from the sta-
tistics for these particular months. On the other hand, their
financial position is far from being as good as might be
inferred from the results shown during the entire last six
months of the year. The net operating income now being
earned by the railways as a whole would hardly be sufficient.
to pay their fixed charges and normal dividends on their
existing investment, and much less would it be sufficient to
enable them to raise the new capital necessary to make a
large amount of new investment. On the other hand, it is
altogether probable that if the railways were returned to
private operation, the managements would speedily effect
large economies in operation which cannot and will not be
effected under government operation.
Needed Constructive Measures May Speedily Be Adopted.
It is by no means impracticable, then, to adopt within a
short time, measures under which the railway companies
could safely resume the operation of their properties, and
could spend enough to make up any deferred maintenance
the Railroad Administration had not made up and also enter
upon an extensive program of additions and betterments.
Now, if this could be done, it is clearly desirable that it should
be done. It is desirable because if government operation
should be continued much longer-for example, for five
years, as some contend it should be-the organizations of the
railways would be so completely destroyed, and the financial
relations between the government and the companies would
become so entangled, that it probably would be impracticable
to restore the railways to private operation at all. Another
potent reason why private operation should be restored as
soon as practicable is that experience has shown that, on
any given basis of prices and wages, private management is
more efficient and economical than government manage-
ment, and therefore, even without any reduction of prices
and wages, the companies would carry out the needed pro-
gram of railroad rehabilitation and expansion at a smaller
cost than the government would. In consequence, the burden
of rates which would have to be imposed upon the public to
enable the railway companies to carry out this program
11
would be less than the burden of rates or taxes, or both,
which would have to be imposed upon the public to enable
the government to do it.
The crux of the matter, then, is that the present railway
situation demands, both for the immediate good and the
future good of the nation, that legislation for the settlement
of the railway question shall be passed and put into effect
as soon as practicable. As I have indicated, I believe that
this legislation should provide for the early return of the
railways to the management of the companies. But even if
it should be decided that government operation should be
continued a decision which now seems wholly improbable
-it would be desirable that this decision should be reached
and announced within the very near future.
But how can an early solution of the problem be arrived
at? It cannot be done at the present session of Congress.
But, from every point of view, it is extremely undesirable
that it should be postponed until the next regular session of
Congress, which would not begin until December. Nothing
could be done with respect to the railways that would be
more contrary to the welfare of the country during this
period of transition from a war to a peace basis than need-
lessly to prolong the present uncertainty as to their future
management. This point is emphasized as forcibly by those
who, such as Director General Hines, favor a five-year ex-
tension of government control, as by those who favor an
early return to private operation.
-
The Solution of the Problem.
There is nothing in the present railway problem which
would render it impracticable for Congress to pass legisla-
tion for a satisfactory solution of it within a few months, if
Congress was in session. Therefore, the situation demands
that an extra session of Congress shall be called at an early
date, if for no purpose but to settle what we are going to do
with the railways. Of all of our important problems of recon-
struction at home, the railroad problem is easily the most
important. President Wilson, in the message he sent to
Congress soon after the armistice was signed, indicated that
he had no well-defined views upon the subject, and that he
wished Congress to take the lead in dealing with it. A
special session is necessary to enable Congress to do this;
and I venture to suggest that it would be appropriate and
A
12
expedient for clubs and other organizations that believe there
should be no avoidable delay in settling the railroad question
one way or the other to memorialize the President in favor
of an extra session.
It is hoped and expected that the Union League Club
will later be addressed upon the subject of the legislation
necessary to enable the railways safely to be returned to
private management, and to be operated successfully under
private management, by a man or men doubtless more com-
petent to discuss the matter than I am. I have, however,
some very positive views upon this subject which are the
result of many years of study of railway operation and regu-
lation, and of conference and correspondence with students
of railway matters, and with business men and railway men,
in many countries. In concluding my remarks, I shall there-
fore venture to suggest certain steps I believe it is essential
to take in order that our railways may soon be restored to a
footing on which they will become once more one of the
chief agencies in promoting the country's progress and pros-
perity instead of a growing menace to its progress and pros-
perity.
-
First, Congress should pass at its present session legis-
lation granting the Railroad Administration a new revolving
fund of $750,000,000, in order that it may immediately begin
carrying out an adequate program of maintenance and re-
newals.
Second, while continuing the government guarantees of
standard return until legislation for the financial protection
of the companies may be passed, the government should
restore the railways to actual operation by the companies
that own them as soon as practicable. This is necessary in
order to give the companies opportunity to rebuild their
organizations and to direct traffic back into its normal chan-
nels before the government guaranties are withdrawn. It is
also necessary in order to enable the public authorities to
determine what changes in rates should be made to protect
the solvency of the companies.
Third, the railway companies should be authorized by
legislation passed at an early extra session of Congress to make
such consolidations or agreements between lines operating
in the same territory as the Interstate Commerce Commission
may hold are not prejudicial to the public interest. This is
necessary in order to bring about needed co-ordination of the
13
organizations and facilities of the railways and to eliminate
the wastes of competition without, however, eliminating
such competition as is both stimulating to the railways and
beneficial to the public.
Fourth, the Interstate Commerce Commission should be
authorized to regulate the issuance of all railroad securities.
This is necessary to protect both the investor and the public.
Fifth, all state regulation of railways which directly or
indirectly burdens or interferes with interstate commerce
or with federal regulation of interstate commerce should be
forbidden. This is necessary to prevent state regulation
from rendering federal regulation nugatory.
Sixth, the principle should be established by legislation
that the rates fixed by the Interstate Commerce Commission
must be not only fair to the public, but such as to enable the
railways as a whole in each of the large sections of the
country to earn upon their aggregate property investment an
average return which shall be sufficient to enable them to
raise enough capital adequately to develop their facilities.
One of the best methods of establishing this principle which
has been suggested is that of fixing at 6 per cent the average
return which the roads of each territory shall be allowed to
earn on their property investment, and providing that any-
thing in excess of this earned by any individual road shall
be divided, one-third being retained by the company, one-
third going to its employes as a bonus, and one-third being
paid into the public treasury.
Seventh, we should provide by statute for arbitration of
labor disputes on railways either by the Interstate Commerce
Commission, or by tribunals which shall be composed equally
of representatives of the companies, of the employes, and of
the public, and forbid any strike or lockout until the report
of the arbitration board has been made.
It is my belief that if legislation providing for these
things should be passed soon, the railways could be returned
to the management of the companies with a reasonable cer-
tainty that there would be a marked improvement in their
operation and service, and an important and salutary re-
newal of the development and expansion of their facilities.
20
14
}
PAMPHLETS OF INTEREST
DURING THE
RECONSTRUCTION
PERIOD
Printed by
THE WAR COMMITTEE
OF THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF CHICAGO
THE BASES OF
DURABLE PEACE
Being the five addresses of President Wilson in which he sets forth the
famous "Fourteen Points" and other conditions which Germany
accepted as the bases of negotiations for an armistice.
(Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.50; 1,000 copies, $20.00.)
PUBLIC WORKS, OR
PUBLIC CHARITY?
By Harold G. Moulton
A pamphlet dealing with the necessity of providing "buffer employ-
ment" to prevent suffering during the demobilization period.
(Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2,00; 1,000 copies, $15.00.)
THE WORLD'S NEXT STEP-
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
By Clarence L. Speed
A study of the proposal to associate the civilized nations into a world
league in order to try to prevent war, together with the details
of the plans of the two American organizations
working to this end.
(Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00; 1,000 copies, $15.00.)
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
By Ralph B. Dennis
Being a description of the causes and effects of the upheaval in Russia,
and pointing a lesson to thinking people in America.
(Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00; 1,000 copies, $15.00.)

THE
AUSTRIAN PEACE
TRAP
Resolutions Adopted by the
War Committee of the Union
League Club of Chicago at a
meeting held the sixteenth of
September, nineteen eighteen.
Whereas
The War Committee of the Union
League Club of Chicago, assem-
bled in special session this sixteenth
day of September, 1918, sees the
Austrian proposal to call an infor-
mal conference to discuss terms of
peace as a diplomatic trick where-
by the Central Powers hope to
avert the consequences of certain
military defeat, and
Whereas
It is the belief of this committee
that the Central Powers, by putting
out this peace feeler, hope and plan
to create a division of sentiment
among the peoples of the Allied
Nations which will bring about a
slackening of military preparations,
and,
3
Whereas
It is essential to the interests of
permanent peace that the military
aristocracy of Germany be rendered
incapable of further successful
aggression, therefore be it
Resolved
That the War Committee of the
Union League Club of Chicago
respectfully urges upon the Presi-
dent of the United States of America
and the members of the House of
Representatives and Senate thereof,
that there be no peace negotiations,
formal or informal, until these two
results have been achieved
1. The territories of all the nations which
have been overrun by Germany and her al-
lies have been evacuated, and
4
2. The armies of Germany and her allies
have been dispersed or captured, and be it
further
Resolved-
That the War Committee of the
Union League Club of Chicago,
having in mind the principles enun-
ciated by the President of the United
States, further respectfully urges
that when these objects have been
attained and the time comes for
the consideration of a permanent
peace dictated by the victorious
Entente Allied Nations, the terms.
which must be forced upon the
defeated Central Powers shall be
such that among others things:
1. Belgium, Serbia and the other invaded
states shall be fully compensated for the ma-
terial damage which has been done in those
lands by the brutal invaders from the Central
l'owers.
-
5
LO
2. Alsace-Lorraine shall be restored to
France, and reparation shall be made to
France for the damage done during the pres-
ent war.
3. Poland shall be recreated an independent
state, free from domination of Prussia, Aus-
tria or any other power, and compensated
for injury during the present war.
4. Bohemia and the neighboring provinces
of Moravia and Slovakia in Austria-Hungary
shall be erected into a Czecho-Slovak state
absolutely independent of Teutonic or Mag-
yar control.
5. That effect be given to the declaration
of Corfu, and that the millions of Slavs held
in bondage by Austria-Hungary in the south-
ern part of the Dual Monarchy shall be set
free and allowed to join with their kinsmen
in Serbia and Montenegro in a great Jugo-
Slav nation.
6. That certain portions of Austria-Hun-
gary, populated mainly by people of Italian
nationality and adjoining the Italian bor-
ders, shall be restored to Italy.
-
6
7. That the treaty forced upon Roumania
by the Central Powers be abrogated, and
that Roumanians living in the provinces of
Transylvania and Bukowina shall be allowed
to join with their kinsmen in the formation
of a free and independent Greater Roumania.
8. That the Brest-Litovsk treaty be abro-
gated and that Finland, Ukrainia, the Baltic
Provinces, and other portions of Russia be
freed absolutely from German domination.
7

OUR PERIL IN THE EAST
Resolutions of the
War Committee of
The Union League Club of Chicago
setting forth the menace to the safety
of the United States which lies in the
consolidation by the Central Powers
of their conquests in the East, and
urging the vital necessity of a peace
which not only forces the liberation of
the Slavic peoples now held under the
German and Austrian yoke, but pro-
vides for their establishment as inde-
pendent states which will forever block
the pan-German program for world
domination,
and
Editorial comments thereon by leading
newspapers of the City of Chicago.
Resolutions
ADOPTED AUG. 8, 1918 BY THE WAR COMMITTEE OF
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF CHICAGO:
Recalling that
The world war was begun by the
Central Powers largely because of
their ambition for conquest in the
Near East, and
Realizing that-
The Central Powers, by the con-
quests thus far achieved in Russia,
Roumania and Serbia have prac-
tically doubled their area and pop-
ulation, and
Recognizing that-
If the Central Powers are allowed
to keep and develop these con-
quests they will organize a mili-
tary despotism which will menace
the security of the United States
and all freedom loving nations, the
War Committee of the Union
League Club of Chicago there-
fore,
3
Resolves-
That it hereby puts itself on record
as against any treaty of peace
which does not force the Central
Powers to release the territories
they have gained by conquest and
intrigue in the Near East, and fur-
ther urges that no peace should be
regarded as satisfactory to the
Government of the United States
and its associates in the war which
does not fulfill the just aspirations
of the smaller national groups
long held against their will under
the domination of the Central
Powers, and be it further
Resolved-
That the War Committee of the
Union League Club of Chicago
hereby directs its Editorial Com-
mittee to begin at once the prep-
4
aration and dissemination of mate-
rial to inform the public and crys-
talize opinion in favor of the
recent official pronouncements to
this effect of our Government and
of the Versailles conference of
representatives of the Allied Na-
tions.
ال
Significant Resolutions
Evening Post, Tuesday, August 13th, 1918
The war activities committee of the Union
League Club has adopted resolutions demanding
the liberation of Austria-Hungary's subject peo-
ples and the restoration of all territory taken by
the central empires in eastern Europe.
The Union League Club has developed into one.
of the most helpful and intelligent propaganda
agencies in the country since its war committee
entered the field of public education and inspira-
tion. It has led in a clear-visioned and broad
understanding of the issues involved in the great
struggle, and has done invaluable work in pro-
moting an informed sentiment for the prosecution.
of the war to complete victory.
It is significant of the progress of opinion that
it should now speak so emphatically for the
emancipation of Europe from the Prussian yoke
and that it should recognize the fundamental im-
portance of dismembering the German-Magyar
monstrosity that, under the Hapsburgs, serves the
will of the Hohenzollerns. The Post has been
insistent in urging that the Prussian menace to
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world peace and security can be ended finally only
if Berlin's vassal ally is disintegrated and the
Slavic, Roumanian and Italian national groups
liberated from alien oppression. With this
achievement must go the removal of Prussia's
strangling fingers from the throats of Russia, the
Baltic States, Poland and the Balkans.
The Union League Club in espousing this pro-
gram will be of immense service. It is vital that
Americans should understand the danger of a
compromise peace and the necessity for maintain-
ing the war until the enemy is deprived of all
spoils and all power.
།
America's Interest in Middle Europe
Chicago Tribune, Thursday, August 15th, 1918 .
The recognition by Great Britain of the
Czecho-Slovaks as an allied nation has been well
won by the Bohemians. We hope the United
States will take similar action.
At the beginning of the world war if any one
had asked that the United States enter into a
struggle to free Poland, Bohemia, or Jugo-Slavia
from Austrian domination, the reply would have
been a prompt if not profane negative. The
thought that American boys should be asked to
fight and die in Europe to win political advantage
for peoples of central Europe would have been
intolerable.
That thought is intolerable now. The sacri-
fice of American lives on such issues might be
called altruism, but it would be a political crime.
Polish and Bohemian patriots would not ask the
vicarious sacrifice.
Nevertheless, American soldiers are fighting for
the freedom of the Poles, and Czecho-Slovaks,
and the Slavs of Serbia and southern Austria-
Hungary, and practical statesmanship approves.
8
We see more clearly than we did in 1914 the
real significance of the European conflict and we
realize that America is substantially and directly
involved in the establishment of a condition after
the war which shall insure a durable peace and
the removal of a threat to our welfare and
security.
What is our interest in the establishment of
free Polish, Bohemian, Jugo-Slav nations? It is
our interest in breaking the spine of that gigantic
imperial enterprise which the pan-German mili-
tarism hoped to erect with the sword of conquest
and cement with the blood of the weak. A free
Poland, Bohemia, and Jugo-Slavia will make a
bulwark of freedom across Mittel-Europa, and
with the passing of that grandiose dream of Prus-
sian domination, the free peoples of western
Europe will breathe again and we may look for-
ward to international relations regulated by our
common ideals of peaceful progress.
America is vitally interested in procuring a
peace that will be guaranteed by peaceful nations
and guaranteed against the threat of imperialist
militarism. We are vitally interested in setting
up the counterpoise of independent peoples against
9
that peril until the German people have thrown
off the moral and physical control of the military-
aristocratic caste and the influence of the imperial-
ist idea of their destiny.
The resolutions of the war committee of the
Union League Club in favor of recognizing the
aspirations of these heroic peoples seem to us
timely and founded on a true perception of the
American interest in central European conditions.
of peace. There are, of course, idealistic consider-
ations which would incline us to favor freedom for
all oppressed and aspiring peoples. But certainly no
civilian safely at home has a moral right to ask
other men to die for his ideal conceptions. In the
question of Polish and Slavic independence, how-
ever, our sympathy for the cause of freedom runs
parallel to our practical interest. America is
fighting for a secure peace for herself as well as
for her pacific allies.
10
The Czecho-Slovak Nation
Evening Post, Thursday, August 15th, 1918
The Czecho-Slovak nation has come into being
with the recognition of Great Britain, France and
Italy and the sympathy of the United States. It
has organized itself under a national council and
it is represented by three well-equipped armies.
fighting for the cause of democracy on three
fronts.
Its people no longer profess allegiance to the
Hapsburgs. The yoke of Austria has been thrown
off in purpose and they are the open enemy of the
dual monarchy and Germany. Their territory
is still under control of the oppressor, but they
are in revolt, and only martial law maintains the
semblance of Vienna's authority in Bohemia and
Moravia.
Thus the disintegration of Austria-Hungary
has begun and the allied countries are of one mind
in the determination that it shall be carried on
until the political patchwork that has served so
well the ambitions of predatory monarchs is de-
stroyed.
The achievement of this end, made just by
every consideration of the rights of subjugated
11
peoples and the ideals of freedom and democracy
for which we are fighting, means the death blow
to the pan-German conspiracy. It will deprive
Prussia of her most useful agent, her essential in-
strument for control of the Balkans and the high-
way to Bagdad. It will dissipate the dream of a
middle Europe. It is as necessary to a complete
victory over the Potsdam plotters against world
peace as the defeat of the kaiser's armies in France
and Flanders.
A glance at the map will show what strategic
importance attaches to the territory of the Czecho-
Slovaks. The mountain land of Bohemia is like
a clinched fist thrust into the ribs of Germany.
It will smash the schemes of Prussia for a con-
solidation of weaker states if it passes into the
control of a people who do not recognize the au-
thority of Berlin. It will carry with it the Slavic
territory to the east and will be a beacon light
of freedom and revolt for the people of Poland
and the people of southern Slavdom.
The United States has yet to bring itself
abreast of the overseas democracies in its attitude.
toward the Czecho-Slovak nation. The expres-
sion of American sympathy, recently given by our
12
State Department, should be followed by full rec-
ognition of the national council as "trustee for the
future government." We cannot afford to be less
bold and definite in declaring ourselves on this
issue. No further reason exists for considering
the feelings of Vienna. No hope remains of mak-
ing a separate peace with the dual monarchy that
will not be a peace in the interests of Germany.
There is no excuse for avoiding any step that will
hasten the downfall of the Hapsburgs. We owe
it to the large element in our population of
Czecho-Slovak origin, as an element that has been
loyal in word and deed from the first hour when
we entered the war, to lend every aid possible to
their blood-kin in Europe in the heroic struggle
for emancipation that they are making.
13
Bohemian Independence
Chicago Journal, Thursday, August 15th, 1918
Three powers now have recognized the Czecho-
Slovak nation as a formal and independent ally.
France took the lead in this work, as she generally
takes the lead in anything requiring clear-headed
logic. Italy followed. Now Britain has adopted
the same course in very generous fashion.
To these three powers should be joined a
fourth, the United States of America; and the
quicker our recognition of Bohemian independence
comes, the better alike for our prestige and our
policy.
If blood be the price of liberty, the Czecho-
Slovaks have paid in full. Within the last twen-
ty-four hours, dispatches have been smuggled out
of Bohemia telling of the summary execution of
seventy-four Czech soldiers, the arrest of hun-
dreds of civilians and the reinforcement of the
German and Magyar garrisons. Yet this is
merely the last drop in the gory bucket, for tens
of thousands of Czechs and Slovaks have been
hanged, shot or starved to death in prison since.
the war began.
If services to freedom be the price, the Czecho-
Slovaks have an even clearer title to liberty.
14
Gagged and bound though they were, their strug-
gles have wrecked the whole Hapsburg empire,
which is held together now solely by German
domination. They have whipped German and
Austro-Hungarian armies in fair fight. They are
battling now on the western front in France.
They are rendering valued aid to Italy. They
are the chief force that is rescuing Russia from
the mixture of bolshevism and kaiserism, and
their career in that country is an epic the like
of which never has been seen before.
There is an even stronger reason for recogniz-
ing Bohemian independence. That independence
is necessary for the throttling of Prussianism.
Pore over the map as you will, you can not figure
out a free Europe without a free Bohemia. That
mountain rimmed tableland in the heart of the
continent is the keystone of the arch of central
and eastern European liberties; and while it is
ruled from Berlin or Vienna, a new bid for the
Pan-German empire of middle Europe will be
an ever present threat.
Bohemia must have her freedom because she
wants it, because she has earned it, and because
that freedom is necessary to our own safety. Why
should we delay in giving formal official recog-
nition to these plain facts?
15
The Union League Club
of CHICAGO
WAR COMMITTEE
BRITTON I. BUDD
ROBERT W. CHILDS
MARK W. CRESAP
J. F. GILCHRIST
MARTIN M. GRIDLEY
H. H. HILTON
EDWIN S. MILLS
ALLEN B. POND
SAMUEL O. DUNN
F. B. JOHNSTONE.
CHAS. P. WHITNEY.
E. M. SKINNER.
ALLEN B. POND.
A. D. SHERIDAN
·
CLARENCE L. SPEED
W. C. BAGLEY.
BERNARD FLEXNER
MORTON D. HULL
•
FRANK H. SCOTT, ex-officio
F. B. JOHNSTONE
OFFICERS OF COMMITTEE
E. M. SKINNER
•
CHAS. P. WHITNEY
•
•
Chairman
Vice-Chairman
Vice-Chairman
Secretary
Editorial Secretary
.Corresponding Secretary
FOREWORD.
THE
HE request of the War Committee of the Union
League Club that I write a brief foreword to its re-
port, affords the desired opportunity of calling to the at-
tention of each member of the club a matter worthy of se-
rious consideration. It concerns not so much the achieve-
ments of the club during the war, as it does the part it
shall play in the great events which are impending. The
war gave the club the greatest opportunity for service
which has ever come to it. Happily it seized that oppor-
tunity, and what it did through its War Committee con-
stitutes incomparably the finest chapter in all its history.
Each member is urged to read the committee's report,
but no report could give an adequate understanding of
the full significance and importance of that which the
club, through its War Committee, has accomplished.
The club's record in regard to the war, is made, and
it is one in which its members can take just pride, but the
problems which will follow peace may be graver than
any with which mankind has ever been compelled to deal.
With the breaking down of old, established governments
in Europe, there will inevitably follow-not only there,
but everywhere in the civilized world-social readjust-
ments. Many of the efforts in that direction will be un-
intelligent or dishonest. This club in time of war, sought,
as far as it was able, to aid in promoting a better under-
standing of why we were at war, and of the necessity of
continuing to fight until complete victory was achieved.
In the new problems and strife involved in the recon-
struction of the world, which we cannot evade, the one
thing needed is also a clear understanding. The club
C
ii
can do no more loyal service than to continue when peace
comes, the same character of work which it has carried
on throughout the war. The machinery through which
hundreds of thousands of our people can be reached
without great cost, has been built up. An effective work-
ing organization exists. The opportunity of the Union
League Club to serve its country and humanity in a time
which calls for loyalty and intelligent service, is here,
and the need for such service will continue for years to
come.
It is my judgment that the future history of the club
will depend largely upon the position which it takes now
in regard to this work.
Nov. 12, 1918.
FRANK H. SCOTT,
President.
O the Members of the Union League Club:
What has the War Committee done?
Is the task accomplished?
The War Committee is glad to answer these questions.
T°
WHAT THE WAR COMMITTEE HAS DONE.
LITERATURE.
More than fifty-one million times, either by pamphlet
or by newspaper, the "win the war" messages of the
Union League Club have been carried to the people of
Chicago and of the central west. Through the schools, on
the elevated roads, through the cantonments, in thou-
sands of country newspapers, by articles in the labor
press, by manual deliveries at industrial plants, this club
has brought home to the school child, to the laborer, to
the alien, to the business man, to the soldier and to the
general public the fundamental facts of the war, the
reason for America's taking part and the purposes to be
achieved.
At least 5,000,000 homes were actually reached
by one or more messages from this club. Had
these messages been sent out under one-cent pos-
tage the cheapest form possible to use the cost
would have been over $500,000, or more than seven
times the amount of money which has been at the dis-
posal of this committee during its entire existence.
Through the co-operation of thousands of newspapers,
however, which have generously given free space; by
distribution to labor through industrial plants, and by
the use of the government frank, which in some instances
has been placed at the disposal of the committee, it has
been enabled to do its work with the expenditure of com-
2
paratively small amounts for postage. Every pamphlet
bore the request that it be passed along when read so
that the message might reach the largest possible num-
ber of people.
SIGNS AND SLOGANS.
The committee has had prepared timely signs and
slogans bearing upon the vital importance of labor in
the war, and warning against the peace offensives
so cleverly put forward on various occasions by the Cen-
tral Powers. They have appeared in the top margin
of newspapers, have been printed on cards hung from the
strap rail in the elevated cars, they have been blazoned
forth on the elevated structures and they have been read
by hundreds of thousands of people. It has not always
been deemed wise or feasible that the name of the club
should go with the messages thus sent.
And in addition to all this, material was furnished
to Four Minute Men, to clergymen, to lawyers, to teach-
ers, to people everywhere who by the spoken word could
send the message to thousands who might never see the
pamphlet itself.
How effective the work has been may be judged
in part from the fact that the Union League Club
pamphlets have been officially endorsed as reading text-
books in the Chicago public schools and are being used
in many others; that they are being used by draft boards
and army cantonments, and are being called for and dis-
tributed in large numbers by the State Council of De-
fense and other similar organizations, and by the fact
that the government has, in some instances, permitted
the committee to use the postal frank-a privilege so
rarely accorded to private organizations as to be almost
unique.
3
OTHER ACTIVITIES.
Aside from this educational work, which has been its
chief concern, the committee has taken part in all the
drives and campaigns that have been carried on since.
the war began; it has assisted in procuring for the gov-
ernment the services of men, expert in various lines; it
has had speakers of national and international impor-
tance address the club-notably Thomas G. Masaryk,
president of the new Czecho-Slovak republic. Not the
least of its activities has been the establishment, jointly
with two other Chicago organizations, of a fund of
$30,000 for the foundation, and maintenance during the
first year, of the Soldiers and Sailors Club of Chicago.
During its existence the committee and its subcommit-
tees have met whenever the occasion demanded,-in all
more than 175 times. Space will not permit of a detailed
review of the work at this point. Those who are inter-
ested are referred to the summary hereinafter made
which will give facts and figures. A brief reference to
one or two items, however, may be made.
GERMAN RESIDENTS.
In the fall of 1917, as a result of conference with
Washington, we sent to the German residents of Chi-
cago a series of messages written in their own language,
making as clear as could be done by words the situation
which confronted them, and their plain duty.
BUSINESS AS USUAL.
When a few short-sighted business men started to re-
peat in this country the error which had been so costly
in England and raised the cry of "business as usual,"
we took up the challenge and in two articles prepared
4
for us by a master of the subject (which met warm ap-
proval in Washington) we submitted to the business men
of America convincing proof that "business as usual'
was not possible. A third article was then written--
"The Duty of the Consumer"-pointing out how every
one could co-operate by declining to purchase nonessen-
tials and by conserving the use of actual necessities and
incidentally investing their savings in government se-
curities. One hundred and fifty thousand copies of this
pamphlet were sent broadcast of which more than 60,000
were sent out by the War Savings Committee for Illi-
nois under its frank.
OUR EASTERN PERIL.
Realizing that Germany's real ambition lay toward the
east, we took the position that no peace should be
regarded as satisfactory which did not fulfill the national
aspirations of the groups long held under the domination
of the Central Powers. We sent resolutions on this sub-
ject to the President, the Cabinet, and the Congress
early in August. As a part of this work the committee
has been instrumental in launching a new organization—
American Friends of a New Middle Europe-whose
work will be carried on by a committee of Chicagoans
and whose object is the education of the American people
as to the help that is needed from America and the op-
portunities that await her in the newly formed states of
Europe.
PRESIDENT WILSON'S PROGRAM.
Immediately after the delivery of the President's
famous New York speech of September 27th, we wired
the Committee on Public Information at Washi-
ington asking for 500,000 copies. They replied that
5
the documents could not be printed at present and that
they were short of funds. Realizing that the pro-
gram laid down by President Wilson in his five speeches,
commencing with the famous fourteen points of January
8th, would become the basis of world peace, we arranged
to publish the entire series in pamphlet form at a cost of
about 2c a copy. The government heartily approved
the plan and promptly accorded us the franking privilege.
The document is just off the press and probably before
you read this report we will have distributed over
150,000 copies to selected groups throughout the country.
DISTRIBUTION.
A word as to our methods of distribution may be of
interest. A few weeks ago there appeared in a Chicago
morning newspaper an article which had been prepared
for us by Clarence L. Speed. The paper had a circulation
of 400,000. The article was then printed in pam-
phlet form and 200,000 copies were sent to man-
ufacturers in Chicago and the industrial district
of northern Illinois and adjacent territory in
neighboring states, to be by them distributed to
their employees. Through a central agency copies
were sent to 70,000 fire insurance agents through-
out the middle west. One hundred thousand copies
were placed in the racks in the elevated cars. On
postal request from the teachers in the Chicago schools
over 100,000 copies were sent out to the school children of
the city by whom they were in most cases taken into the
homes. Draft boards and cantonments called on us for
educational material for the men going into the army,
and thousands of copies were distributed through these
two agencies. Meanwhile, 'the day after the article ap-
peared in the Chicago paper, we had it prepared for
use in plate form and sent it to more than 3,500 news-
ta
6
papers in the eleven states of the middle west-the total
circluation being conservatively estimated at 20,000,000.
WAS IT NECESSARY?
The question may be asked whether the work was
really needed-whether it was not mere duplication of
what was already being done. The answer can be found
in the committee's mail which day after day has brought
in letters of approval and, what is of more importance,
urgent requests from all quarters for more pamphlets.
The teachers of the Chicago public schools asked for
more than 100,000 copies of the Speed pamphlet entitled
"Our Peril on the Eastern Front," and within the past
ten days we received from the commanding general at
Camp Custer, Michigan, a request that his cantonment
be supplied with 40,000 copies of the other Speed pam-
phlet entitled "Why We Fight.'
99
The press has given the work recognition in a number
of editorials. We will quote from one which appeared
on August 13, 1918:
"The Union League Club has developed into one
of the most helpful and intelligent propaganda
agencies in the country since its war committee en-
tered the field of public education and inspiration.
It has led in a clear-visioned and broad understand-
ing of the issues involved in the great struggle, and
has done invaluable work in promoting an informed
sentiment for the prosecution of the war to com-
plete victory."
During the past year we have had the benefit of the
co-operation of a number of University of Chicago men,
all of whom have given generously of their time and
thought. Harold G. Moulton prepared our pamphlets
dealing with war business. Shailer Mathews has been a
regular attendant at our meetings and has constantly
given us helpful criticism and suggestions. Samuel R.
7
Harper has advised us on various phases of the Eastern
question. The scholarly advice of Andrew C. McLaugh-
lin, Frederick D. Bramhall and James H. Tufts has been
available to us whenever it was sought.
We trust that it will not seem out of place if the War
Committee takes occasion here to express its gratifica-
tion that the club members by their liberal, voluntary
financial support, their frequent suggestions and hearty
co-operation, have made possible such measure of suc-
cess as has been obtained.
8
WHAT REMAINS TO BE DONE.
THE TERMS OF PEACE.
The armistice terms have been accepted,-what then?
There remains the entire purpose for which the war was
waged: the construction of a durable peace. As has been
said over and over again by the leaders of the countries
opposed to Germany, this is a people's war. It is the
power of the people-the power of public opinion-that
has crushed German militarism, and public opinion must
express itself concerning the terms of peace.
The peace of justice—a peace which will compel resti-
tution and reparation, which will safeguard the world.
from similar attacks, which will recognize the independ-
ence of peoples long oppressed, and which will yet not
bear within itself the causes of its future destruction-
such a peace will require for its attainment intelligence.
and patience and above all the strong power of public
opinion.
The United States is in a particularly fortunate posi-
tion as the time comes for making the final settlements.
It wants nothing for itself in the way of territory or
material gain. It was fighting for an ideal, and its task
at the council table is to see that the ideal for which it
fought is realized. This ideal is freedom and justice
for all peoples.
It is the duty of the United States to see that jus-
tice is not biased by revenge; that the interests of smaller
nations are not sacrificed to the desires of the strong;
that the rights of peoples are not bartered about in a
settlement of convenience, but that the map of Europe
is arranged in a way that will make victorious peace a
lasting peace.
9
THE NEW EUROPE.
When it has finally been achieved there will ap-
pear in Europe several new nations, or rather old
nations whose independence was lost so long ago that
they have been almost forgotten. Prominent among
these will be Poland, Czecho-Slovakia and Jugo-Slavia.
Then there are nations like Belgium, Serbia and Ru-
mania, which have been so devastated by the war that
they will almost have to begin their national lives over
again. And Russia-what of her?
It is essential that these nations be not left to the
mercy of any national commercial'pirate such as Germany
has been in the past (and may be again if care is not
taken to prevent it) and reduced to economic servitude
which may, in time amount to loss of independ-
ence. It is the duty of the United States to do its part
toward seeing that these nations are aided, both officially
as far as their governments are concerned, and privately
in so far as the people of this country can give aid to
their finance, industry and commerce.
DEMOBILIZATION.
The task of doing justice to the millions of American
soldiers now abroad will not be without difficulties. All
of them will have to remain overseas for many months
after the fighting ceases. Many may be kept there for
years aiding in restoring order or garrisoning points
which the Central Empires will have been forced to sur-
render as guaranties of good faith. These American
boys, inspired by patriotic fervor, gave up all to serve
their country. When they return, months or years after
the spectre of military conquest has been laid, shall their
sacrifice be rewarded by finding all avenues of progress
10
closed because their places are occupied by those who
remained at home?
RECONSTRUCTION.
Fundamental changes have taken place both in the
social and economic structure of the world. Europe, and
especially England, is giving recognition to the fact and
preparing to deal with it. We will do well to follow her
example.
1
Here at home the great shift from war business to
peace time occupations must be made. It is likely to
prove of greater difficulty than was the shift from peace
to war because it will have to be made at a time when the
spur of national peril has been removed; when the people,
tired of sacrifice, begin again to put their own interests
ahead of national interests; when the business man may
be seeking to cut costs; when the wage earner may try, by
strikes and otherwise, to maintain the war-time scale of
wages; when the farmer may oppose any lowering of
the prices he has received for his product in recent
years, and when the consumer, the war-time excuse be-
ing removed, may resent any attempts to keep com-
modity prices up.
WORLD TRADE.
In addition all nations will attempt to revive their
world trade in the shortest possible time. The war-torn
lands of Europe, and especially of the Central Powers,
accustomed normally to a low standard of living, lowered
still more by the rigors of war, will be under imperative
necessity of getting the machinery of industry and com-
merce started. They will have direct government aid,
and labor costs will be low.
It is necessary now that every effort be made to bring
11
about a unified sentiment in this country which will per-
mit our manufacturers and our merchants to obtain a
proper share of world trade. They must compete with
Europe in distant markets. They, by quantity produc-
tion and more modern methods must be able to meet
the prices which the lands with low labor costs can set,
without appreciably lowering the standard of living in
this country. This can only be done if employer and
employee work together in one common cause, avoiding
class struggles and looking at intricate problems with
broad vision. Obviously much remains to be done in an
educational way to bring this about.
FOREIGN POLICY.
Our country has become in fact a world power and
it must fashion for itself a foreign policy based upon
full recognition of that fact. There is a danger that
public sentiment may become engrossed in local affairs
to such an extent that the United States, now univer-
sally recognized as a leader in world thought and inter-
national morality, may retire again into "splendid isola-
tion." Such an event would be a tragedy, not only to
ourselves but to the world.
IN CONCLUSION.
"The tumult and the shouting dies, the captains and
the kings depart"-and we are left facing the sober
duties of world citizenship and the difficult questions of
readjustment and reconstruction. "Noblesse oblige."
The Union League Club of Chicago has honorable tradi-
tions and a new prestige. Upon organizations such as
this the obligation is laid to consider seriously the prob-
lems that now arise and to educate public opinion along
the line of their proper and wise solution. There will
12
be controversy and much heat-there will be need of
light.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
In the judgment of the committee the campaign of
education should go forward along these general lines:
1. Terms of Peace. The public should be kept
informed of the progress of negotiations and the con-
flicting claims of the various countries and nationalities.
It must be made clear to them what are the fundamental
principles which will serve as a basis for a just and dur-
able peace—to the end that public opinion will unani-
mously support our government in its insistence upon
these principles.
2. Reconstruction. An informed public sentiment is
necessary to secure the adoption of laws which will
enable this country to meet and adjust itself to the
changes which are taking place in the social and economic
structure of the world. The problems of demobilization
alone require study and education in order that they
may be solved with the least friction and hardship.
3. New Europe. Conditions in Europe must be made
plain to our people if the United States is to fulfill the
obligations toward the newly created or weaker nations
of Europe which have been laid upon it by the war,
or is to avail itself of the economic opportunity thus
afforded. There must be widespread dissemination of
knowledge concerning their economic needs, industrial as
well as financial.
4. Foreign Policy. A people who have regarded the
oceans as boundaries must now realize that they are
highways—and be educated to the point of abandoning
an outworn policy of noninterest and of substituting a
13
sound policy of active relationships with the other great
nations of the world.
5. League of Nations. Whether there is actually to
be a league of nations which will maintain the peace of
the world and what form it shall take, are questions
which challenge the world's statesmen to-day. Here
again an informed and alert public opinion is of the
utmost importance. It will be idle for gentlemen at a
council table to formulate plans for a league unless be-
hind such league there is the informed good will of the
free peoples of the earth.
The construction of a just and lasting peace, wise re-
construction, the fulfillment of duty and the achievement
of opportunity in Europe, a sound foreign policy and an
international guaranty against another world war-
these are things which will tax the capacity of any people
in their attainment and which for their accomplishment
demand education and leadership.
The Union League Club of Chicago may have a share
in this great work. It is to be hoped that the opportun-
ity for national service will not be lost.
Respectfully submitted,
WAR COMMITTEE OF THE UNION
LEAGUE CLUB OF CHICAGO,
By F. B. JOHNSTONE,
Chairman.
November 11, 1918.
14
ORGANIZATION, FINANCIAL STATEMENT AND
SUMMARY OF WORK.
ORGANIZATION.
In April, 1917, within a few days after this country
declared war, the War Committee was organized. The
original committee appointments were made by the
club's president, Howard G. Hetzler, acting under au-
thority of the Board of Managers. Harry A.
Wheeler was the
the first chairman, A. D. Sheridan
was vice chairman, and F. B. Johnstone secre-
tary. Owing to the demands of government work,
Mr. Wheeler resigned early in the summer of 1917 and
Mr. Sheridan became chairman, a position which he held
until his term expired in March, 1918, at which time the
present officers of the committee were chosen. Other
members of the committee who served prior to March,
1918, but who were compelled to resign owing to the
pressure of other matters, were William E. Clow, H. R.
Kurrie, Marvin B. Pool and Edwin Sherman. Frank
H. Scott ceased active membership in March, 1918,
when he became president of the Club.
The committee was originally composed of nine mem-
bers. As the work progressed however it was found
necessary to enlarge the number to fifteen. This was
done and in order to accomplish satisfactory results, the
committee organized itself into the following subcommit-
tees. Their titles will indicate something of the scope of
the work:
Distribution,
Editorial,
Eastern Question,
Finance,
Labor,
Meetings and Speakers,
Newspapers,
Printing,
Schools and Colleges,
Signs and Slogans,
Soldiers and Sailors Club,
War Time Business,
15
FINANCIAL STATEMENT.
Receipts of War Committee from its organization in April,
1917 to November 1, 1918 (these receipts include all sub-
scriptions and also moneys derived from sale of pamphlets). $69,233.68
DISBURSEMENTS
(including appropriations for work now in process)
Special Appropriations:
Fourth of July, France Day and Americanization
celebrations in S7 community centers in Chi-
cago, July, 1917; Fourth of July, 1918; total..$ 2,092.50
Soldiers and Sailors Club....
10,000.00
Newspaper Publicity:
Boiler plate material in 4,283 papers; articles in
150 selected newspapers on our business series;
house organ distribution; total..
Editorials in German newspapers, Sept. 17 to Nov.
30, 1917
Citizen Soldier Poster No. 258-2010 special form..
Special distribution to 326 clubs-Pamphlets, etc..
Office supplies, miscellaneous postage, expense in
connection with speakers, salaries and miscel-
laneous expenses
•
Expense of editorial work and collecting informa-
tion.
•
PRINTING AND DISTRIBUTION COSTS.
Literature totalling 760,000 pieces to special group
of 95,000 German families in Chicago.
Pamphlet, "Unusual Business," 90,000 copies..
Pamphlet, "Your Business and War Business,"
108,000 copies
•
Pamphlet, "Duty of the Consumer," 150,000 copies..
Pamphlet, "Our Peril on the Eastern Front," 200,000
copies, and 4,000 copies of "Resolutions".
Special leaflets to labor group.
Envelopes, stationery, etc....
•
•
"Why We Fight," 200,000 copies full pamphlet and
600,000 leaflets
"The Bases of a Durable Peace," 50,000 copies in
long form and 125,000 in shorter form...
Miscellaneous pamphlets to club members and other
smaller groups
Pamphlets, letters and notices to the Slay group...
Letters and notices to members on various war
activities, Liberty Loan, Red Cross, Salvation
Army, Y. M. C. A., etc....
Signs and slogans on elevated trains and elsewhere
Balance as of November 1, 1918..
€,809.67
6,140.20
237.25
204.85
5,488.03
2,091.72
6,734.53
2,819.00
2,475.43
1,693.53
3,987.21
3,276.08
2,322.88
4,317.25
1,730.00
1,830.24
1,024.22
1,885.70
500.00
$67,660.29
$ 1,573.39
16
SUMMARY OF WORK.
OUR GERMAN CITIZENS.
At the outbreak of the war it was felt that there was
much to do towards influencing the sentiment of our citi-
zens of German birth or extraction, and this was the first
endeavor of this committee. This work, regarded as
most urgent at first, gradually became of lesser import
as time showed that the great bulk of the German people
in this country would give no aid to their Fatherland in
a war against their adopted country. The work among
the so-called German group may be summarized as fol-
lows:
From September 17 to November 30, 1917,
space was paid for and occupied by twenty-
six loyalty editorials in the German lan-
guage press of Chicago. The number of
copies of the papers carrying these edito-
rials is estimated at
In addition the following pamphlets in the
quantities indicated have been mailed to
Chicago citizens of German extraction:
Prussianized Germany,
A Call to join the Friends of German Democ-
racy,
An Appeal to German Citizens,
The Government of Germany,
The Lichnowsky Memorandum,
Total messages to the German group,
1,000,000
95,000
95,000
95,000
95,000
95,000
1,475,000
THE BUSINESS SITUATION.
The adjustment of private business to the war needs.
of the nation also was one of the big problems of the
earlier months of the conflict. The committee caused to
be written, printed and circulated three pamphlets by
Harold G. Moulton of the University of Chicago on this
:
!
!
17
subject, the first two to the business interests of the
country and the third to the general public. The circula-
tion of these pamphlets was as follows:
"Unusual Business Not Business as Usual," a
pamphlet dealing with the necessity of sub-
ordinating private interests to the needs of
the Government-sent to every corporation in
the United States with a capitalization of
$10,000 or more,
"Your Business and War Business," telling
business men how and where to find just what
the Government did need, and how to make
the necessary readjustments-sent to all cor-
porations, large and small, in the Central
States,
"The Duty of the Consumer in War Time,
giving instructions to the general public as
to the necessity of foregoing luxuries and sav-
ing labor and materials for war work-sent
broadcast to women's clubs, preachers, Four
Minute Men, and to the public generally in
Illinois,
Total to Business group*
*
""
90,000
108,000
150,000
448,000
THE CAUSES OF THE WAR,
Feeling that there was a general need of education re-
garding the causes of the war and the aims of America in
the struggle, the committee caused to be prepared by
Clarence L. Speed a pamphlet containing six articles un-
der the title "Why We Fight," which was given the fol-
lowing distribution:
*This does not take into account newspaper excerpts from these
pamphlets which were widely printed all over the country.
18
To schools for use in class rooms and for dis-
tribution to the homes through the pupils,
and to draft boards and cantonments,
In smaller leaflets, chapter at a time, distrib-
uted in the elevated cars of Chicago,
In a series of six articles in the Chicago Trib-
une, with a circulation of 400,000 daily,
In a series of six articles in 3,513 smaller
papers in eleven states. Estimating the cir-
culation of each issue of each of these
papers at only 1,000 we have a total dis-
tribution through this medium of
A second series of articles bearing on this
subject was prepared and published in the
following forms:
As a series of four articles in the Chicago
Daily News, with a daily circulation of
400,000,
As a series of three articles illustrated by
cartoons by Carey Orr of the Chicago Trib-
une in 738 papers in Illinois,
Total circulation of these two series dealing
with the causes of the war and aims of
America,
200,000
600,000
2,400,000
21,578,000
1,600,000
3,814,000
28,592,000
THE EASTERN FRONT.
Even after it began to be evident that the war was
nearing its conclusion the committee felt that there re-
mained a distinct danger to the interests of the United
States and to the Allies in the situation on the Eastern
front. It therefore had Mr. Speed prepare a pamphlet
on this subject, showing the necessity of forcing Ger-
many to relinquish its grip on Russia and the various
provinces which had been split from that empire; of
bringing about the firm establishment of a free state of
Poland, and of the liberation of the oppressed peoples of
Austria-Hungary-the Czecho-Slovaks, Jugo Slavs,
Rumanians and Italians held against their will. That
there was a pressing demand for something of this sort
19
was shown by the fact that the schools, within a very
few days, ordered more than 100,000 copies of this
pamphlet; that it was endorsed for study by the board
of education, and that there quickly developed a demand
for it from the draft boards and army cantonments.
Distribution of this pamphlet was had in the following
forms and quantities:
200,000
As a 24-page pamphlet, illustrated by map,
As a series of six articles in the Chicago
Evening Post and other papers owned by
J. C. Shaffer in Denver, Col., Louisville,
Ky., Indianapolis, Terre Haute and Muncie,
Ind., with an estimated daily circulation of
400,000 copies,
As a series of five articles in 750 newspapers
in the larger towns of six states, with an
estimated average circulation of 2,000 each, 7,500,000
In shorter form for circulation in industrial
plants and through the managers of fire
insurance bureaus in a dozen states of the
Central West,
Total circulation,
2,400,000
300,000
10,400,000
THE LABOR SITUATION.
Remembering the labor difficulties in England and see-
ing signs of similar unrest in this country, the commit-
tee early began to set before the workers of this coun-
try-the men and women who had to furnish the guns,
munitions, supplies and ships for the winning of the war
-the necessity of increased production, of regular
work. In doing this it procured the cooperation of the
Labor Press of America, some 350 papers; of certain
leaders of Union Labor and of hundreds of employers.
throughout the Chicago district. Pamphlets and news-
paper articles addressed to the labor group had the fol-
lowing circulation:
20
"Who Was Responsible for the War-and
Why," by Ben Tillett, British labor leader.
This was printed in 350 Union Labor news-
papers covering the United States and Can-
ada, with an estimated average circulation
of 5,000 each,
In leaflet form, distributed to Chicago man-
ufacturing plants,
"Their Job and Ours," a leaflet dealing with
the necessity of speeding up industry in war
time. Circulated in manufacturing plants in
the Chicago district and by the managers of
Fire Insurance Bureaus in a dozen states,
Printed in scores of house organs and trade
papers throughout the country with an esti-
mated circulation of
An article on the condition of labor in Ger-
many by George W. Perkins, Chicago labor
leader, printed in 350 labor papers,
"Deliver the Goods," by Clarence L. Speed,
an article urging industrial support of the
army in France; printed in house organs
and trade papers with an estimated circula-
tion of
1,750,000
25,000
250,000
1,000,000
1,750,000
1,000,000
Total labor distribution,
5,775,000
The circulation of these pamphlets through the indus-
trial plants required careful attention to many details
and an immense amount of time and effort. The com-
mittee is indebted to a member of the Club, Glenn D.
Roberts, who undertook and carried through much of
this work.
OTHER HELPFUL ARTICLES.
During the months this committee has been in opera-
tion there were numerous other educational activities of
lesser magnitude, if not lesser importance, which may
be summarized as follows:
21
Two articles on the causes and aims of the
war, printed in the W. D. Boyce periodicals
with a circulation of 750,000,
Hazen's "Government of Germany" in pam-
phlet form for use in the schools,
"Look Out for the German Peace Trap," a
warning against German trickery in the
negotiations for an armistice, printed:
As a column article in the Boyce periodicals,
Revised, as an article in the Chicago Tribune,
THE BASES OF DURABLE PEACE.
As the end of the
the war was approaching and
the peace negotiations were about to begin it was
felt that the war and peace aims of America, as stated
by President Wilson, should be given the widest possi-
ble circulation. For this reason the President's speeches
from the famous "14 points" of January 8, 1918, to the
masterly speech of September 27, 1918, in which this
country's program was summed up, were gathered to-
gether and printed under the title, "The Bases of Dur-
able Peace." This is being given circulation in the fol-
lowing forms and quantities:
In long form, for certain selected lists and for
use as a school text book
As a shorter form pamphlet, for general refer-
ence
Total circulation
1,500,000
50,000
750,000
400,000
—
50,000
125,000
175,000
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
The Committee, in addition to sending out its millions
of messages all over the country constantly endeavored
to provide for members of the Club the most complete
information as to the causes and aims of the war, its
progress, and the varied phases of world policy and in-
terest which it brought out.
<
The following documents and pamphlets were provided
22
!
for this purpose and made available to members either
through mail distribution or on the tables in the War
Committee room:
"The Nation in Arms," by Franklin K. Lane and New-
ton D. Baker, in which the causes of the war and the
measures taken to meet new problems were set forth.
"Conquest and Kultur," an extensive booklet issued
by the Committee on Public Information detailing Ger-
man aims for world dominion and German ruthlessness
in war.
"England and America," by Conyers Read of the Uni-
versity of Chicago, showing how these two nations had
lived in peace and amity for a hundred years with no
armed guards between.
"The Philosophy of the War," by Judson G. Rosebush
of Wisconsin, showing how democracy was aligned
against autocracy in the struggles to preserve the liber-
ties of the world.
"The Threat of German World Politics," by Harry
Pratt Judson, president of the University of Chicago,
showing how the German lust for power meant the loss of
liberty by other nations.
"Democracy the Basis for World Order," by Freder-
ick D. Bramhall of the University of Chicago, showing
how autocracy must give way if world progress is to be
had.
"America and the World Crisis," by Albion W. Small,
telling of his personal experiences in Germany years be-
fore the war which convinced him Germany planned to
conquer her neighbors in Europe and then make the
United States pay tribute.
"Sixteen Causes of the War," by Andrew C. Mc-
Laughlin of the University of Chicago, in which the rea-
23
sons for America's entrance into the struggle were
summed up.
"How the War Came to America," a pamphlet issued
by the Committee on Public Information telling the
causes which forced this country into the struggle.
"The President's Flag Day Address," a carefully an-
notated edition of the speech of June 14, 1917, in which
the causes of the war were explained in detail.
"The German Menace to America," by George R.
Wallace, exposing German designs on the liberty and ma-
terial wealth of the people of the United States.
"The Prussian System," by F. C. Walcott, telling of
German cruelties in Poland and Belgium which he had
witnessed with his own eyes, and exposing the deliberate
German plot to depopulate Poland.
"The War Message and Facts Behind It," being the
text of President Wilson's message of April 2, 1917, ex-
tensively annotated.
"Who Was Responsible for the War-and Why," by
Ben Tillett, British labor leader, giving the conclusions
of British organized labor that Germany had forced the
war on the world.
"Prussianized Germany," by Otto H. Kahn, being an
expose of the German military autocracy for the benefit
of Americans of German descent.
"The Tentacles of the German Octopus in America,'
by Earl H. Sperry of Syracuse University, laying bare
the ramifications of the German propaganda in the
United States for years before the war.
""
"My German Correspondence," by Professor Douglas
Johnson of Columbia University, containing a letter of a
24
German professor trying to show England's responsibil-
ity for the war, and the author's reply thereto.
"Unusual Business, Not Business as Usual," by Har-
old G. Moulton, of the University of Chicago, showing
the need of putting the nation's business ahead of private
business for the speedier winning of the war.
"Your Business and War Business," by Harold
G. Moulton, telling manufacturers where and how to
get exact information concerning methods for shifting
from private to war business.
"The Duty of the Consumer in War Time," by Harold
G. Moulton, showing the necessity on the part of every-
one for conserving in every possible way in order to
release labor and materials for war work.
"Why We Fight," by Clarence L. Speed, a pamphlet
setting forth in detail the causes which drove America
to war and the aims for which she was fighting.
"Our Peril on the Eastern Front," by Clarence L.
Speed, a pamphlet showing how the war may be lost,
even after it is won, unless Germany is forced to release
her grip, economic as well as military, on the nations
along her eastern borders.
"Their Job and Ours," by Clarence L. Speed, a leaflet
urging the necessity of speeding up all industry in order
that American soldiers might not lack for munitions and
supplies.
"The Bases of Durable Peace," a collection of five
messages and speeches of President Wilson in which he
set forth the terms of settlement which must be made to
insure the world against further wars.
"The New Russia," by Louis Edgar Browne, telling
ܕ
25
of conditions in the former realm of the Czar since the
revolution.
"My Mission to London," by Prince Lichnowsky, who
was German ambassador to England when the war broke
out, and who laid bare the facts showing that Germany
forced the war on the world while England did every-
thing in her power to prevent it.
"The Government of Germany," by Charles D. Hazen
of Columbia University, showing how all power is con-
centrated in the hands of the kaiser and his princely ad-
visors, the people being denied voice in the government.
"The Czecho-Slovaks," by Lewis B. Namier, being a
short history of Bohemia and Slovakia showing their
servitude under the Hapsburgs and their struggle for
freedom.
"Our Peril in the East," being resolutions adopted
August 8, 1918, by the War Committee of the Union
League Club urging that this country insist upon the
granting of absolute freedom to the oppressed national-
ities of Europe in order that a permanent and just peace
might be achieved.
"The Austrian Peace Trap," being resolutions of the
War Committee of the Union League Club of September
16th, pointing out the insincerity of Austria's first pleas
for peace.

Prussianized Germany
Americans of
Foreign Descent and
America's Cause
From an address before the
Harrisburg, Pa., Chamber of Commerce
September 26, 1917
By
OTTO H. KAHN
器
​Reprinted by
The Union League Club of Chicago
by permission of
Otto H. Kahn
Prussianized
Germany
From an address before the
Harrisburg, Pa., Chamber of Commerce
September 26, 1917
I
SPEAK as one who has seen
the spirit of the Prussian
governing class at work from
close by, having at its disposal and
using to the full practically every
agency for moulding the public
mind.
I have watched it proceed with
relentless persistency and pro-
[ 3 ]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
found cunning to instill into the
nation the demoniacal obsession of
power-worship and world-domin-
ion, to modify and pervert the
mentality indeed the very fibre
and moral substance-of the Ger-
man people, a people which until
misled, corrupted and system-
atically poisoned by the Prussian
ruling caste, was and deserved to
be an honored, valued and wel-
come member of the family of
nations.
I have hated and loathed that
spirit ever since it came within my
ken many years ago; hated it all
[4]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
the more as I saw it ruthlessly
pulling down a thing which was
dear to me the old Germany to
which I was linked by ties of
blood, by fond memories and
cherished sentiments.
The difference in the degree of
guilt as between the German peo-
ple and their Prussian or Prus-
sianized rulers and leaders for the
monstrous crime of this war and
the atrocious barbarism of its con-
duct is the difference between the
man who, acting under the influ-
ence of a poisonous drug, runs
amuck in mad frenzy and the
[ 5 ]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
unspeakable malefactor who ad-
ministered that drug, well know-
ing and fully intending the ghastly
consequences which were bound
to follow.
GR
[6]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY

T
HE world fervently longs
for peace. But there can be
no peace answering to the
true meaning of the word-no peace
permitting the nations of the earth,
great and small, to walk unarmed
and unafraid-until the teaching
and the leadership of the apostles
of an outlaw creed shall have be-
come discredited and hateful in
the sight of the German people;
until that people shall have
awakened to a consciousness of
[7]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
the unfathomable guilt of those
whom they have followed into
calamity and shame; until a mood
of penitence and of a decent
respect for the opinions of man-
kind shall have supplanted the
sway of what President Wilson
has so trenchantly termed "trucu-
lence and treachery."
God strengthen the conscience
and the understanding, the will and
the power of the German people
so that they may find the only
road which will give to the world
an early peace and in time lead
Germany back into the family of
[8]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
nations from which it is now an
outcast.
From each successive visit to
Germany for twenty-five years I
came away more appalled by the
sinister transmutation Prussianism
had wrought amongst the people
and by the portentous menace I rec-
ognized in it for the entire world.
It had given to Germany un-
paralleled prosperity, beneficent
and advanced social legislation,
and not a few other things of
value, but it had taken in payment
the soul of the race. It had made
a "devil's bargain.
""
[9]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY

AN
ND when this war broke out
in Europe I knew that the
issue had been joined be-
tween the powers of brutal might
and insensate ambition on the one
side and the forces of humanity
and liberty on the other; between
darkness and light.
Many there were at that time-
and amongst them men for whose
character I had high respect and
whose motives were beyond any
possible suspicion-who saw their
[ 10 ]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
own and America's duty in strict
neutrality, mentally and actually,
but personally I believed from the
beginning of the war, whether we
liked all the elements of the Allies
combination or not-and I cer-
tainly did not like the Russia of
the Czars that the cause of the
Allies was America's cause.
I believed that this was no or-
dinary war between peoples for a
question of national interest, or
even national honor, but a con-
flict between fundamental prin-
ciples and ideas; and so believing
I was bound to feel that the
Mga
[ 11 ]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
natural lines of race, blood and
kinship could not be the deter-
mining lines for one's attitude and
alignment, but that each man,
regardless of his origin, had to de-
cide according to his judgment and
conscience on which side was the
right and on which was the wrong
and take his stand accordingly,
whatever the wrench and anguish
of the decision. And thus I took
my stand three years ago.
FOR
[12]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY

B
UT whatever one's views
and feelings, whatever the
country of one's birth or
kin, only one course was left for all
those claiming the privilege of
American citizenship when after
infinite forbearance the President
decided that our honor and safety
demanded that we take up arms
against the Imperial German Gov-
ernment, and by action of Congress
the cause and the fight against
the Government were declared
our cause and our fight.
[13]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
The duty of loyal allegiance and
faithful service to his country,
even unto death, rests, of course,
upon every American. But, if
it be possible to speak of a com-
parative degree concerning what
is the highest as it is the most
elementary attribute of citizen-
ship, that duty may almost be
said to rest with an even more
solemn and compelling obligation
upon Americans of foreign origin
than upon native Americans.
For we Americans of foreign
antecedents are here not by the
accidental right of birth, but by
[14]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
our own free choice for better or
for worse.
We are your fellow citizens be-
cause you accepted our oath of
allegiance as given in good faith,
and because you have opened to us
in generous trust the portals of
American opportunity and free-
dom, and have admitted us to
membership in the family of
Americans, giving us equal rights
in the great inheritance which has
been created by the blood and the
toil of your ancestors, asking noth-
ing from us in return but decent
citizenship and adherence to those
Qua
[15]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
ideals and principles which are
symbolized by the glorious flag of
America.
Woe to the foreign-born Ameri-
can who betrays the splendid trust
which you have reposed in him!
Woe to him who considers his
American citizenship merely as a
convenient garment to be worn in
fair weather but to be exchanged
for another one in time of storm
and stress!
Woe to the German-American,
so-called, who, in this sacred war
for a cause as high as any for which
ever people took up arms, does
[16]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
not feel a solemn urge, does not
show an eager determination to
be in the very fore-front of the
struggle; does not prove a patriotic
jealousy, in thought, in action and
in speech to rival and to outdo his
native-born fellow citizen in devo-
tion and in willing sacrifice for
the country of his choice and
adoption and sworn allegiance,
and of their common affection
and pride.
[ 17 ]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY

AⓇ
S Washington led Americans
of British blood to fight
against Great Britain, as
Lincoln called upon Americans of
the North to fight their very
brothers of the South, so Ameri-
cans of German descent are now
summoned to join in our coun-
try's righteous struggle against a
people of their own blood, which,
under the evil spell of a dreadful
obsession, and, Heaven knows,
through no fault of ours, has made
[18]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
itself the enemy of this peace-
loving Nation, as it is the enemy
of peace and right and freedom
throughout the world.
To gain America's independence,
to defeat oppression and tyranny,
was indeed to gain a great cause.
To preserve the Union, to eradi-
cate slavery, was perhaps a greater
still.
To defend the very foundations
of liberty and humanity, the very
groundwork of fair dealing be-
tween nations, the very basis of
peaceable living together among
the peoples of the earth against
[19]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
the fierce and brutal onslaught of
ruthless, lawless, faithless might;
to spend the lives and the fortunes
of this generation so that our
descendants may be freed from
the dreadful calamity of war
and the fear of war, so that
the energies and billions of treas-
ure now devoted to plans and
instruments of destruction may be
given henceforth to fruitful works
of peace and progress and to the
betterment of the conditions of
the people that is the highest
cause for which any people ever
unsheathed its sword.
[ 20 ]
PRUSSIANIZED GERMANY
He who shirks the full measure
of his duty and allegiance in that
noblest of causes, be he German-
American, Irish-American, or any
other hyphenated American, be he
I. W. W. or Socialist or whatever
the appellation, does not deserve
to stand amongst Americans or, in-
deed, amongst free men anywhere.
He who, secretly or overtly, tries
to thwart the declared will and
aim of the Nation in this holy war
is a traitor, and a traitor's fate
should be his.
[21]

WAR INFORMATION SERIES
August, 1917
No. 3
L
THE GOVERNMENT
OF GERMANY
By
CHARLES D
COMMITTER
HAZEN
PROFESSOR OF EUROPEAN HISTORY
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
ON-PUBLIC
I WASHINGTON NOLIV
Published by COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION, Washington, D. C.
THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION
(Established by order of the President April 4, 1917.)
Distributed free except that in the case of No. 2 and No. 3 of the
Red, White, and Blue Series, the subscriber should forward 15
cents each to cover the cost of printing.
I. Red, White, and Blue Series:
No. 1. How the War Came to America (English, German,
Polish, Bohemian, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish).
No. 2. National Service Handbook (primarily for libraries,
schools, Y. M. C. A.'s, clubs, fraternal organiza-
tions, etc., as a guide and reference work on all
forms of war activity-civil, charitable, and mili-
tary.
No. 3. The Battle Line of Democracy. Prose and Poetry of
the Great War.
No. 4. The President's Flag Day Speech with Evidence of Ger-
many's Plans.
No. 5. Conquest and Kultur, the Germans' Aims in Their Own
Words, by Wallace Notestein and Elmer E. Stoll.
Other issues in preparation.
II. War Information Series:
No. 1. The War Message and Facts Behind It.
No. 2. The Nation in Arms, by Secretaries Lane and Baker.
No. 3. The Government of Germany, by Prof. Charles D.
Hazen.
No. 4. The Great War: from Spectator to Participant.
No. 5. A War of Self-Defense, by Secretary Lansing and
Assistant Secretary of Labor Louis F. Post.
No. 6. American Loyalty by Citizens of German Descent.
No. 7. Amerikanische Bürgertreue, a translation of No. 6.
No. 8. American Interest in Popular Government Abroad, by
Prof. E. B. Greene.
No. 9. Home Reading Course for Citizen Soldiers.
No. 10. First Session of the War Congress, by Charles Merz.
Other issues will appear shortly.
III. Official Bulletin:
Accurate daily statement of what all agencies of govern-
ment are doing in war times. Sent free to newspapers
Sub-
and postmasters (to be put on bulletin boards).
scription price, $5 per year.
Address requests and orders to
COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC INFORMATION,
Washington, D. C.
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY."
1
2
By CHARLES D. HAZEN, Professor of European History,
Columbia University.
THE
""
HE President of the United States in his address
to Congress on April 2 announced that our object in
entering the war against Germany was "to vindi-
cate the principles of peace and justice in the life of the
world as against selfish and autocratic power; declared
that the menace to the world's peace and freedom “lies in
the existence of autocratic governments, backed by organ-
ized force which is controlled wholly by their will, not by
the will of their people;" announced that "a steadfast con-
cert for peace can never be maintained except by a part-
nership of democratic nations," as "no autocratic govern-
ment could be trusted to keep faith within it or observe its
covenants;' stated the grounds for his conviction that
"the Prussian autocracy was not and could never be our
friend;" said that we were now about to accept the gauge
of battle with "this natural foe to liberty," and that we
would if necessary "spend the whole force of the nation
to check and nullify its pretensions and its power." He
referred to the German Government as "an irresponsible
government which has thrown aside all considerations of
humanity and of right and is running amuck;" and declared
that the war was a war for democracy and elementary human
rights and for the liberation of the peoples, including the
German peoples.
""
Was the President speaking soberly and fairly when he
described the Prussian Government as an autocracy and the
German Government as irresponsible? Was this arraign-
ment as accurate and just, as it certainly was scathing?
Can one say that a people is ruled autocratically when they
are endowed with written constitutions, have parliaments
1 Revised and reprinted from the New York Times, July 1, 1917.
3887°-17
3
دن
4
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
for their individual states and for their nation as a whole,
have frequent elections, in which political parties wrangle
with each other, and enjoy, or at least possess, the right to
vote?
The German Empire is a confederation, founded in 1871,
and founded by the princes, not by the people, and consists
of 25 States and one Imperial Territory, Alsace-Lorraine.
The King of Prussia is ipso facto German Emperor. The
legislative power rests with two bodies, the Bundesrat, or
Federal Council, and the Reichstag. The Emperor declares
war with the consent of the Bundesrat, the assent of the
Reichstag not being required. Not even the Bundesrat
need be consulted if the war is defensive, and as the Hohen-
zollerns have always claimed to make defensive warfare it is
not surprising that even the unrepresentative Bundesrat
was officially informed about the present war three days
after the Emperor declared it. He is commander in chief
of the army and navy, he has charge of foreign affairs, and
makes treaties, subject to the limitation that certain kinds of
treaties must be ratified by Parliament. He is assisted by
a chancellor, whom he appoints and whom he removes, and
who is responsible to him and to him alone. Under the
chancellor are various secretaries of state, who simply ad-
minister departments, but who do not form a cabinet, either
in the English or French or American sense. They are
responsible to the chancellor.
S
The laws that govern the German Empire are made by two
bodies-the Bundesrat and the Reichstag. The Bundesrat,
of which we in America hear very little, is the most powerful
body in the Empire, far more powerful than the Reichstag,
of which we hear a great deal. It possesses legislative,
executive, and judicial functions, and is a kind of diplomatic
assembly. It represents the States; that is, the rulers of
the 25 States of which the Empire consists. It is composed
of delegates appointed by the rulers. Unlike the Senate
of the United States, the States of Germany are not repre-
sented equally in the Bundesrat, but most unequally.
There are 61 members. Of these Prussia has 17, and the
3 votes allotted to Alsace-Lorraine since 1911
are "in-
structed" by the Emperor. Thus Prussia has 20. Bavaria
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
5
LO
has 6, Saxony and Würtemberg 4 each, others 3 or 2, and
17 of the States have only 1 apiece. The members are
really diplomats, representing the numerous monarchs of
Germany.
They do not vote individually, but each State delegation
votes as a unit and as the ruler orders it to. Thus the votes
that Prussia controls are cast always as a unit and as the
King of Prussia directs. The Bundesrat is in reality an
assembly of the sovereigns of Germany. It is responsible
to nothing on earth, and its powers are very extensive.
is the most important element of the legislature as most
legislation begins in it, its consent is necessary to all legisla
tion, and every law passed by the Reichstag is, after that,
submitted to it for ratification or rejection. It is, therefore,
the chief source of legislation. The Princes of Germany have
an absolute veto upon the only popular element in the gov-
ernment, the Reichstag. Representing the Princes of Ger-
many, the Bundesrat is a thoroughly monarchical institu-
tion, a bulwark of the monarchical order. The proceedings of
this princely assembly are secret which is one reason why we
know and hear less about it than we do about the Reichstag.
Much less important than the Bundesrat is the Reichstag,
the only popular element in the government of the Empire.
It consists of 397 members, elected for a term of five years
by the voters; that is, by men 25 years of age or older. The
powers of the Reichstag are vastly inferior to the powers of
the House of Commons or the Chamber of Deputies or the
House of Representatives. While it, in conjunction with
the Bundesrat, votes the appropriations, certain ones,
notably those for the army, are voted for a period of years.
Its consent is required for new taxes, whereas taxes previously
levied continue to be collected without the consent of Parlia-
ment being again secured.
The Reichstag has no power to make or unmake ministries,
in other words, to control the executive, the Emperor. It
may reject the measures demanded by the Government, it
may vote what amounts to a lack of confidence in the
Chancellor, but to the Chancellor it makes notoriously little
difference. As long as he enjoys the confidence of the
Emperor he continues on his way. Bismarck was fond of
6
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
repeating from the tribune that he was not the servant of the
Reichstag, but exclusively of the Crown. The imperial will
determines the fate, the rise and fall of the Chancellor.
Bethmann-Hollweg was the Emperor's man in body and
soul. No velleity of independence ever surged up in that sub-
missive bosom. A bureaucrat of 40 years' standing, advancing
by regular gradation from the lowest rungs of the adminis-
trative ladder to the highest, his view remained the same,
has gaze was at every stage riveted solely upon his superior,
and his superior never was the Reichstag. His source of in-
spiration was in the Schloss, not in the benches of the pop-
ularly elected legislature. Bethmann-Hollweg was sometimes
frank, frank to the point of rudeness. "Gentlemen," he said
at the beginning of his chancellorship, "I do not serve Parlia-
ment," and was loudly applauded for his insolence by the
members of the conservative parties of the Parliament, thus a
victim of the proud man's contumely. And he ended this
scornful speech with the statement that there was one rôle
which he absolutely refused to play, that of the servant of the
people's representatives. Bethmann-Hollweg, who has curi-
ously been considered a Liberal by some ill-informed and puta-
tive American Liberals, had the merit of great clarity in his
consistent, undeviating hostility and contempt for parliamen-
tarism and for democracy. When reproached by the Social-
ists for not resigning after a vote of censure, as they do in
France, he retorted that even children knew the difference be-
tween France and Germany.
"I know full well that there are those who are striving to
establish similar institutions here," he said. "I shall oppose
them with all my force."
Only the other day this "Liberal" told the Right and the
Left, contemptuously, that he was serving neither of them.
He had a more august master. Not only does the Reichstag
have no control over the Government, not only is it blocked
and immensely outweighed by the Emperor, by the Bundes-
rat, and by the army, but it is itself, even within the sacred
circle of its impotence, a very inaccurate representation of
the people. The electoral districts as laid out in 1871 were
equal, each representing approximately 100,000 inhabitants.
But since that day there has been practically no change,
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
7
although population has increased in some, decreased in
others, so that there now exists a glaring inequality between
the districts. The result is very much as though the present
American Congress had been elected upon the basis of the
district lines and population of 46 years ago. There are
some members of the Reichstag elected by a few thousand
voters, others by the hundreds of thousands. The voter in
some districts counts for only a thirtieth of the voter in cer-
tain other districts. The large inadequately represented
districts are naturally progressive cities, the small ones the
conservative country regions. A Berlin deputy represents
on the average 125,000 voters; a deputy of east Prussia, home
of the far-famed Junkers, an average of 24,000.
But the fundamental evil is that the elections to the Reich-
stag result in the creation of an assembly politically impo-
tent, which does not control the executive and whose powers
of legislation are subject to an absolute veto by the Bundes-
rat, that is, by the reigning princes, big and little. Ger-
man Government is government by the Emperor and the
dynasties, with the consent of the Reichstag, a consent which
in practice can be forced, if not given voluntarily, for the
Bundesrat has the power of dissolving the Reichstag when-
ever it wishes to, a power always efficacious thus far. The
German governing classes, the princes, the bureaucracy,
agree with Moltke, who said that the real ballot was the car-
tridge which the German soldier carried in his cartridge box,
that the real representative of the nation was the army.
For all practical purposes the Reichstag is merely a de-
bating club, and a debating club that has no power of seeing
that its will is carried out. As late as January, 1914, Dr.
Friedrich Naumann, of "Middle Europe" fame, described the
humiliating position of the body of which he was a member
in the following words:
"We on the Left are altogether in favor of the parlia-
mentary régime, by which we mean that the Reichstag can
not forever remain in a position of subordination. Why
does the Reichstag sit at all, why does it pass resolutions, if
behind it is a waste-paper basket into which these resolu-
tions are thrown? The problem is to change the impotence
of the Reichstay into some sort of power." He added: "The
8
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
far wrong.
*
man who compared this House to a hall of echoes was not
To those who are accustomed to do practical
work in life it appears a mere waste of time to devote them-
selves to this difficult and monotonous mechanism.
When one asks the question, What part has the Reichstag in
German history as a whole? it will be seen that the part is a
very limited one.
??
"Many millions among us, " said Dr. Frank in the Reich-
stag on January 23, 1914, “feel it a burning shame that while
Germans achieve great things in trade and industry, in politics
they are deprived of rights."
In the determination of national policy the German Nation
has, therefore, no way of enforcing its wishes through the
only agency it possesses. In other words, the nation does
not govern itself. The mainspring of power lies not in the
Reichstag, but in the Bundesrat, the organ of the princes,
every one of whom claims to rule by Divine right, not one
of whom has his policy dictated to him by his people's repre-
sentatives-and in the Kingdom of Prussia.
This, then, is the Government which German propagand-
ists tell us is "the most democratic in the world" under a
constitution which "requires no amendment, because it
represents by far the highest of those forms of political
organization which are actually existent in the world.”
Under it, adds another of the intellectual bodyguards of the
Hohenzollerns, "we [Germans] are the freest people of the
earth." How simple and true, if you only start from the prin-
ciple laid down by one of the chief sycophants that "Liberty
which is not German is not liberty."
The Kingdom. of Prussia is larger than all the other Ger-
man States combined, comprising two-thirds of the territory
and about two-thirds of the population of Germany. The
Empire differs from other confederations in that the States
composing it are of unequal voting power in both the Bun-
desrat and the Reichstag. It was Prussia that made the
German Empire, and made it by blood and iron, and in
the Empire she has installed herself at every point of vantage
and guards jealously not only the primacy but also the actual
power.
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
9
Prussia has, since 1850, had a constitution and a parlia-
ment. What are they like? The constitution was granted
by the King, and nowhere does it recognize the sovereignty
of the people. What the monarch has granted he can alter
or withdraw. All the restriction the constitution imposes
upon the mofiarchial principle is that henceforth it shall be
exercised and expressed in certain forms, with a certain pro-
cedure. Prussian statesmen and Prussian jurists maintain
with practical unanimity that this does not mean any dimi-
nution of the power of the monarch, that the fact that he
creates a legislature does not for an instant mean that he be-
stows upon it a part of the sovereignty.
The legislature of Prussia is the Landtag, which consists
of two chambers, the House of Lords and the House of Rep-
resentatives. The legislature does not initiate much legis-
lation. Most of the bills passed by it have been proposed by
the Government; that is, by the King. The legislature has
practically no control over the administration; that is, over
the powerful and permanent bureaucracy. It can in this
sphere express opinions and practically nothing more. The
constitution does not determine the composition of the
House of Lords, but leaves that to the King to determine by
royal ordinance. As a matter of fact this house is really
overwhelmingly dominated by the land-owning nobility, the
famous Junkers, men frequently more royalist than the King,
conservative and militaristic to the marrow of their bones.
The House is subject to the absolute control of the monarch
through his unrestricted power to create peers.
It is really
a sort of royal council, an extension or variation of the royal
power. It is a body that in no sense represents the people
of Prussia. It has a veto upon all legislation, and the King
also has an absolute veto.
Yet there exists another House in this legislature which
enacts the laws that govern 40,000,000 Prussians-the so-
called House of Representatives; and marvelous indeed is
the construction and composition of that body. Every
Prussian man who has attained his twenty-fifth year has the
vote. Is Prussia, therefore, a democracy? Not exactly, for
the exercise of this right is so arranged that the ballot of the
poor man is practically annihilated. Universal suffrage has
10
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
been rendered illusory. And this is the way it has been
done: The voters are divided in each electoral district into
three classes according to wealth. The amount of taxes
paid by the district is divided into three equal parts. Those
taxpayers who pay the first third are grouped into one
class; those, more numerous, who pay the second third, into
another class; those who pay the remainder, into still an-
other class. The result is that a very few rich men are set
apart by themselves, the less rich by themselves, and the
poor by themselves. Each of these groups, voting sepa-
rately, elects an equal number of delegates to a convention,
which convention chooses the delegates of that constituency
to the lower house of the Prussian Parliament.
Thus in every electoral convention two-thirds of the
members belong to the wealthy or well-to-do class. There
is no chance in such a system for the poor, for the masses.
This system gives an enormous preponderance of political
power to the rich. The first class consists of very few men,
in some districts of only one; the second is sometimes 20
times as numerous, the third sometimes a hundred, or even a
thousand times. Thus, though every man has the suffrage
the vote of a single rich man may have as great weight as
the votes of a thousand workingmen. Universal suffrage is
thus manipulated in such a way as to defeat democracy
decisively and to consolidate a privileged class in power in
the only branch of the government that has even the ap-
pearance of being of popular origin. Bismarck, no friend of
liberalism, once characterized this electoral system as the
worst ever created. Its shrieking injustice is shown by the
fact that in 1900 the Social Democrats, who actually cast a
majority of the votes, got only 7 seats out of nearly 400. It
is one of the most undemocratic systems in existence.
The voters do not choose their representatives directly.
The suffrage is indirect, and is, moreover, as we have seen,
grossly unequal. As this system is in vogue for Prussian
city elections as well as for state elections, it throws power,
whether in the municipality or in the nation, into the hands
of men of wealth.
In 1908 there were 293,000 voters in the first class, 1,065,-
240 in the second, 6,324,079 in the third. The first class
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
11
represented 4 per cent, the second 14 per cent, the third 82
per cent of the population. In Cologne the first class com-
prised 370 electors, the second 2,584, while the third had
22,324. The first class chose the same number of electors
as the third. Thus, 370 rich men had the same voting
capacity as 22,324 proletarians. In Saarbrücken the Baron
von Sturm formed the first class all by himself and announced
complacently that he did not suffer from his isolation. In one
of the Berlin districts Herr Heffte, a manufacturer of sausages,
formed the first class.
This system would seem to be outrageous enough by reason
of its monstrous plutocratic caste. But this is not all. This
reactionary edifice is appropriately crowned by another
device-oral voting. Neither in the primary nor the second-
ary voting is a secret ballot used. Voting is not even by a
written or printed ballot but by the spoken word. Thus
everyone exercises his right publicly in the presence of his
superior or his patron or employer or his equals or the official
representative of the King. In such a country as Prussia,
where the police are notoriously ubiquitous, what a weapon
for absolutism! The great landowners, the great manufac-
turers, the State, can easily bring all the pressure they desire
to bear upon the voter, exercising his wretched rudiment of
political power.
On February 10, 1910, Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg de-
fended this system in the Landtag with great frankness: "We
are opposed to secret voting because, instead of developing
the sense of responsibility in the voter, it, on the other hand,
favors the terrorism which Socialists exercise over the bour-
geois voters."
As a matter of fact, a large number of voters prefer to
forego their miserable privilege entirely and stay at home.
In 1903, 23.6 per cent only of them voted for the Prussian
House of Representatives, while the same year 75 per cent
voted in the elections for the Reichstag, where the secret
ballot is used. Of those who failed to vote, much the
larger percentage is from the third class, whose members evi-
dently feel the emptiness of the privileges they enjoy in this
"people's kingdom of the Hohenzollern," as the Kaiser allur-
ingly describes it.
12
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
An additional evidence as to the perfection of the "peo-
ple's kingdom" is this: With the exception of a thoroughly
insignificant measure passed in June, 1906, there has been
no change in the electoral districts since 1858. No account
has been taken of the changes in the population, and there
are the same or worse disparities than there are in the case
of the Reichstag, as previously stated. It thus happens
that 3,000,000 inhabitants of four large Prussian districts
return 9 representatives, while three other million, divided
among forty smaller districts, return 66. Here again the
natural result of the change of the population owing to the
economic evolution has inordinately increased the influence
of the rural districts, prevailingly Conservative.
ܕ
In 1903 under this system 324,157 conservative votes
elected 143 representatives; but 314,149 Social Democratic
votes did not secure the election of a single member.
Neither in the Empire, nor in Prussia nor any of the other
States that compose the Empire, does the elected chamber
control the Government. In every case the Prince has the
absolute veto. Where there are second chambers, as in
many of the States, they are not elected, but are nominated,
and are a bulwark of a privileged class. And in Prussia
even the so-called popular House is merely another name
for a privileged class. Neither in the Nation nor in the
States are the ministers controlled by the popular assemblies.
These may vote a lack of confidence as often as they feel like
it. The ministers will go right on as long as the Emperor,
King, Grand Duke, or Prince desires. You can not amend
the constitution in any German State without the consent
of the Prince. You can not amend the constitution of the
Empire without the consent of one man, William II. Reich-
stag committees may discuss and propose amendments to
their hearts' content. After they have obtained the con-
sent of the Reichstag a rocky road opens out broadly ahead
of them. For they must have the approval of the Bundes-
rat, which is appointed by the reigning Princes of Germany,
and is obliged to vote as they direct. No amendment can
pass the Bundesrat if 14 votes out of the 61 are cast against
it. Of these 61, Prussia has 20. The Prussian votes are
cast as the King of Prussia directs. If every individual in
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
13
Germany except this one, and including the other Kings
and Dukes, wanted a change in the constitution, they
couldn't get it if William II said No! This is the people's
kingdom with a vengeance.
The power of the Prussian Crown is virtually absolute
"absolutism under constitutional forms," said Rudolph
Gneist, once considered in Germany a great authority on pub-
lic law, before the modern school of publicists-Laband,
George Meyer, Bornhak, Jellinek, Treitschke-became the
teachers of Germany, and taught the most reactionary political
philosophy that Europe has heard in a century. They have
taught that the complete, uncontrolled power of the "Gov-
ernment" (Regierung) is in the power of the prince; that the
granting of constitutions did not mean the recognition of
popular sovereignty in the slightest degree; that legislatures
are not representations of the people but are mere organs
of the State; that legislatures have no right to bring the
State to a standstill; that is, have no right to refuse a budget
until their wishes are respected; that, if they do, they are
acting not in a constitutional but in a revolutionary sense;
that if such a step is taken, then it is the right of the sover-
eign to recur to the principle that existed before the granting
of the constitution, namely absolute monarchy, and to do
what he regards as wise.
German legislatures are impotent and ineffective. The
effective seat of political power in Germany is, as it has
always been, in the monarchs. Germans may have the
right to vote, but Napoleon I and Napoleon III showed
men (and Bismarck among others) that that made no dif-
ference, if the vote led nowhere, if the body elected by the
voters was carefully and completely nullified by other bodies
over which the voters had no control whatever.
The legislatures of Germany are really only royal councils,
consultative assemblies. Bismarck's defiance of the Prus-
sian Chamber and the voters who elected it, in the conflict
period, from 1862 to 1866, has been decisive for the fate of
popular government in Germany.
Prince von Bülow, the ablest chancellor of the Empire
since Bismarck, said in 1914: "Prussia attained her great-
ness as a country of soldiers and officials, and as such she
14
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
was able to accomplish the work of German union; to this
day she is still, in all essentials, a State of soldiers and offi-
cials.”
The governing classes are, in Prussia, which in turn
governs Germany, the monarch, the aristocracy, and a bu-
reaucracy of military and civil officials, responsible to the King
alone. The determining factor in the State is the personality
of the King.
Prussia has been the strongest obstacle the democratic
movement of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries has
encountered. Germany in 1914 was less liberal than in
1848. The most serious blow that the principle of repre-
sentative government received during that century was the
one she received at the hands of Bismarck. We have expert
testimony of the highest and most official sort that the effects
of that blow are not outlived. Prince von Bülow, writing
in 1914, said:
Liberalism, in spite of its change of attitude in national questions, has
to this day not recovered from the catastrophic defeat which Prince Bis-
marck inflicted nearly half a century ago on the party of progress which
still clings to the ideals and principles of 1848.
Parliaments will not control in Germany, the civil power
will not dominate the military, until the present régime,
exalted and strengthened by the victories of 1864-1870, is
debased and disgraced by resounding and disastrous defeats.
It is doubtful if there will be any change even then, for the
German people are the most docile in Europe, with no taste
for revolutions, with no revolutions to their credit, as have
England, France, America, Russia, even China.
China. Personal
government has brought the present calamity upon the
world, and the possessors of that power will fight to retain
it and will, if necessary, treat the German people with the
same ruthlessness as they have treated the other peoples of
Europe.
Let us not be hoodwinked by Easter messages from Will-
iam II, or by cloudy and ambiguous utterances of his spokes-
man, as presaging forthcoming liberalization of Germany.
Prussian kings have shown that not only are treaties scraps
of paper, but that constitutions are also scraps of paper
when their provisions annoy the monarch. And Prussian
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
15
monarchs have never been squeamish about perjury. The
famous Easter "promises" of this year will not be a greater
hindrance to imperial and royal volition than previous,
celebrated promises to Belgium and to the United States
have been.
Germany has renounced liberty in order the better to
carry on her national industry-war. As Harden, the Ber-
lin journalist, has said: "In order to be strong she has
rejected the great modern comfort of democracy." The
ethical superiority of this people over all others, so confidently
asserted as a justification of her leadership in the world, is
shown in this phrase of Prof. Delbrück, "Blessed be the hand
that traced those lines," that is, that falsified the Ems dis-
patch. This is the Prussian beatitude. For it brought a
successful war-a war for prestige and power and lucre.
The present war was intended to repeat on a far larger scale
the inspiring achievement. And, if it should succeed, we
would expect to see democracy flourish in Germany by the
same token that we would expect to gather grapes of thorns
and figs of thistles.
All this parade of constitutional reforms must not becloud
the issue. The constitutions of Germany are paper con-
stitutions. Long before it was the fashion to treat solemn
international agreements as mere scraps of paper the Im-
perial and the Prussian constitutions were ignored and
flagrantly infringed in many of their provisions with im-
punity by the governing authorities. In Germany the
army is far more powerful than the Reichstag, and both
know it. Even the Bundesrat is hardly, if at all, more
powerful than the Great General Staff. And the army is
not under the control of the Reichstag or the legislature of
Prussia. It stands outside and it stands above. In Prussia
the army is a kingdom within a kingdom. Within the army
the Prussian King has preserved all the prerogatives of an
absolute monarch. No authority in the state can inter-
vene between the army and the sovereign. The control of
the army belongs to the King. The army is not the army of
the nation, but is the King's army.
"The dearest desire of every Prussian," said Bethmann-
Hollweg in the Prussian Landtag January 10, 1914, "is to
16
THE GOVERNMENT OF GERMANY.
see the King's army remain completely under the control of
the King and not to become the army of Parliament.
Prof. Delbrück, of the University of Berlin, in a recent
book describes the special character of the German army.
From the point of view of sentiment the army exemplifies
not the modern notion of patriotism, but the earlier notion
of loyalty to a chieftain; the soldiers serve the King, not the
fatherland. "The King is their comrade and they are at-
tached to him as to their war lord, and this is the very
foundation of our national life. The essence of our monarchy
resides in its relations with the army. Whoever knows our
officers must know that they would never tolerate the Govern-
ment of a minister of war issuing from Parliament."
One has only to recall the great chapters in English history
which tell of the struggle for liberty to know that it has been
obtained solely by the recognition of the supremacy of Parlia-
ment over royal prerogatives and over military power.
O

The Czecho-Slovaks
An Oppressed Nationality
←
*
BY
LEWIS B. NAMIER
pernitein
език
"The civilized world knows that they (the aims of the Allies)
include ... the liberation of Italians, Slavs, Roumanians, and
Czecho-Slovaks from foreign domination. . —(Extract
from the Allies' reply to President Wilson's Note.)
$
***> <
Published By
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON
REPRINTED BY
War Committee, Union League Club
of Chicago
*
لي
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
WHEN as a young man Disraeli first came forward in politics a
proud and noble lord inquired, somewhat superciliously: "What is
he?" In answer Disraeli wrote a pamphlet in which he sketched
the scheme of his life. But then he was a young man. Many
people now reading the name of "Czecho-Slovaks" in the. Allies'
answer to President Wilson ask: "What are they?" They are an
· old nation which has engraved its history deep in the annals of
Europe, and when the question is asked about them, the vision of
the future can be substantiated by the facts of the past.
•
The first question that people ask on seeing that hyphenated name
of a nation is whether they are one people or two. By many the
question is asked in the best faith; by others with malevolent intent.
As a matter of fact, the difference between these two branches of
one single nation is mainly a difference in the enemy from whom
they have suffered oppression and persecution in the past and are
still suffering at the present day. Both speak the same language.
The differences between Czech and Slovak are smaller than those
existing between the German language as spoken, even by the
educated classes, in Vienna, Munich, and Dresden. Slovak is, in
fact, merely a more archaic form of Czech. But whilst the Czechs
of Bohemia, Morávia, and Silesia, numbering six and a half millions,
at the present day, have fought for the last thousand years against
German aggression and suffered from German tyranny, the two
and a half million Slovaks who inhabit north-eastern Hungary
have had their chief and bitterest enemies in the Magyars. Now
when Germans and Magyars are united for life and death in this
struggle for dominance over Central Europe, what a joy it must be
to them to suggest divisions between their victims! No doubt it
would be of advantage to them to weaken that small and isolated
Slav nation, which on all its fronts fights against these two dominant
races, by dividing it into two separate bodies. Yet at no time was
this attempt really. likely to succeed. As stated above, the difference
between the two branches of the nation is not racial and not evën
linguistic; it is historic. But then it is an historic difference which
points toward union, and after this war will bind the two branches
together ever so much more closely. It does not mean any vital
division, Historic differences matter where the different traditions
imply a difference in the direction of the will, not where they are
due to the violence of outside enemies. At all the greatest moments
4
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
of Czecho-Slovak history the two branches of the nation were one,
or at least tried to become one; it was only when crushed by their
enemies that they became divided. Even united, they would hardly
be a match for the Germans and Magyars, and they are fully con-
scious of it. They know that liberty is not possible for them or
cannot prove durable without the liberty of other sister nations and,
foremost, of the Jugo-Slavs and Poles. But where they themselves
hold the line they have decided to hold it strongly and with united
forces. Everywhere in the world where the Czechs and Slovaks.
have created their own organizations the two groups have during
this war acted together-in the United States, in South America,
in Great Britain, France, and Russia, everywhere where on foreign
soil they can work freely for the foundation of their future State.
And the eminent Czech statesman who now leads the Czecho-
Slovak movement for independence, Professor Masaryk, is himself
by birth a Slovak.
S
I
In certain ways the Czech nation, as we may call them for short,
is unique among the Slavs. It is the only Slav nation that has
survived in the very heart of Central Europe, and this is the very
reason why it has become the special mark of German hatred and
why the Germans have singled it out for the most relentless and
untiring attacks. In the early Middle Ages the whole of what we
might call the European Middle East was inhabited by Slavs. Their
settlements extended from the lower Elbe and the Baltic Sea to the
Adriatic and the Egean. In the ninth century the Magyars, a
Mongol tribe closely allied to the Huns and Avars, drove in a
wedge between the northern and southern Slav settlements by
conquering the wide plains on the middle Danube and the Theiss.
Meantime from the west the Germans started to penetrate the Slav
territories. (The co-operation of the Teuton Huns and the Magyar
Huns is older than is usually thought.) They advanced along the
Baltic coast and up the rivers, extending their settlements during
the following centuries to the head waters of the Oder, and along
the Danube to the very confines of the Hungarian plain. German
settlers and Germanized Slavs in Silesia became in the Middle Ages
a barrier between the main bodies of Poland and of Bohemia.
Germans and Magyars on the Danube separated the Czecho-Slovaks
from the Jugo-Slavs. But in its mountainous quadrilateral the
Czech nation has stood out against the German flood, a Slav bastion
in the West, taking part and even taking the lead in the intellectual
movements of Europe.
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
5
In, 1349 Prague became the seat of one of the earliest universities
of Central Europe, and within less than fifty years the Czechs,
centring round the University of Prague, came forward as fore-
runners and champions of freedom of thought in Europe. Huss
and the Hussite movements were the first great contribution of the
Czecho-Slovaks to the world's history. The movement, like every-
thing in the Middle Ages, was on its surface predominantly relig-
ious, yet religion was deeply tinged by nationality. The growing
consciousness of nationalism in religion was one of the mainsprings
of the Reformation, the Reformation being among other things the
protest of the European nationalities attaining full consciousness
of their own individuality, against the inherited universality of
Rome. It was therefore by no means an accident that the first
protest of national individualism and the first cry for national
freedom of action and individual freedom of thought had come
from Bohemia. Threatened by the Germans, who had behind them
the authority of the Holy Roman Empire of German nationality,
the Czechs arose in a protest against universality, both in Church
and State. It is a fact to which sufficient attention has seldom
been paid, that among the different articles of accusation raised
against John Huss at the Council of Constance was that Huss had
instigated among the Czechs national hatred of the Germans. To
this accusation Huss answered: "I have affirmed and yet affirm
that Bohemians should by right have the chief place in the offices
of the Kingdom of Bohemia, even as they that are French-born
in the Kingdom of France and the Germans in their own countries.
whereby the Bohemian might have the faculty to rule his people,
and the Germans bear rule over the Germans." These words,
spoken by the martyr on his trial, have remained the programme
of the Czecho-Slovak nation.
In their peculiar position they, an isolated Slav body in the
midst of their bitter enemies, came to recognize earlier than any
other European nation some of the deepest truths of liberty.
“L'homme est un apprenti, la douleur est son maître, et nul ne se
connaît tant qu'il n'a pas souffert," says Alfred de Musset. But
then "who increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow." The Czechs
became the forerunners of Europe and suffered the usual fate of
the forerunner. The man who walks through the streets of the
city before sunrise is called a thief by the awakened sleepers, and
the forerunner is called a heretic, and the heretic must be burned.
The Czechs paid to the full the penalty of being forerunners, and,
6
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
having for many years sustained an unequal struggle against ortho-
dox Europe, they suffered their first terrible defeat.
1526 is the date of the next disaster of Bohemia,
It was a
disaster in disguise. For purposes of defense against the growing
Turkish menace the Bohemians entered an alliance with Austria
and Hungary, reserving, however, for themselves full national
rights. In a short time they came to know that the remedy was
worse than the disease. The Hapsburgs, as is their habit, soon
broke their faith and tried to enforce centralization in the State
and counter-reformation in religion. The Czechs rose up in revolt
in 1618 and lit the fire of the Thirty Years' War. The war which
ushered in modern Europe seemed to sound the death-knell of the
Czech nation, which in 1620 suffered the disastrous defeat on the
White Mountain, With the utmost savagery the Austrian-Germans
under Hapsburg and Jesuit leadership uprooted the Czech aristoc-
racy and landed gentry, and filled their places with foreign adven-
turers, who ever since have insulted the country in which they live.
by considering themselves its peers and owners. The Czech nation
lost all its educated classes and practically ceased to exist. There
remained nothing except the soil and the peasants, as indestructible
as the soil and as passive.
1
In the eighteenth century almost the memory of the Czech nation
had been lost. They were treated as a kind of moribund aborigines.
But this was the darkest hour before the dawn. The nation was
awakening. At first the rebirth of the Bohemian nation was limited
to a narrow circle of philologists and writers. It was treated by the
Germans and the Austrian Government with patronizing condescen-
sion. But soon it began to expand, spreading further and further
until millions of men reawakened to their Slav consciousness. A
nation, which towards the end of the eighteenth century had been
practically extinct, became a power by the middle of the nineteenth
century. With the stubbornness of peasants and the zeal of pioneers
the apostles of the Czech nationality worked for the uplifting of
their people. The fruit of their labors was a renaissance almost
without parallel in the history of the world. Beginning with the
middle of the nineteenth century, they have held, as to wealth and
education, the first place among the nationalities of Austria-
Hungary.
In 1848 the Czecho-Slovak nation spoke out for the first time
since 1618 on matters of international politics. In that fateful
year the majority of the Czecho-Slovaks proved by no means hostile
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
7
to the Hapsburgs. As in every part of Europe, there was, of
course, also in Bohemia a revolutionary party. But earlier than
anyone else in Europe the Czechs and Jugo-Slavs recognized the
double-faced character of German-Magyar "liberalisms"-of liberal-
isms which claim rights for "master nations" (Herrenvölker) and
forge chains for weaker nationalities. In opposition to the German
and Magyar Imperialisms, the Czecho-Slovaks turned to the Haps-
burgs, hoping that, as against the disruptive tendencies of the Pan-
Germans and the Magyar separatists, the Hapsburgs would in their
own interests rely on the support of the weaker Slav nations, which
asked for nothing except justice and the possibility of a peaceful, un-
hampered national development. The Czechs hoped that the Haps-
burgs would make themselves leaders in a rejuvenated Austria. Some
writers on international politics, who now advise the Czechs to seek
their happiness in a free and just Hapsburg monarchy, are surely
indulging in the pursuit of an ideal for which the lessons of history
provide no support. Why, the idea of that happy new Austria
had been for generations the dream of the Czech leaders. Palacky
proclaimed it in 1848. Dr. Kramarzh, now a martyr for the Czech
cause, was still upholding it half a century later. The Czech nation,
which was every day gaining in strength and importance, did not
aim at the breaking up of the Hapsburg Monarchy. If ever a
nation has given a fair chance to a Government, the Czechs have
given it to the Government of Vienna. But what were the results?
The weaker branch of the Czecho-Slovak nation was in 1867 handed
over to the mercies of the Magyars, however much the entire nation
protested against it. In Austria itself the predominance of the
Germans was established. The promise given by the Emperor
Francis Joseph I. to the Czechs in 1870 that he would crown him-
self King of Bohemia-as he was crowned King of Hungary in 1867
—and thereby recognize the historic rights of the Czech nation, was
never fulfilled, and the modest rights conceded to the Czechs in a
centralized Austria were never safe against new encroachments.
It is a fact which no one acquainted with Austrian history would
dare to deny, that the Germans in their narrow nationalist interest
have wrecked constitutional life in Austria. They have deliberately
crippled the Austrian Parliament, because in that Parliament they
were in a minority. Without Parliament they can more con-
veniently control the State through the German clique at the
Viennese Court and the prevalently German bureaucracy. Beginning
with 1897, the year when the Germans by their obstruction in
8
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
Parliament overthrew a Cabinet which enjoyed the full confidence
of a vast majority in the House, there was no real safety for the
Czechs or Jugo-Slavs in Austria. With every year the chances of
a revival of constitutional government were diminishing, and with
the recrudescence of bureaucratic and military autocracy German
ambitions and German encroachments were growing in strength and
weight.
Matters were still worse with regard to international politics.
No one ever counted therein but the arisocratic German clique of
Vienna and the Magyars. In 1866 Prussia appealed to the Czechs,
promising them "independence," but the Czechs knew only too well
the nature of Prussia and its Danaan gifts. They did not swallow
the bait, and after the defeat of the Hapsburgs they once more.
declared to the old dynasty that they were prepared to stand by
them in the hour of need and fight under their lead against Prussia.
With an incomparable blindness the Hapsburgs imagined that they
could best strengthen the State for the new struggle by handing
over the power in Austria to the Germans and in Hungary to the
Magyars. Francis Joseph was soon to learn the consequences of his
action. In 1870, when all the Austrian Slavs were eager to take
the field on the side of France, the veto of the two dominant races
-the Germans and Magyars-prevented intervention. Why should
they fight their best friends, the Prussians, the supporters of
government based on violence? In 1879 the Dual System of
German-Magyar rule over all the other races of the Monarchy
(except the Poles) found its final logical expression in an alliance
between Austria-Hungary and the new German Empire. The
seeds were sown of the present war. Again and again the Czechs,
seeing the spectre of the approaching catastrophe, implored the
Hapsburgs not to compromise the future of their monarchy by
aggressive, adventurous plots. To create a counter-balance to
Prussian ascendancy the Czechs worked for a rapprochement be-
tween Austria on the one hand and Russia and France on the other;
they were untiring in their endeavors to secure the peace of
Europe. They knew what their position was bound to be as citizens
of an Austria-Hungary, situated in the very heart of Central
Europe, if a war broke out between their German enemies and their
Slav and West European friends. It was a thing which no Czech.
could face without a shudder. When the series of Austro-Magyar
intrigues against Serbia had begun, the Czechs tried to save the
honor of the Hapsburg Monarchy by revealing the infamy of
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
9
some of its servants. It was Professor Masaryk, the man now in
the forefront of the Czech movement for liberation, who in 1909
took the lead in exposing the notorious Friedjung forgeries—in
case of war these forgeries were to have served as Austria's excuse
for attacking Serbia. Professor Masaryk showed up and branded
their main author, Count Forgach, as a common agent provocateur,
and Count Forgach never dared to defend himself by bringing
an action against his accuser. Yet the same Count Forgach soon
afterwards became Under-Secretary of the Austrian Foreign Office,
and was one of those mainly responsible for the drafting of the
ultimatum to Serbia in July, 1914! No one responsible for the
policy of the Central Powers in that crisis can plead ignorance as
to the character and policy of that man.
The Czechs had been prepared to work for a better Austria and
to continue in it, even though promises given to them were regularly
disregarded. Yet though wishing for the existence of Austria, if
Austria was to be a real home for its nationalities, they were always
equally determined to destroy it, should it choose to become a
jail, with the Germans and Magyars for its jailers. Now Austria
has become worse than a jail to the Czechs, worse even than a
slave-driver. It has driven them not into slavery, but into fratricide.
When Czech regiments were first marched against Russia and
Serbia, all past bonds between Austria and the Czech nation were
broken forever. There are words on which one does not go back,
and there are facts which can never be undone. Not even centuries
can erase the memories of the war into which the Czecho-Slovaks
have been driven, contrary to their will, under the command of
their bitterest enemies-the Germans and the Magyars. Never
again in history are the Czechs to find themselves in the position
of mute victims driven into a death dishonorable for men, into
a death of slaves fighting for the maintenance of slavery. The
Hapsburgs. have crossed the Rubicon on their way to Berlin; there
can be no comity in the future between the Czechs and the Haps-
burgs.
The outbreak of the war placed the Czecho-Slovak nation in a
tragic position. They were now to fight for a cause which they
knew to be that of their enemies and oppressors, and against those
who upheld the principle of nationality, of the rights of small
nations, and of equality between nations, i. e., the only principles
by which the Czech nation can attain the position due to it in the
world. And in the case of this people, it is more than a vague
10
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
generalization to say that the Czechs were conscious of this fact.
We are speaking here of a nation which practically has no illiterates
amongst its members, and in which the average level of education
and well-being is higher than that of Germany, taken as a whole,
and equal to those of Holland or the Scandinavian countries. Every
Czech is conscious of the interests and ideals of his nationality. No.
wonder, then, that from the day the war was declared the Czechs
were put by the Austrian Government under "special observation"
and watched and muzzled as no other nationality in Austria-
Hungary has been. "Naturally so," someone might say in defense.
of the Austrian authorities, "because the Czechs are known to be
hostile to the Austrian State.". But, then, why do all the Austrian
official and semi-official scribblers pour out the never-ending flow
of cant about "the glorious unity and cohesion" of which the Haps-
burg Monarchy has given proof in the war? How do they dare to
maintain that the Czechs "do not want to be liberated"? The war
is for the Hapsburg Monarchy not merely external, it is also a war
on its submerged nationalities. The Czechs do not complain. War
it is between them and the Germans and Magyars. But then the
grip of the octopus should not be called an accolade of love.
If attachment to Austria is the dominant feeling among the
Czechs, why were not those whom the Czech nation had chosen
for its spokesmen allowed to voice its feelings? Of all the
belligerent countries Austria is the only one which has failed to
convoke its Parliament, and it was repeatedly admitted that the
reason why it was not possible to convoke Parliament was the fear
lest the Czechs should speak out. Their true feelings were only
too well known to the Austrian Government; one after another
the Czech leaders were sent to prison or driven into exile. Dr.
Kramarzh, the leader of the Young Czechs-the historic Czech
party in the Austrian Parliament-was arrested on a charge of
high treason in May, 1915, but the grounds for the accusation were
withheld from the public. In June, 1916, Dr. Kramarzh was con-
demned to death,* and still the Austrian authorities remained silent
as to the nature of his guilt. No wonder; when at last, on January
4th, 1917, an explanation was attempted of the verdict, it was
found to contain not a single fact, real or alleged, which any
tribunal outside "Mittel-Europa" would have accepted as sufficient
to condemn a man for high treason. He was condemned on general
-
J
*The sentence of death was subsequently commuted to fifteen years' im-
prisonment.
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
11
grounds. The blow was struck at him because he is one of the most
prominent leaders of the Czech nation. His case was to act as a
deterrent for minor men. It was an act of conscious and calculated
terrorism, not of justice.
Where a man of the prominence of Dr. Kramarzh-there was
a time when he was considered a likely candidate for the post of
Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister-where a man of such stand-
ing is condemned to death without a single act of high-treason
being proved against him, the fate which awaits or befalls other
people can easily be imagined. There is not a single prominent
Bohemian national leader left free to speak in Austria; they are
all either in prison, like Dr. Kramarzh, or in exile, like Professor
Masaryk, or have to wear the uniform of the Austrian army and
remain under the iron military discipline which leaves no room
for any expression of feeling or opinion. Is that because they love
Austria too dearly? If Austria has stood so "magnificently" the
test of the war, if all her nationalities really feel such love for
their rulers, do not the rulers cherish every means by which these
sentiments can receive expression, and shower favors and allow all
freedom to the press? How, in particular, has the Czech press
fared during the war? All its main organs have been suppressed,
or muzzled to an extent which practically leaves them incapable of
voicing in any way the true feeling of the Czech people. One need
not go to Czech sources for accounts of these persecutions. It is
enough to look through the files of the Viennese papers and see
those short notices, each containing only a few lines, and announcing
in dry terms that certain papers have ceased to appear or have been
forbidden by the police. Here are a few samples :—
Arbeiter-Zeitung, September 24th, 1915: "The political provin-
cial papers, Straz Venkova, at Chlumin, near Prague, and the
Ostravsky Dennik, in Mährisch-Ostrau, have been forbidden publi-
cation."
Zeit, September 28th, 1915: "Before the outbreak of the war
sixteen Czech political newspapers used to appear in southern
Bohemia. Of these up to now eight have voluntarily stopped pub-
lication or have been ordered to do so. Of those suppressed by the
authorities the Cesky Jih appeared at Tabor, Straz na Sumave at
Strakonitz, and three at Budweiss: Nashe Slovo, the Social-Demo-
cratic Jihocesky Delnik, and the National-Socialist Straz Lidu.”
Or, again, we may look at the Arbeiter-Zeitung of November
26th, 1915, and find the following short and eloquent note, which
12
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
shows with what edifying impartiality the Austrian police performs
its work: "The organ of the Czech Jews, Rosvoj, at Prague, and
the paper of the Roman Catholic women, Jitrenka, at Königgrätz,
have been suppressed for the duration of the war." And no one
should think that these few notices quoted above are specially picked
or chosen. One can come across them any day in Austrian papers,
and with them one usually finds notices of punishments imposed
on editors and writers. And yet, in spite of all that oppression,
the Czechs speak out again and again. In highly scientific papers,
in between dry technical articles over which the censor must have
fallen asleep or which he passed unread, thinking them too tedious
to concern anybody, one can find occasionally a short line bearing
the appearance of a learned reference or footnote, but saying:
"Czechs, remember your fateful hour has come," or containing some
similar warning. And one such cry, when it reaches the ears of
those to whom it is addressed in the midst of that mournful and yet
eloquent silence, which now reigns in Bohemia, says more than long
and enthusiastic articles inspired by official hints and threats.
Before the war the Czechs had a highly-developed system of
national friendly societies, of clubs, literary circles, athletic associa-
tions, etc. Again, what has Austria done with them in the view of
that "magnificent zeal" which all her nationalities are alleged to dis-
play in the cause of "Mittel-Europa"? Practically all the Czech
associations have been suppressed. The first to go were, of course,
the Sokols, an athletic organization with Pan-Slav tendencies. Then
followed others, till finally not even the most modest professional
associations were allowed to survive. Here is one of many examples.
The Viennese Neue Freie Presse writes, under date of December
22nd, 1916: "As stated in the official paper, the Wiener Zeitung,
the Minister of the Interior, on the basis of the Law of Associa-
tions, has ordered the dissolution of the Union of Bohemian Rail-
way Employees with its seat at Prague."
Special attention, was, of course, paid by the Hapsburg Govern-
ment and the almighty Austrian police to the Czech schools and
school libraries. Did they not deserve some praise if they have
really produced such enthusiastic "Austrian citizens" to whom na-
tionality was a matter of indifference, and who merely pined to die
for the cause of their enemies, the Germans? Amazing to state,
no praise was given, and with a curious lack of consistency this
time quite a different tale was told. It was stated that the Czech
schools had not hitherto fulfilled their purpose in inculcating in
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
13
Czech children the feeling of absolute loyalty and devotion to their
German masters, and measures were therefore taken to remedy this
evil. For some time the teaching in the Czech schools had to be done
without text-books, because it was found that all the text-books
published before the war in Bohemia, though this had been done.
under the august auspices of the Austrian Ministry of Education,
contained too much about the Czech nation, which to the mind of
Austrian-German officials is a mere subdivision of the "Austrian"
nationality. At last, in January, 1917, the Austrian authorities pro-
duced their new concoction, this time through the intermediary of
the Deutsche Schulbücherverlag in Vienna. It is interesting to read
its description in Czech papers. Of course, not a word could be
said of criticism, but its "special features" were emphasized with a
clearness which left no room for doubt. The first pages of the
book are devoted to the Austrian national hymn and are adorned
with the picture of the Imperial Palace at Schönbrunn. Then fol-
low the events of the war, displayed, of course, in a proper light—.
Austria appears always enthusiastically united in feeling and invari-
ably victorious in battle. The series culminates in an effusion on
the duties of a Czech with regard to Austria, the Imperial House,
and the other Austrian nationalities. Most interesting is the his-
torical part. Nothing can be found in it about true Bohemian na-
tional history. It is not John Huss, or the famous fighter Zižka,
not George of Podiebrad, or any other Bohemian leader whose life.
is told to the Czech children, but stories of Hapsburgs, who were
not even rulers of Bohemia, and of Tyrolese fanatics who died
faithful like dogs to the Hapsburgs, though betrayed and aban-
doned by them; in short, the whole gallery of feeble-minded princes
and half-witted peasants who compose Austria's special claim to
glory appears in the text-book. Having analyzed this book, so full
of delightful and instructive reading for children, the Czech papers
call special attention to the fact that the name of its editor is with-
held from the public. Never had that happened in the past in the
case of school books. Is he some German who prefers not to appear
in public as the teacher of Czech history, or some Czech renegade
who has preserved sufficient shame not to wish to be known as
author of that concoction?
The school libraries were most carefully weeded out. The novels
of Jirasek were removed, because there is too much in them about
the Hussites. Similarly were removed the works of the greatest
living Czech poet, Machar (who himself was imprisoned-on ac-
14
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
count of a poem published ten years ago with the permission of the
Austrian Censor, and now republished in the U. S. A. without
the knowledge of the author). As the crowning manifestation of
the Austrian official spirit the fact may be mentioned that in Sep-
tember, 1916, the historic novels of the Polish writer, Sienkiewicz,
and the famous novel, "Cuore," of the Italian writer, De Amicis,
were removed from the Czech school libraries in Bohemia. Evi-
dently even the stories of national struggles for liberty fought by
other nations are considered dangerous.
It is naturally dangerous to speak of past national struggles for
liberty to people who are now engaged in such a struggle. Of
course, the women, children, and old men in Bohemia who have
now to suffer from police terrorism, which is as cruel as it is petty
and inquisitorial-these cannot conduct the struggle. But on every
front to which Czech soldiers are sent the Austrian generals fully
understand what it means when a nation desires to break down the
walls of its jail. From the very first day of the war it was clear that
the Czech soldiers would not fight for the cause of the Germans and
the Magyars against their friends the nations of the Entente.
They were therefore put at once under careful "observation” at the
front as well as behind the lines. The watch increased in severity
with every month of the war. "This is not a war secret," said
Prince Ludwig Windischgrätz in the Hungarian Parliament on
August 28th, 1916, “and the whole world sees it, how the service
battalions are composed—that in every Czech service battalion at
least 40 per cent of Magyar and German troops are included."
Yet all these measures could not prevent the Czech soldiers from
carrying out their purpose. Though carefully watched by their
German and Magyar hangmen they continued individually and in
groups, and even in regiments, to pass over to the side, which, in the
Austrian terminology, is that of the enemy, but to the Czechs is that
of their liberators. In September, 1914, the 8th Regiment of the
Czech Landwehr, when ordered to march to the Russian front, re-
fused obedience, and attacked its German officers. Thereupon the
75th German Regiment was sent against it, and the Czechs had to
pay the penalty of their revolt. The 36th Regiment, recruited from
the district of Mlada Boleslav, also mutinied whilst still in Bo-
hemia, and was decimated by the Germans and Magyars. More
effective was, however, the action of the Czechs at the front. The
fact that several Czech regiments crossed over to the Serbian side.
contributed much to the ignominious Austrian defeat in Serbia in the
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
15
closing months of 1914. Thus, e.g., the 102nd Regiment, recruited
from Benešov, crossed over in a body to the Serbians and entered
Nish with its band playing the Serbian national hymn. Similar
incidents occurred also at the Russian front. Some regiments, as,
for instance, the 88th, from Brno, were found out when attempting
to surrender to their friends, and were massacred by the German
and Magyar troops; others, however, like the 35th Regiment from
the town of Pilsen and the 28th Regiment from Prague succeeded.
in crossing over to the Russian side. Similarly, of the 11th Regi-
ment, from Pisek, all but two companies joined the Russians.
The Czechs who surrendered to the Serbs, Russians, or Italians
were soon found fighting again-but this time on the side of their
friends. The services fendered by them, especially to Serbia dur-
ing the two Austrian invasions, and to Russia during the Galician
campaign of 1914 and during the summer campaign of 1916, can
hardly be exaggerated. With their thorough knowledge of the
Austrian army, and in view of the very high level of their educa-
tion, they form everywhere a most valuable element in the intelli-
gence service. For obvious reasons the full story of their deeds
cannot be told as yet, especially no cases of individual bravery
or achievements can be mentioned. But the mere fact of men
going through all the dangers of desertion at the front and then
entering the ranks of the "enemy" army, with the knowledge that,
if taken prisoners, they would be shot out of hand, is a sufficient
test of the ardour with which the Czechs desire their liberation and
fight for it. It is not the case of soi-disant aristocrats knocking
about the capitals of Europe and America with big phrases on`their
lips about the greatness of their nation and the claims which it has.
on the world. Less has been heard about the Czechs during the
war than their cause deserves. For big talking does not suit their
nature. It was not by political intrigues or by boundless self-ad-
vertising, but by war-work performed in every allied country in
which they found themselves, and by true heroism shown on the
front to which they were led, that the Czechs have been working for
the future of their nation.
J
Of the Czechs who at the outbreak of the war found themselves
on neutral ground or in the States of the Entente, or who were able
to escape from Austria afterwards, almost every man of military
age is doing his duty. There are Czechs fighting in the French
army-they have specially distinguished themselves on the Somme
in the Foreign Legion. There are Czechs serving in the British
16
THE CZECHO-SLOVAKS
army-some of them have been put into the artillery, which in
itself is the greatest sign of confidence that can be shown to men
who nominally are "alien enemies." All over the world the Czechs
have, by all means at their disposal, fought and counteracted the
plots and rancours of their Magyar and German enemies. If at
the end of this war the Czecho-Slovak nation attains its liberty and
an open road to a new greatness and glory, no one will be able to
say that this comes to them as a gift and that they had not done
enough to deserve it. They are working and fighting in the best
spirit of a modern democracy, without narrow calculation of sacri-
fice and immediate reward. This must be said about the Czechs,
that they take always and everywhere the widest views of the inter-
ests of the Entente, and, living in the very center of "Mittel-
Europa," in the very depths of the German-Magyar jail, they do not
mind on which front they fight and in conjunction with which
Power. They know that the battle-front is one and that victory and
defeat will be common to all. Nor does any other nation bear a
more signal testimony to the belief in the power and final victory
of the Entente. Of all the nations to be liberated the Czechs are
the most distant, the most deeply engulfed in "Mittel-Europa," and
yet they do not doubt that for them also the hour of liberation will
come in this war. They firmly believe, as the Austrian officials put
it in their indictment of Dr. Kramarzh, that theirs will be a glorious
lot when the nation "rises out of darkness and humiliation to new
life," and that "after the catastrophe to which this war must lead,
the Czech nation will be able to develop its strength, unity and or-
ganization."
us.
N
Į
↓
The Bases
of
Durable Peace
As Voiced By
President Wilson
I. America's Purpose: International Justice and World
Peace at New York, 27 September, 1918
II. Program for World Peace; the 14 Points of 8 Janu-
ary, 1918
III. Reply to von Hertling and Czernin: the 4 Cardinal
Principles of 11 February, 1918
IV. Force to the Utmost; Reply to the Prussian Chal-
lenge-6 April, 1918
V. The 4 War Aims; at Mt. Vernon, 4 July, 1918
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB
OF CHICAGO
$
1918
Resolutions Anent President Wilson's New York
Address of 27 September, 1918, Adopted by
the War Committee of the Union League
Club of Chicago, October 3, 1918.
R
EALIZING the scope and implications of President Wilson's
statement of the war policies of the United States in his
New York address of 27 September, 1918, and that no such
sweeping and searching declaration of purpose in regard to the
relations of nations to one another has ever before been made by
the responsible head of a powerful nation in a time of world crisis
and readjustment;
Recalling that many of the wars that have devastated Europe
in the past have had their roots in unjust conditions created or
acquiesced in by treaties of peace that ignored the rights of peoples;
Bearing in mind that this shocking war, that has finally involved
the United States, has its causes in deep-seated injustice imbedded
in existing European conditions and in the purpose of the Central
Powers to perpetrate yet further injustice at the expense of neigh-
toring nations assumed to be helpless;
Seeing clearly that war can no longer be easily localized in a
world of closely knit international relations and that, only through
the establishment of substantial justice between the peoples of the
world, can we in the United States hope, henceforth, to find peace
for ourselves;
And believing that the principles, so nobly conceived and so
clearly set forth by the President, will, if put into effect by our Allies
and ourselves, go far toward lifting from the world the nightmare of
war and the social and economic burdens that it entails and will
set free men's hands and minds and spirits for the nobler tasks of
peace;
↓
We, the War Committee of the Union League Club of Chicago,
hereby record our whole-hearted concurrence in the President's
declaration of principles, and we pledge our best endeavors to the
end that, so far as lies in the will and act of the United States, peace,
when attained, shall not once more involve the bartering away of
the rights of peoples in the interest of dynasties or of powerful
states or groups of states, but shall square with the President's
solemn declaration.
America's Purpose
The Establishment of Justice Between the Nations-
New York Address of 27 September, 1918
M
Y Fellow-Citizens: I am not here to promote the loan.
That will be done-ably and enthusiastically done—
by the hundreds of thousands of loyal and tireless
men and women who have undertaken to present it to you
and to our fellow-citizens throughout the country; and I
have not the least doubt of their complete success; for I
know their spirit and the spirit of the country. My confi-
dence is confirmed, too, by the thoughtful and experienced
co-operation of the bankers here and everywhere, who are
lending their invaluable aid and guidance.
I have come, rather, to seek an opportunity to present
to you some thoughts which I trust will serve to give you,
in perhaps fuller measure than before, a vivid sense of the
great issues involved, in order that you may appreciate and
accept with added enthusiasm the grave significance of the
duty of supporting the government by your men and your
means to the utmost point of sacrifice and self-denial. No
man or woman who has really taken in what this war means
can hesitate to give to the very limit of what they have; and
it is my mission here tonight to try to make it clear once
more what the war really means. You will need no other
stimulation or reminder of your duty.
At every turn of the war we gain a fresh consciousness
of what we mean to accomplish by it. When our hope and
expectation are most exicted we think more definitely than
before of the issues that hang upon it and of the purposes.
which must be realized by means of it. For it has positive
and well-defined purposes which we did not determine and
which we cannot alter. No statesman or assembly created
them; no statesman or assembly can alter them. They have
arisen out of the very nature and circumstances of the war.
The most that statesmen or assemblies can do is to carry
them out or be false to them. They were perhaps not clear
at the outset; but they are clear now. The war has lasted.
more than four years and the whole world has been drawn
into it.
Mankind's Common Will Rules.
The common will of mankind has been substituted for
the particular purpose of individual states. Individual
statesmen may have started the conflict, but neither they nor
their opponents can stop it as they please. It has become a
peoples' war, and peoples of all sorts and races, of every
degree of power and variety of fortune, are involved in its
sweeping processes of change and settlement. We came
into it when its character had become fully defined and it
was plain that no nation could stand apart or be indifferent
to its outcome. Its challenge drove to the heart of every-
thing we cared for and lived for. The voice of the war had
become clear and gripped our hearts. Our brothers from
many lands, as well as our own murdered dead under the
sea, were calling to us, and we responded, fiercely and of
course.
The air was clear about us. We saw things in their full,
convincing proportions as they were; and we have seen
them with steady eyes and unchanging comprehension ever
since. We accepted the issues of the war as facts, not as
any group of men either here or elsewhere had defined them,
and we can accept no outcome which does not squarely meet
and settle them.
Five Issues of the War.
Those issues are these:
Shall the military power of any nation or group
of nations be suffered to determine the fortunes of
peoples over whom they have no right to rule ex-
cept the right of force?
Shall strong nations be free to wrong weak
nations and make them subject to their purpose and
interest?
Shall peoples be ruled and dominated, even in
their own internal affairs, by arbitrary and irre-
sponsible foce or by their own will and choice?
Shall there be a common standard of right and
privilege for all peoples and nations or shall the
strong do as they will and the weak suffer without
redress?
Shall the assertion of right be haphazard and
by casual alliance or shall there be a common con-
cert to oblige the observance of common rights?
No man, no group of men, chose these to be the issues
of the struggle. They are the issues of it; and they
must be settled-by no arrangement or compromise or ad-
justment of interests, but definitely and once for all and
with a full and unequivocal acceptance of the principle that
the interest of the weakest is as sacred as the interest of
the strongest.
What Permanent Peace Means.
This is what we mean when we speak of a permanent
peace, if we speak sincerely, intelligently, and with a real
knowledge and comprehension of the matter we deal with.
We are all agreed that there can be no peace obtained
by any kind of bargain or compromise with the governments
of the Central Empires, because we have dealt with them
already and have seen them deal with other governments
that were parties to this struggle, at Brest-Litovsk and
Bucharest. They have convinced us that they are without
honor and do not intend justice. They observe no cove-
nants, accept no principle but force and their own interest.
We cannot "come to terms" with them. They have made
it impossible. The German people must by this time be
fully aware that we cannot accept the word of those who
forced this war upon us. We do not think the same thoughts
or speak the same language of agreement.
It is of capital importance that we should also be ex-
plicitly agreed that no peace shall be obtained by any kind
of compromise or abatement of the principles we have
avowed as the principles for which we are fighting. There
should exist no doubt about that. I am, therefore, going to
take the liberty of speaking with the utmost frankness about
the practical implications that are involved in it.
If it be indeed and in truth the common object of the
governments associated against Germany and of the nations
whom they govern, as I believe it to be, to achieve by the
coming settlements a secure and lasting peace, it will be
necessary that all who sit down at the peace table shall come
ready and willing to pay the price, the only price, that will
5
procure it; and ready and willing, also, to create in some
virile fashion the only instrumentality by which it can be
made certain that the agreements of the peace will be
honored and fulfilled.
Impartial Justice Must Be Done.
That price is impartial justice in every item of the set-
tlement, no matter whose interest is crossed; and not only
impartial justice, but also the satisfaction of the several
peoples whose fortunes are dealt with. That indispensable
instrumentality is a League of Nations formed under cove-
nants that will be efficacious. Without such an instru-
mentality, by which the peace of the world can be guaran-
teed, peace will rest in part upón the word of outlaws, and
only upon that word. For Germany will have to redeem her
character, not by what happens at the peace table, but by
what follows.
And, as I see it, the constitution of that League of
Nations and the clear definition of its objects must be a part,
is in a sense the most essential part, of the peace settlement
itself. It cannot be formed now. If formed now, it would
be merely a new alliance confined to the nations associated
against a common enemy. It is not likely that it could be
formed after the settlement. It is necessary to guarantee
the peace; and the peace cannot be guaranteed as an after-
thought. The reason, to speak in plain terms again, why it
must be guaranteed is that there will be parties to the peace
whose promises have proved untrustworthy, and means
must be found in connection with the peace settlement itself
to remove that source of insecurity. It would be folly to
leave the guarantee to the subsequent voluntary action of
the governments we have seen destroy Russia and deceive
Rumania.
-
Five Particulars of Settlement.
But these general terms do not disclose the whole mat-
ter. Some details are needed to make them sound less like a
thesis and more like a practical program. These, then, are
some of the particulars, and I state them with the greater
confidence because I can state them authoritatively as repre-
senting this government's interpretation of its own duty
with regard to peace:
First, the impartial justice meted out must in-
volve no discrimination between those to whom we
wish to be just and those to whom we do not wish
to be just. It must be a justice that plays no
favorites and knows no standard but the equal
rights of the several peoples concerned;
Second, no special or separate interest of any
single nation or any group of nations can be made
the basis of any part of the settlement which is
not consistent with the common interest of all;
Third, there can be no leagues or alliances or
special covenants and understandings within the
general and common family of the League of
Nations;
Fourth, and more specifically, there can be no
special, selfish economic combinations within the
league and no employment of any form of economic
boycott or exclusion except as the power of eco-
nomic penalty by exclusion from the markets of
the world may be vested in the League of Nations
itself as a means of discipline and control;
Fifth, all international agreements and treaties
of every kind must be made known in their en-
tirety to the rest of the world.
Must Exclude Special Alliances.
Special alliances and economic rivalries and hostilities
have been the prolific source in the modern world of the
plans and passions that produce war. It would be an in-
sincere as well as an insecure peace that did not exclude
them in definite and binding terms.
The confidence with which I venture to speak for our
people in these matters does not spring from our traditions
merely and the well-known principles of international action
which we have always professed and followed. In the same
sentence in which I say that the United States will enter
into no special arrangements or understandings with par-
ticular nations, let me say also that the United States is pre-
pared to assume its full share of responsibility for the main-
tenance of the common covenants and understandings upon
which peace must henceforth rest. We still read Washing-
ton's immortal warning against "entangling alliances" with
7
¿
full comprehension and an answering purpose.
But only
special and limited alliances entangle; and we recognize
and accept the duty of a new day in which we are permitted
to hope for a general alliance which will avoid entangle-
ments and clear the air of the world for common under-
standings and the maintenance of common rights.
I have made this analysis of the international situation
which the war has created, not, of course, because I doubted
whether the leaders of the great nations and peoples with
whom we are associated were of the same mind and enter-
tained a like purpose, but because the air every now and again
gets darkened by mists and groundless doubtings and mis-
chievous perversions of counsel and it is necessary once
and again to sweep all the irresponsible talk about peace in-
trigues and weakening morale and doubtful purpose on the
part of those in authority utterly, and if need be uncere-
moniously, aside and say things in the plainest words that
can be found, even when it is only to say over again what
has been said before, quite as plainly if in less unvarnished
terms.
Responds to the Issues of War.
As I have said, neither I nor any other man in govern-
mental authority created or gave form to the issues of this
war. I have simply responded to them with such vision
as I could command. But I have responded gladly and with
a resolution that has grown warmer and more confident as
the issues have grown clearer and clearer. It is now plain
that they are issues which no man can pervert unless it be
willfully. I am bound to fight for them, and happy to fight
for them as time and circumstance have revealed them to
me as to all. the world. Our enthusiasm for them grows
more and more irresistible as they stand out in more and
more vivid and unmistakable outline.
And the forces that fight for them draw into closer and
closer array, organize their millions into more and more un-
conquerable might, as they become more and more distinct
to the thought and purpose of the peoples engaged. It is the
peculiarity of this great war that while statesmen have
seemed to cast about for definitions of their purpose and
have sometimes seemed to shift their ground and their point
of view, the thought of the mass of men, whom statesmen
are supposed to instruct and lead, has grown more and more
unclouded, more and more certain of what it is that they
are fighting for. National purposes have fallen more and
more into the background and the common purpose of en-
lightened mankind has taken their place. The counsels of
plain men have become on all hands more simple and
straightforward and more unified than the counsels of
sophisticated men of affairs, who still retain the impression
that they are playing a game of power and playing for high
stakes. That is why I have said that this is a peoples' war,
not a statemen's. Statesmen must follow the clarified com-
mon thought or be broken.
Glad to State War Aims.
I take that to be the significance of the fact that as-
semblies and associations of many kinds made up of plain
workaday people have demanded, almost every time they
came together, and are still demanding, that the leaders of
their governments declare to them plainly what it is, exactly
what it is, that they are seeking in this war, and what they
think the items of the final settlement should be. They are
not yet satisfied with what they have been told. They still
seem to fear that they are getting what they ask for only in
statesmen's terms-only in the terms of territorial arrange-
ments and divisions of power, and not in terms of broad-
visioned justice and mercy and peace and the satisfaction
of those deep-seated longings of oppressed and distracted
men and women and enslaved peoples that seem to them the
only things worth fighting a war for that engulfs the world.
Perhaps statesmen have not always recognized this changed
aspect of the whole world of policy and action. Perhaps they
have not always spoken in direct reply to the questions asked.
because they did not know how searching those questions
were and what sort of answers they demanded.
But I, for one, am glad to attempt the answer again and
again, in the hope that I may make it clearer and clearer
that my one thought is to satisfy those who struggle in the
ranks and are, perhaps above all others, entitled to a reply
whose meaning no one can have any excuse for misunder-
standing, if he understands the language in which it is
spoken or can get someone to translate it correctly into his
own. And I believe that the leaders of the governments
with which we are associated will speak, as they have occa-
sion, as plainly as I have tried to speak. I hope that they
9
will feel free to say whether they think that I am in any
degree mistaken in my interpretation of the issues involved
or in my purpose with regard to the means by which a satis-
factory settlement of those issues may be obtained. Unity
of purpose and of counsel are as imperatively necessary in
this war as was unity of command in the battlefield; and
with perfect unity of purpose and counsel will come assur-
ance of complete victory. It can be had in no other way.
"Peace drives" can be effectively neutralized and silenced
only by showing that every victory of the nations associated
against Germany brings the nations nearer the sort of peace
which will bring security and reassurance to all peoples and
make the recurrence of another such struggle of pitiless
force and bloodshed forever impossible, and that nothing else
can. Germany is constantly intimating the "terms" she will
accept; and always finds that the world does not want terms.
It wishes the final triumph of justice and fair dealing.
10
The 14 Points
A Program for World Peace-Message to Congress
of 8 January, 1918
ENTLEMEN of the Congress: Once more, as repeatedly
before, the spokesmen of the central empires have
indicated their desire to discuss the objects of the
war and the possible basis of a general peace.
G
Parleys have been in progress at Brest-Litovsk between
Russian representatives and representatives of the central
powers to which the attention of all the belligerents has been
invited, for the purpose of ascertaining whether it may be
possible to extend these parleys into a general conference
with regard to terms of peace and settlement.
The Russian representatives presented not only a per-
fectly definite statement of the principles upon which they
would be willing to conclude peace, but also an equally
definite program of the concrete application of those prin-
ciples.
The representatives of the central powers, on their part,
presented an outline of settlement which, if much less
definite, seemed susceptible of liberal interpretation until
their specific program of practical terms was added.
Control of Rússia the German Plan.
That program proposed no concessions at all, either to the
sovereignty of Russia or to the preferences of the population
with whose fortunes it dealt, but meant, in a word, that the
Central Empires were to keep every foot of territory their
armed forces had occupied-every province, every city, every
point of vantage-as a permanent addition to their terri-
tories and their power. It is a reasonable conjecture that
the general principles of settlement which they at first sug-
gested originated with the more liberal statesmen of Ger-
many and Austria, the men who have begun to feel the force
of their own peoples' thought and purpose, while the con-
crete terms of actual settlement came from the military
11
leaders, who have no thought but to keep what they have
got. The negotiations have been broken off.
The Russian representatives were sincere and in earn-
est. They cannot entertain such proposals of conquest and
domination.
The whole incident is full of significance. It is also full
of perplexity. With whom are the Russian representatives
dealing? For whom are the representatives of the central
empires speaking? Are they speaking for the majorities of
their respective parliaments or for the minority parties, that
military and imperialistic minority, which has so far dom-
inated their whole policy and controlled the affairs of Turkey
and of the Balkan states which have felt obliged to become
their associates in this war?
¿
Open Diplomacy Is Insisted Upon.
The Russian representatives have insisted, very justly,
very wisely, and in the true spirit of democracy, that the
conferences they have been holding with the Teutonic and
Turkish statesmen should be held within open, not closed,
doors, and all the world has been audience as was desired.
To whom have we been listening then? To those who speak
the spirit and intention of the resolutions of the German
reichstag on the 9th of July last, the spirit and intention of
the liberal leaders and parties of Germany, or to those who
resist and defy that spirit and intention and insist upon con-
quest and subjugation? Or are we listening in fact to both
unreconciled and in open and hopeless contradiction? These
are very serious and pregnant questions.
Upon the answer to them depends the peace of the
world.
But whatever the results of the parleys at Brest-Litovsk,
whatever the confusions of counsel and of purpose in the
utterances of the spokesmen of the central empires, they
have again attempted to acquaint the world with their objects
in the war and have again challenged their adversaries to
say what their objects are and what sort of settlement they
would deem just and satisfactory.
There is no good reason why that challenge should not
be responded to, and responded to with the utmost candor.
We did not wait for it. Not once, but again and again we
have laid our whole thought and purpose before the world,
not in general terms only, but each time with sufficient
+
12
definition to make it clear what sort of definitive terms of
settlement must necessarily spring out of them.
Allies United As to Policies.
Within the last week Mr. Lloyd George has spoken with
admirable candor and in admirable spirit for the people and
government of Great Britain. There is no confusion of coun-
sel among the adversaries of the central powers, no uncer-
tainty of principle, no vagueness of detail.
The only secrecy of counsel, the only lack of fearless
frankness, the only failure to make definite statement of the
objects of the war, lies with Germany and her allies.
The issues of life and death hang upon these definitions.
No statesman who has the least conception of his responsi-
bility ought for a moment to permit himself to continue this
tragical and appalling outpouring of blood and treasure un-
less he is sure beyond a peradventure that the objects of the
vital sacrifice are part and parcel of the very life of society
and that the people for whom he speaks think them right
and imperative as he does.
There is, moreover, a voice calling for these definitions
of principle and of purpose which is, it seems to me, more
thrilling and more compelling than any of the many moving
voices with which the troubled air of the world is filled. It
is the voice of the Russian people. They are prostrate and
all but helpless, it would seem, before the grim power of
Germany, which has hitherto known no relenting and no
pity.
Assistance for Russia Is Needed.
Their power apparently is shattered, and yet their soul
is not subservient. They will not yield either in principle
or in action. The conception of what is right, of what it is
humane and honorable for them to accept, has been stated
with a frankness, a largeness of view, a generosity of spirit
and a universal human sympathy which must challenge the
admiration of every friend of mankind; and they have re-
fused to compound their ideals or desert others that they
themselves may be safe.
They call to us to say what it is that we desire, in what,
if anything, our purpose and our spirit differ from theirs;
and I believe that the people of the United States would wish
me to respond with utter simplicity and frankness.
13
Whether their present leaders believe it or not, it is our
heartfelt desire and hope that some way may be opened
whereby we may be privileged to assist the people of Russia
to attain their utmost hope of liberty and ordered peace.
For No Secret Understandings.
It will be our wish and purpose that the processes of
peace, when they are begun, shall be absolutely open and
that they shall involve and permit henceforth no secret
understandings of any kind. The day of conquest and ag-
grandizement is gone by; so is also the day of secret cove-
nants entered into in the interest of particular governments
and likely at some unlooked-for moment to upset the peace
of the world.
It is this happy fact, now clear to the view of every pub-
lic man whose thoughts do not still linger in an age that is
dead and gone, which makes it possible for every nation
whose purposes are consistent with justice and the peace of
the world to avow now or at any other time the objects it
has in view.
We entered this war because violations of right had
occurred which touched us to the quick and made the life
of our own people impossible unless they were corrected
and the world secured once for all against their recurrence.
What we demand in this war, therefore, is nothing
peculiar to ourselves.
It is that the world be made fit and safe to live in; and
particularly that it be made safe for every peace-loving
nation which, like our own, wishes to live its own life, de-
termine its own institutions, be assured of justice and fair
dealing by the other peoples of the world as against force.
and selfish aggression. All the peoples of the world are in
effect partners in this interest, and for our own part we
see very clearly that unless justice be done to others it will
not be done to us.
The Fourteen Points of the Program.
The program of the world's peace, therefore, is our
program, and that program, the only possible program, as
we see it, is this:
I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at,
after which there shall be no private international
14
understandings of any kind, but diplomacy shall
proceed always frankly and in the public view.
II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the
seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and
in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or
in part by international action for the enforcement
of international covenants.
III. The removal, so far as possible, of all
economic barriers and the establishment of an
equality of trade conditions among all the nations
consenting to the peace and associating themselves
for its maintenance.
IV. Adequate guaranties given and taken that
national armaments will be reduced to the lowest
point consistent with domestic safety.
V. A free, open-minded and absolutely impar-
tial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a
strict observance of the principle that in determining
all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the
populations concerned must have equal weight with
the equitable claims of the government whose title
is to be determined.
Evacuation of Russia Necessary.
VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and
such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia
as will secure the best and freest co-operation of
the other nations of the world in obtaining for her
an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for
the independent determination of her own political
development and national policy and assure her of a
sincere welcome into the society of free nations un-
der institutions of her own choosing; and, more
than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that
she may need and may herself desire. The treat-
ment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the
months to come will be the acid test of their good
will, of their comprehension of her needs as dis-
tinguished from their own interests, and of their
intelligent and unselfish sympathy.
VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must
be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to
limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common
15
with all other free nations. No other single act will
serve as this will serve to restore confidence among
the nations in the laws which they have themselves
set and determined for the government of their re-
lations with one another. Without this healing act
the whole structure and validity of international
law is forever impaired.
VIII. All French territory should be freed and
the invaded portions restored and the wrong done
to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace
Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world
for nearly fifty years, should be righted in order that
peace may once more be made secure in the interest
of all.
IX. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy
should be effected along clearly recognizable lines
of nationality.
Must Free Oppressed Nationalities.
X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose
place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded
and assured, should be accorded the freest oppor-
tunity of autonomous development.*
XI. Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro should
be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia
accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the
relations of the several Balkan states to one another
determined by friendly counsel along historically
established lines of allegiance and nationality; and
international guaranties of the political and eco-
nomic independence and territorial integrity of the
several Balkan states should be entered into.
XII. The Turkish portions of the present Otto-
man Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty,
but the other nationalities which are now under
Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted secur-
ity of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity
of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles
should be permanently opened as a free passage to
The tenth point was superseded by a demand for actual freedom and
not mere autonomy for the oppressed nationalities of Austria in the Presi-
dent's reply of 19 October, 1918, to the Austrian request for an armistice.
This said: "The President is, therefore, no longer at liberty to accept mere
autonomy for these peoples as a basis of peace.
9.9
16
the ships and commerce of all nations under inter-
national guaranties.
XIII. An independent Polish state should be
erected which should include the territories inhab-
ited by indisputably Polish populations, which
should be assured a free and secure access to the sea
and whose political and economic independence and
territorial integrity should be guaranteed by inter-
national covenant.
XIV. A general association of nations must be
formed under specific covenants for the purpose of
affording mutual guaranties of political independ-
ence and territorial integrity to great and small
states alike.
C
Stand Together to the End.
In regard to these essential rectifications of wrong and
assertions of right we feel ourselves to be intimate partners
of all the governments and peoples associated together
against the imperialists. We cannot be separated in interest
or divided in purpose. We stand together until the end.
For such arrangements and covenants we are willing
to fight and to continue to fight until they are achieved; but
only because we wish the right to prevail and desire a just
and stable peace, such as can be secured only by removing
the chief provocations to war, which this program does
remove.
We have no jealousy of German greatness and there is
nothing in this program that impairs it. We grudge her no
achievement or distinction of learning or of pacific enter-
prise such as have made her record very bright and very
enviable.
We do not wish to injure her or to block in any way
her legitimate influence or power. We do not wish to fight
her either with arms or with hostile arrangements of trade,
if she is willing to associate herself with us and the other
peace-loving nations of the world in covenants of jujsticė
and law and fair dealing.
We wish her only to accept a place of equality among
the peoples of the world-the new world in which we now
live-instead of a place of mastery.
17.
No Trafficking With Militarism.
Neither do we presume to suggest to her any alteration
or modification of her institutions. But it is necessary, we
must frankly say and necessary as a preliminary to any
intelligent dealings with her on our part, that we should
know whom her spokesmen speak for when they speak to
us, whether for the Reichstag majority or for the military
party, and the men whose creed is imperial domination.
We have spoken now, surely, in terms too concrete to
admit of any further doubt or question. An evident prin-
ciple runs through the whole program I have outlined.
It is the principle of justice to all peoples and nation-
alities, and their right to live on equal terms of liberty and
safety with one another, whether they be strong or weak.
Unless this principle be made its foundation no part of the
structure of international justice can stand. The people of
the United States could act upon no other principle, and to
the vindication of this principle they are ready to devote
their lives, their honor and everything that they possess.
The moral climax of this, the culminating and final war
for human liberty has come, and they are ready to put their
strength, their own highest purpose, their own integrity
and devotion to the test.
18
The Four Cardinal Principles
Reply to Chancellor von Hertling and Count Czernin
-Address to Congress of 11 February, 1918
N the 8th of January, I had the honor of addressing
you on the objects of the war as our people conceive
them. The prime minister of Great Britain had
spoken in similar terms on the 5th of January.
O
To these addresses, the German chancellor replied on
the 24th, and Count Czernin for Austria on the same day.
It is gratifying to have our desire so promptly realized that
all exchanges of view on this great matter should be made
in the hearing of all the world.
Count Czernin's reply, which is directed chiefly to my
own address, on the 8th of January, is uttered in a very
friendly tone. He finds, in my statement, a sufficiently
encouraging approach to the views of his own government
to justify him in believing that it furnishes a basis for a more
detailed discussion of purposes by the two governments.
He is represented to have intimated that the views he
was expressing had been communicated to me before hand
and that I was aware of them at the time he was uttering
them; but in this I am sure he was misunderstood. I had
received no intimation of what he intended to say. There
was, of course, no reason why he should communicate
privately with me. I am quite content to be one of his public
audience.
Count von Hertling's reply is, I must say, very vague
and very confusing. It is full of equivocal phrases and leads
it is not clear where. But it is certainly in a very different
tone from that of Count Czernin and apparently of an op-
posite purpose. It confirms, I am sorry to say, rather than
removes, the unfortunate impression made by what we had
learned of the conferences at Brest-Litovsk.
Jealous of International Action.
His discussion and acceptance of our general principles
lead him to no practical conclusions. He refuses to apply
19
them to the substantive items which must constitute the
body of any final settlement. He is jealous of international
action and of international counsel.
He accepts, he says, the principle of public diplomacy,
but he appears to insist that it be confined, at any rate in
this case, to generalities and that the several particular ques-
tions of territory and sovereignty, the several questions upon
whose settlement must depend the acceptance of peace by
the twenty-three states now engaged in the war, must be
discussed and settled, not in general council, but severally
by the nations most immediately concerned by interest or
neighborhood.
He agrees that the seas should be free, but looks askance
at any limitation to that freedom by international action in
the interest of the common order. He would, without re-
serve, be glad to see economic barriers removed between
nation and nation, for that could in no way impede the ambi-
tions of the military party with whom he seems constrained
to keep on terms.
K
Neither does he raise objection to a limitation of arma-
ments. That matter will be settled of itself, he thinks, by
the economic conditions which must follow the war.
Hertling's Terms Then Harsh.
But the German colonies, he demands, must be returned
without debate. He will discuss with no one but the repre-
sentatives of Russia what dispositions shall be made of the
peoples and the lands of the Baltic provinces; with no one
but the government of France the "conditions" under which.
French territory shall be evacuated, and only with Austria
what shall be done with Poland.
In the determination of all questions affecting the Balkan
states he defers, as I understand him, to Austria and Turkey;
and with regard to the agreements to be entered into con-
cerning the non-Turkish peoples of the present Ottoman
empire to the Turkish authorities themselves.
After a settlement all around, effected in this fashion,
by individual barter and concession, he would have no ob-
jection, if I correctly interpret his statement, to a league of
nations which would undertake to hold the new balance of
power steady against external disturbances.
It must be evident to every one who understands what
this war has wrought in the opinion and temper of the world
20
that no general peace, no peace worth the infinite sacrifices
of these years of tragical suffering, can possibly be arrived
at in any such fashion.
Peace of the World Now at Stake.
The method the German chancellor proposes is the
method of the congress of Vienna. We cannot and will not
return to that. What is at stake now is the peace of the
world. What we are striving for is a new international
order based upon broad and universal principles of right and
justice-no mere peace of shreds and patches.
Is it possible that Count von Hertling does not see that,
does not grasp it, is, in fact, living in his thought in a world
dead and gone? Has he utterly forgotten the reichstag reso-
lutions of the 19th of July, or does he deliberately ignore.
them? They spoke of the conditions of a general peace, not
of national aggrandizement or of arrangements between
state and state.
The peace of the world depends upon the just settlement
of each of the several problems to which I adverted in my
recent address to the congress. I, of course, do not mean that
the peace of the world depends upon the acceptance of any
particular set of suggestions as to the way in which those
problems are to be dealt with. I mean only that those
problems each and all affect the whole world; that unless
they are dealt with in a spirit of unselfish and unbiased
justice, with a view to the wishes, the natural connections,
the racial aspirations, the security and peace of mind of
the peoples involved, no permanent peace will have been
attained.
Must Settle All Questions Right.
They cannot be discussed separately or in corners. None
of them constitutes a private or separate interest from which
the opinion of the world may be shut out. Whatever affects
the peace affects mankind, and nothing settled by military
force, if settled wrong, is settled at all. It will presently
have to be reopened.
Is Count von Hertling not aware that he is speaking in
the court of mankind; that all the awakened nations of the
world now sit in judgment on what every public man, of
whatever nation may say on the issues of a conflict which
has spread to every region of the world?
21
The reichstag resolutions of July themselves, frankly
accepted the decisions of that court. There shall be no an-
nexations, no contributions, no punitive damages. Peoples
are not to be handed about from one sovereignty to another
by an international conference or an understanding between
rivals and antagonists.
National aspirations must be respected, peoples may
now be dominated and governed only by their own consent.
"Self-determination" is not a mere phrase. It is an impera-
tive principle of action, which statesmen will henceforth
ignore at their peril.
We cannot have general peace for the asking, or by the
mere arrangements of a peace conference. It cannot be
pieced together out of individual understandings between
powerful states. All the parties to this war must join in the
settlement of every issue anywhere involved in it because
what we are seeking is a peace that we can all unite to guar-
antee and maintain and every item of it must be submitted
to the common judgment whether it be right and fair, an
act of justice, rather than a bargain between sovereigns.
GA
America Not Seeking to Interfere.
The United States has no desire to interfere in European
affairs or to act as arbiter in European territorial disputes.
She would disdain to take advantage of any internal weak-
ness or disorder to impose her own will upon another people.
She is quite ready to be shown that the settlements she has
suggested are not the best or the most enduring. They are
only her own provisional sketch of principles, and of the
way in which they should be applied.
But she entered this war because she was made a part-
ner, whether she would or not, in the sufferings and indig-
nities inflicted by the military masters of Germany against
the peace and security of mankind; and the conditions of
peace will touch her as nearly as they will touch any other
nation to which is intrusted a leading part in the mainte-
nance of civilization.
She cannot see her way to peace until the causes of this
war are removed, its renewal rendered as nearly as may
be impossible.
This war had its roots in the disregard of the rights of
small nations and of nationalities which lacked the union
and the force to make good their claim to determine their
22
3
own allegiances and their own forms of political life. Cove-
nants must now be entered into which will render such
things impossible for the future; and those covenants must
be backed by the united force of all the nations that love
justice and are willing to maintain it at any cost.
If territorial settlements and the political relations of
great populations which have not the organized power to
resist are to be determined by the contracts of the powerful
governments, which consider themselves most directly af-
fected, as Count von Hertling proposes, why may not eco-
nomic questions also?
da
Justice the Concern of All.
It has come about in the altered world in which we now
find ourselves that justice and the rights of peoples affect
the whole field of international dealing as much as access to
raw materials and fair and equal conditions of trade.
Count von Hertling wants the essential bases of com-
mercial and industrial life to be safeguarded by common
agreement and guarantee, but he cannot expect that to be
conceded him if the other matters to be determined by the
articles of peace are not handled in the same way as items
in the final accounting. He cannot ask the benefit of com-
mon agreement in the one field without according it in the
other.
I take it for granted that he sees that separate and sel-
fish compacts with regard to trade and the essential ma-
terials of manufacture would afford no foundation for peace.
Neither, he may rest assured, will separate and selfish com-
pacts with regard to provinces and peoples.
Count Czernin seems to see the fundamental elements
of peace with clear eyes and does not seek to obscure them.
He sees that an independent Poland, made up of all the in-
disputably Polish peoples who lie contiguous to one another,
is a matter of European concern and must, of course, be con-
ceded; that Belgium must be evacuated and restored, no mat-
ter what sacrifices and concessions that may involve! and
that national aspirations must be satisfied, even within his
own empire, in the common interest of Europe and mankind.
If he is silent about questions which touch the interest
and purpose of his allies more nearly than they touch those
of Austria only, it must, of course, be because he feels con-
strained, I suppose, to defer to Germany and Turkey in the
circumstances.
23
Seeing and conceding, as he does, the essential principles
involved and the necessity of candidly applying them, he
naturally feels that Austria can respond to the purpose of
peace as expressed by the United States with less embarrass-
ment than could Germany. He probably would have gone
much further had it not been for the embarrassment of
Austria's alliances and of her dependence upon Germany.
The Four Cardinal Principles.
After all, the test of whether it is possible for either
government to go any further in this comparison of views is
simple and obvious. The principles to be applied are these:
I. That each part of the final settlement must
be based upon the essential justice of that particu-
lar cause and upon such adjustments as are most
likely to bring a peace that will be permanent.
II. That peoples and provinces are not to be
bartered about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if
they were mere chattels and pawns in a game, even
the great game, now forever discredited, of the bal-
ance of power; but that-
III. Every territorial settlement involved in
this war must be made in the interest and for the
benefit of the populations concerned, and not as a
part of any mere adjustment or compromise of
claims among rival states; and-
IV. That all well defined national aspirations
shall be accorded the utmost satisfaction that can be
accorded them without introducing new or perpetu-
ating old elements of discord and antagonism that
would be likely in time to break the peace of
Europe and consequently of the world.
A general peace erected on such foundations can be dis-
cussed. Until such a peace can be secured we have no choice
but to go on. So far as we can judge, these principles that
we regard as fundamental are already everywhere accepted
as imperative, except among the spokesmen of the military
and annexationist party in Germany. If they have anywhere
else been rejected the objectors have not been sufficiently
numerous or influential to make their voices audible.
The tragical circumstance is that this one party in Ger-
many is apparently willing and able to send millions of
24
men to their death to prevent what all the world now sees
to be just.
I would not be a true spokesman of the people of the
United States if I did not say once more that we entered this
war upon no small occasion and that we never can turn
back from a course chosen upon principle.
k
To Use America's Full Force.
Our resources are in part mobilized now and we shall
not pause until they are mobilized in their entirety. Our
armies are rapidly going to the fighting front and will go
more and more rapidly. Our whole strength will be put
into this war of emancipation-emancipation from the threat
and attempted mastery of selfish groups of autocratic rulers
-whatever the difficulties and present partial delays.
We are indomitable in our power of independent action
and can in no circumstances consent to live in a world gov-
erned by intrigue and force. We believe that our own desire
for a new international order under which reason and justice
and the common interests of mankind shall prevail is the
desire of enlightened men everywhere. Without that new
order the world will be without peace and human life will
lack tolerable conditions of existence and development.
Having set our hand to the task of achieving it we shall not
turn back.
I hope that it is not necessary for me to add that no word
of what I have said is intended as a threat. That is not the
temper of our people. I have spoken thus only that the
whole world may know the true spirit of America-that
men everywhere may know that our passion for justice and
for self-government is no mere passion of words, but a
passion which, once set in action, must be satisfied. The
power of the United States is a menace to no nation or people.
It will never be used in aggression or for the aggran-
dizement of any selfish interest of our own. It springs out
of freedom and is for the service of freedom.
huge
!
25
Force to the Utmost
The Acceptance of the Challenge of Prussianism in the
Liberty Day Address at Baltimore, 6 April, 1918
ELLOW Citizens: This is the anniversary of our ac-
ceptance of Germany's challenge to fight for our right
to live and be free, and for the sacred rights of free
men everywhere.
F
The nation is awake. There is no need to call to it. We
know what the war must cost, our utmost sacrifice, the lives
of our fittest men, and, if need be, all that we possess. The
loan we are met to discuss is one of the least parts of what
we are called upon to give and to do, though in itself im-
perative.
The people of the whole country are alive to the neces-
sity of it and are ready to offer to the utmost, even where it
involves a sharp skimping and daily sacrifice to lend out
of meager earnings. They will look with reprobation and
contempt upon those who can and will not, upon those who
demand a higher rate of interest, upon those who think of
it as a mere commercial transaction.
I have not come, therefore, to urge the loan. I have
come only to give you, if I can, a more vivid conception of
what it is for.
Issues of the War Now Clear.
The reasons for this great war, the reason why it had
to come, the need to fight it through, and the issues that
hang upon its outcome are more clearly disclosed now than
ever before. It is easy to see just what this particular loan
means because the cause we are fighting for stands more
sharply revealed than at any previous crisis of the mo-
mentous struggle.
The man who knows least can now see plainly how the
cause of justice stands and what the imperishable thing is he
is asked to invest in. Men in America may be more sure
26
than they ever were before that the cause is their own and
that, if it should be lost, their own great nation's place and
mission in the world would be lost with it.
I call you to witness, my fellow countrymen, that at no
stage of this terrible business have I judged the purposes
of Germany intemperately. I should be ashamed in the
presence of affairs so grave, so fraught with the destinies of
mankind throughout all the world, to speak with truculence,
to use the weak language of hatred or vindictive purpose.
We must judge as we would be judged. I have sought
to learn the objects Germany has in this war from the
mouths of her own spokesmen, and to deal as frankly with
them as I wished them to deal with me. I have laid bare
our own ideals, our own purposes, without reserve or doubt-
ful phrase, and have asked them to say as plainly what it is
that they seek.
Final Justice the Only Aim.
We have ourselves proposed no injustice, no aggression.
We are ready, whenever the final reckoning is made, to be
just to the German people, deal fairly with the German
power, as with all others. There can be no difference be-
tween peoples in the final judgment if it is indeed to be a
righteous judgment.
To propose anything but justice, even-handed and dis-
passionate justice, to Germany at any time, whatever the
outcome of the war, would be to renounce and dishonor our
own cause. For we ask nothing that we are not willing to
accord.
It has been with this thought that I have sought to learn
from those who spoke for Germany whether it was justice.
or dominion and the execution of their own will upon the
other nations of the world that the German leaders were
seeking. They have answered, answered in unmistakable
terms. They have avowed that it was not justice, but
dominion and the unhindered execution of their own will.
The avowal has not come from Germany's statesmen.
It has come from her military leaders, who are her real
rulers. Her statesmen have said that they wished peace, and
were ready to discuss its terms whenever their opponents
were willing to sit down at the conference table with them.
Her present chancellor has said-in indefinite and un-
certain terms, indeed, and in phrases that often seem to
27
deny their own meaning, but with as much plainness as he
thought prudent-that he believed that peace should be
based upon the principles which we had declared would be
our own in the final settlement.
Recalls Brest-Litovsk Perfidy.
At Brest-Litovsk her civilian delegates spoke in similar
terms; professed their desire to conclude a fair peace and
accord to the peoples with whose fortunes they were dealing
the right to choose their own allegiances.
But action accompanied and followed the profession.
Their military masters, the men who act for Germany and
exhibit her purpose in execution, proclaimed a very dif-
ferent conclusion.
Gra
We cannot mistake what they have done-in Russia, in
Finland, in the Ukraine, in Rumania.
The real test of their justice and fair play has come.
From this we may judge the rest. They are enjoying in
Russia a cheap triumph in which no brave or gallant nation
can long take pride.
A great people, helpless by their own act, lies for the
time at their mercy. Their fair professions are forgotten.
They nowhere set up justice, but everywhere impose their
power and exploit everything for their own use and aggran-
dizement, and the peoples of conquered provinces are in-
vited to be free under their dominion!
Are we not justified in believing that they would do the
same things at their western front if they were not there
face to face with armies whom even their countless divisions
cannot overcome? If when they have felt their check to be
final they should propose favorable and equitable terms.
with regard to Belgium and France and Italy could they
blame us if we concluded that they do so only to assure
themselves of a free hand in Russia and the east?
Germans Planned World Empire.
Their purpose is undoubtedly to make all the free and
ambitious nations of the Baltic peninsula, all the lands that
Turkey has dominated and misruled, subject to their will
and ambition and build upon that dominion an empire of
force upon which they fancy that they can then erect an
empire of gain and commercial supremacy, an empire as
28
hostile to the Americas as to the Europe which it will over-
awe, an empire which will ultimately master Persia, India,
and the peoples of the far east.
In such a program our ideals, the ideals of justice and
humanity and liberty, the principle of the free self-deter-
mination of nations upon which all the modern world in-
sists, can play no part.
They are rejected for the ideals of power, for the prin-
ciple that the strong must rule the weak, that trade must
follow the flag, whether those to whom it is taken welcome
it or not, that the peoples of the world are to be made subject
to the patronage and overlordship of those who have the
power to enforce it.
Peril to America in the Program.
That program once carried out, America and all who
care or dare to stand with her must arm and prepare them-
selves to contest the mastery of the world, a mastery in
which the rights of common men, the rights of women and
of all who are weak, must for the time being be trodden
under foot and disregarded, and the old, age-long struggle
for freedom and right must begin again at its beginning.
Everything that America has lived for, and loved, and grown
great to vindicate and bring to a glorious realization will
have fallen in utter ruin, and the gates of mercy will once
more pitilessly shut upon mankind!
The thing is preposterous and impossible, and yet is
not that what the whole course and action of the German
armies has meant wherever they have moved?
I do not wish, even in this moment of utter disillusion-
ment, to judge harshly or unrighteously. I judge only what
the German arms have accomplished with unpitying thor-
oughness throughout every fair region they have touched.
What, then, are we to do?
For myself, I am ready, ready still, ready even now, to
discuss a fair and just and honest peace at any time that it
is sincerely purposed-a peace in which the strong and the
weak shall fare alike. But the answer, when I proposed
such a peace, came from the German commanders in Russia,
and I cannot mistake the meaning of the answer.
Accepts the Challenge of Force.
I accept the challenge. I know that you accept it. All
the world shall know that you accept it. It shall appear in
29
the utter sacrifice and self-forgetfulness with which we shall
give all that we love and all that we have to redeem the
world and make it fit for free men like ourselves to live in.
This now is the meaning of all that we do. Let every-
thing that we say, my fellow countrymen, everything that
we henceforth plan and accomplish, ring true to this re-
sponse till the majesty and might of our concerted power
shall fill the thought and utterly defeat the force of those
who flout and misprize what we honor and hold dear.
Germany has once more said that force, and force alone,
shall decide whether justice and peace shall reign in the
affairs of men; whether right, as America conceives it, or
dominion, as she conceives it, shall determine the destinies
of mankind.
There is, therefore, but one response possible
from us-force; force to the utmost, force without
stint or limit, the righteous and triumphant force
which shall make right the law of the world and
cast every selfish dominion down in the dust.
!
30
No Half-Way Peace
Four Ends for Which the World Is Fighting-
Mt. Vernon Address of 4 July, 1918
G
ENTLEMEN of the Diplomatic Corps and My Fellow
Citizens: I am happy to draw apart with you to this
quiet place of old counsel in order to speak a little
of the meaning of this day of our nation's independence.
The place seems very still and remote. It is as serene and
untouched by the hurry of the world as it was in those great
days long ago when Gen. Washington was here and held
leisurely conference with the men who were to be asso-
ciated with him in the creation of a nation.
From these gentle slopes they looked out upon the world
and saw it whole, saw it with the light of the future upon
it, saw it with modern eyes that turned away from a past
which men of liberated spirits could no longer endure.
It is for that reason that we cannot feel, even here, in
the immediate presence of this sacred tomb, that this is a
place of death. It was a place of achievement. A great
promise that was meant for all mankind was here given plan
and reality.
The associations by which we are here surrounded are
the inspiring associations of that noble death which is only
a glorious consummation. From this green hillside we also
ought to be able to see with comprehending eyes the world
that lies about us and should conceive anew the purposes
that must set men free.
Speaking for All Mankind.
It is significant-significant of their own character and
purpose and of the influences they were setting afoot-that
Washington and his associates, like the barons at Runny-
mede, spoke and acted not for a class, but for a people. It
has been left for us to see to it that it shall be understood
that they spoke and acted not for a single people only, but
for all mankind.
31
They were thinking not of themselves and of the ma-
terial interests which centered in the little groups of land-
holders and merchants and men of affairs with whom they
were accustomed to act, in Virginia and the colonies to the
north and south of her, but of a people which wished to be
done with classes and special interests and the authority
of men whom they had not themselves chosen to rule over
them.
They entertained no private purpose, desired no peculiar
privilege. They were consciously planning that men of
every class should be free and America a place to which men
out of every nation might resort who wished to share with
them the rights and privileges of free men.
And we take our cue from them-do we not? We in-
tend what they intended. We here in America believe our
participation in this present war to be only the fruitage of
what they planted.
1
Liberty For the World Is Aim.
Our case differs from theirs only in this, that it is our
inestimable privilege to concert with men out of every
nation what shall make not only the liberties of America
secure, but the liberties of every other people as well. We
are happy in the thought that we are permitted to do what
they would have done had they been in our place.
There must now be settled once for all what was settled
for America in the great age upon whose inspiration we
draw today. This is surely a fitting place from which calmly
to look out upon our task, that we may fortify our spirits
for its accomplishment. And this is the appropriate place
from which to avow, alike to the friends who look on and
to the friends with whom we have the happiness to be asso-
ciated in action, the faith and purpose with which we act.
Justice for Helpless Peoples.
This, then, is our conception of the great struggle in
which we are engaged. The plot is written plain upon every
scene and every act of the supreme tragedy. On the one
hand stand the peoples of the world-not only the peoples
actually engaged, but many others also who suffer under
mastery but cannot act; peoples of many races and in every
part of the world-the people of stricken Russia still, among
32
the rest, though they are for the moment unorganized and
helpless.
Opposed to them, masters of many armies, stand an iso-
lated, friendless group of governments who speak no com-
mon purpose, but only selfish ambitions of their own by
which none can profit but themselves, and whose peoples
are fuel in their hands; governments which fear their people
and yet are for the time their sovereign lords, making every
choice for them and disposing of their lives and fortunes as
they will, as well as of the lives and fortunes of every people
who fall under their power-governments clothed with the
strange trappings and the primitive authority of an age that
is altogether alien and hostile to our own.
The Past and the Present are in deadly grapple, and the
peoples of the world are being done to death between them.
What the People Fight For.
There can be but one issue. The settlement must be
final. There can be no compromise. No half-way decision
would be tolerable. No half-way decision is conceivable.
These are the ends for which the associated peoples of the
world are fighting and which must be conceded them before
there can be peace:
I. The destruction of every arbitrary power
anywhere that can separately, secretly, and of its
single choice disturb the peace of the world; or, if
it cannot be presently destroyed, at the least its re-
duction to virtual impotence.
II. The settlement of every question, whether
of territory, of sovereignty, of economic arrange-
ment, or of political relationship, upon the basis of
the free acceptance of that settlement by the people
immediately concerned, and not upon the basis of
the material interest or advantage of any other na-
tion or people which may desire a different settle-
ment for the sake of its own exterior influence or
mastery.
III. The consent of all nations to be governed
in their conduct towards each other by the same
principles of honor and of respect for the common
law of civilized society that govern the individual
citizens of all modern states in their relations with
one another; to the end that all promises and cove-
33
nants may be sacredly observed, no private plots or
conspiracies hatched, no selfish injuries wrought
with impunity, and a mutual trust established upon
the handsome foundation of a mutual respect for
right.
IV. The establishment of an organization of
peace which shall make it certain that the combined
power of free nations will check every invasion of
right and serve to make peace and justice the more
secure by affording a definite tribunal of opinion to
which all must submit and by which every interna-
tional readjustment that cannot be amicably agreed
upon by the peoples directly concerned shall be
sanctioned.
These great objects can be put into a single sentence.
What we seek is the reign of law, based upon the consent
of the governed and sustained by the organized opinion of
mankind.
Cannot Win by Debating.
These great ends cannot be achieved by debating and
seeking to reconcile and accommodate what statesmen may
wish, with their projects for balances of power and of na-
tional opportunity. They can be realized only by the deter-
mination of what the thinking peoples of the world desire,
with their longing hope for justice and for social freedom
and opportunity.
I can fancy that the air of this place carries the accents
of such principles with a peculiar kindness. Here were
started forces which the great nation against which they
were primarily directed at first regarded as a revolt against
its rightful authority, but which it has long since seen to
have been a step in the liberation of its own people as well
as of the people of the United States, and I stand here now
to speak-speak proudly and with confident hope-of the
spread of this revolt, this liberation, to the great stage of
the world itself.
The blinded rulers of Prussia have roused forces they
knew little of-forces which, once roused, can never be
crushed to earth again; for they have at their heart an in-
spiration and a purpose which are deathless and of the very
stuff of triumph!
34
Copies may be obtained of the War Committee of the Union League Club
of Chicago, at the following prices, delivery prepaid:
Single copies
One hundred copies...
One thousand copies....
מיו !
TRADEA WITH COUNCIL 20
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Pamphlets on Pressing War Issues
Printed by
The War Committee of the Union League Club
of Chicago
Three pamphlets dealing with the
business situation in war time
UNUSUAL BUSINESS NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL
By Harold G. Moulton
A pamphlet dealing with the necessity of putting war work ahead of private
work.
15 pages.
YOUR BUSINESS AND WAR BUSINESS
By Harold G. Moulton
A pamphle、 telling manufacturers how they may adjust their business to
the needs of the nation at war. 23 pages.
THE DUTY OF THE CONSUMER IN WAR TIME
By Harold G. Moulton
In which the duty of everyone to economize and forego luxuries in order
that the Government may not lack for labor and supplies, is forcefully
pointed out. 16 pages.
These business pamphlets may be had singly or in quantities at the follow-
ing prices: Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00; 1000 copies, $10.00.
Two pamphlets dealing with vital war questions
WHY WE FIGHT
By Clarence L. Speed
In which the reasons which forced America into the war are pointed out.
28 pages. Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00; 1000 copies, $10.00.
OUR PERIL ON THE EASTERN FRONT
By Clarence L. Speed
-
Showing the danger to America and the world which would result from a
premature peace, leaving conquests in the East in German hands. 22 pages,
with nationality map of Middle Europe. Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00;
1000 copies, $15.00.
Leaflets for quantity distribu-
tion in factories and elsewhere
OUR PERIL ON THE EASTERN FRONT
By Clarence L. Speed
A study of the Eastern situation in shorter form.
THEIR JOB AND OURS
LUXURY OR VICTORY-WHICH?
By Clarence L. Speed
Showing the necessity of working at home like our soldiers in France fight.
By Clarence L. Speed
Showing the necessity of economizing in individual expenditures in order
that the Government may not lack materials and labor for necessary war work.
These leaflets may be had for $1.00 a hundred, or $4.00 a thousand.
The Manufacturer's
Wage Problem -
By
Herbert F. Perkins
of the
International Harvester Co.
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB
OF CHICAGO.
1919
After you have read this pamphlet please pass it on in order that the message it
carries may reach the largest number of persons.

Mr. Herbert F. Perkins has been ac-
2
tively engaged in manufacturing ´´ in-
dustries since his college days-first
with the National Malleable Castings
Co., and subsequently, since 1899, with
the McCormick Co. and the Interna-
tional Harvester Co., in which latter
company he holds the position of Divi-
sion Manager, in charge of manufac-
turing.
From the latter part of May to the
end of December, 1918, Mr. Perkins
was attached to the War Policies Board
in Washington, D. C., under the De-
partment of Labor, as Business Ad-
viser to the Chairman, Mr. Frankfurter.
In this position Mr. Perkins had ex-
ceptional opportunity to see the whole
situation in its true perspective.
Copies may be obtained of the
War Committee of the Union League Club of Chicago
at the following prices, delivery prepaid:
Single copies
One hundred copies
One thousand copies
C
G
1
1
$ 0.05
2.00
10.00
2
The Manufacturer's Wage
Problem
T
HE manufacturer of the United States is emerging from
a period of intensive effort, accompanied by a con-
stantly increasing cost of production, due to mounting
material prices and labor rates. Higher cost of production,
translated into commodity prices, has immediately been re-
flected in the living cost of the wage-earning classes.
It is evident that, in proportion as living costs have ad-
vanced without a corresponding advance in the standard of
living, increased wages have been purely an increase in
dollar wages, but not in actual prosperity.
Owing to the tremendous demands for food abroad, that
part of the working man's cost of living which is made up of
his food supplies, has advanced perhaps more rapidly than
other items which directly affect him. Investigation has
shown that for the working man's family, food constitutes
from forty to fifty per cent of the family budget and that for
the lower paid workman, the proportion borne by food has
been higher than for the highly paid.
With the advancing cost of conducting business, the
manufacturer has suffered an increasing strain upon his cap-
ital resources and has been compelled to increase his selling
price to protect his advancing capital requirements.
The burden of government income tax and in less degree
other taxes has developed through the exigency of war to
undreamed of figures. In order to provide the annual cash
outlay to meet these taxes and at the same time maintain
normal net earnings, selling prices have had to be still further
increased.
G
Employer and Employe Alike Loyal.
During this period the patriotic enthusiasm of the citi-
zenship of the country, both employer and employe, has run
high. Resources of capital and labor have been freely placed
at the command of the government to prosecute a successful
3
war and to maintain at the highest standard the world has
known the conditions to be thrown around our armies in the
field and in training in the cantonments at home.
This is no time to dissect the various degrees of self-
interest or national loyalty which have influenced either the
employer or the employe. There has been profiteering in
both classes to the everlasting disgrace of the individuals
justly so charged, but it would be unjust to the spirit of the
whole population that has been shown during the war to
indulge in implications against either the employer or the
employe.
Period of Uncertainty Ahead.
Today the manufacturer of the United States faces a
serious and uncertain future. He knows that for a year and
a half to come the price of wheat has been guaranteed at the
highest war price. He understands that his country, owing
to the demoralized condition in other great food producing
nations, is expected to protect food shortage in Europe and
he therefore has reason to expect that foodstuffs generally
will be in unprecedented demand, so that although the food
requirements of armies is materially greater than the food
requirements of the same population when returned to civil
life, the cost of food in the workman's budget will continue
at a high level for an extended period.
The still incomplete lists of our own losses in the war
from death by battle and sickness and from crippling wounds
evidence the dreadful disaster to the young manhood of our
country that the fight for world-wide democracy has cost.
Yet we know how small is our own disaster compared with
the appalling loss to the fighting forces of our allies and of
the enemy. The depletion of able-bodied men in those
countries, the lower birth rate incident to the strain of the
contest and the consequent decline in conditions of living are
bound to be factors of great importance in limiting labor
available for the period of reorganization in Continental
Europe and in the colonies related to the European nations
that have engaged in the four years' conflict. There is bound
to be, from purely physical causes, a shortage of man power
in these countries.
On the other hand, we know that with the great burden
of debt which the war has laid upon the contesting nations,
¦
4
their only salvation lies through intense labor and increased
production and a consequent struggle for the trade of the
world.
The unprecedented requirements of the allied nations
have stimulated the spirit of invention, have broken down
many of the impediments to production and stimulated the
use of machinery and means of production along American
methods, so that the manufacturing production per man in
the allied countries, particularly England, has been heavily
increased. It follows that the advantage which, through our
manufacturing skill, we undoubtedly possessed in the period
preceding the war, has been decreased. As an instance it has
been reported that in the making of ammunition, the pro-
duction per man in English arsenals, which before war was
markedly less than in the American shops, had toward the
end of the period of the war surpassed our own. Further, it
would appear that, whatever problems the reconstruction
period may bring, the relations between the wage-earners
and management and the breadth of vision with which these
groups have been approaching their mutual problems, have
been vastly improved in England as compared with the pre-
war period.
Men Return as Contracts Cease.
Now the war is over. Our men from the camps and our
men from the ranks abroad are returning to the farms, the
offices and the factories. Our great organizations built solely
for the production of war requirements are emptying their
thousands upon the labor market. Hundreds of establish-
ments, large and small, that had increased or modified their
facilities to meet the special requirements of warfare, not
only for our own soldiery during the last year and a half,
but also for the soldiery of the allies for the past four years,
are, simultaneously with the return of these millions of men,
having their contracts cancelled.
The problem of industry is now to reorganize the imple-
ments of manufacture to meet the demands of peace, to find
work for the returning khaki-clad thousands, and, most
fundamentally of all, to find the markets which shall take
the product of these facilities and of these men, and in addi-
5
tion of those men and women, who, as soldiers of industry,
have just as truly been prosecuting the war at home by the
contribution of their united efforts in the production of
munitions, clothing and food. He would indeed be more
than a man who could measure the problem and fit its
answer and the man would be fool-hardy who would attempt
the functions of a prophet.
The problem of immigration and of emigration will be
a factor of no little importance in the final tale, but this is so
insoluble a question at present that it can only be sug-
gested, not answered. It would appear, however, as more
than a mere probability that the period of inflation and
apparent great prosperity which this country has been going
through, must be succeeded by deflation and a time, perhaps
measured by months rather than years, of pronounced de-
cline in volume of business. After this period has passed
we may hope that, partly in consequence of the great de-
struction of material things which the war has entailed,
there will follow a period of tremendous production of
essentials and of great general prosperity for America.
Immediate Decline in Wages Undesirable.
Perhaps one of the most vital problems will turn upon
the distribution which shall be given to the values that are
to be created. Are they to be apportioned as heretofore or
are they to be differently distributed? Too many employers,
with their minds more on the experience of the past than
the promise of the future, have been watching anxiously
and often nervously the constant rise in money wages. The
thought has been borne strongly in upon them that the his-
torical and therefore the most natural and correct method of
meeting the period of declining business and profits is
through the prompt reduction of the wage rate attained
through the stimulation of these past years of conflict. It
does not seem possible, however, that such a thought can
be the proper immediate reaction of peace to the spirit
which impelled the United States to take up arms in the
fight against the Central Powers. Surely none of us whose
minds have accompanied our hearts in determining our
relation to the great struggle can dismiss the conviction that
the democracy for which we have battled is not democracy
6
of the ballot alone, but democracy in all fundamental rela-
tions, including those that are industrial as well as those
that are political. We have struggled for a democracy, not
utopian or unguarded, but controlled by law and recognizing
efforts and purposes, intelligence and capacity, a democracy
using law to bring to the less gifted or less fortunate higher
ambitions and growing efficiency.
Nor is it unreasonable to believe that along this line may
be found the most genuine and most broad prosperity of all
groups.
A study of the figures of the income of our nation for a
long period preceding the war will reveal the fact that, in
the years of relatively lowest domestic consumption, the
ratio of our income from sales outside of our country to the
income from business within our country was approximately
as one to five, while in years of active home trade the ratio
has been from one to ten, to one to seven.
Home Markets Most Important.
There are, in the United States, more than thirty million.
people largely dependent upon fixed compensation; and of
these the wage-earners in our factories, offices, mills and
mines are the largest single group. It would follow that the
prosperity of our home market and consequently the pros-
perity of the manufacturers of America depends upon the
buying capacity of the wage-earners of this country in a
degree that we have not been wont to measure adequately.
So it is hard to believe that in moments of sober reflec-
tion the manufacturer of America will begrudge for the
wage-earners of America the considerable gain that has ac-
crued to at least a very large number of them and their
families through their increased income above the actual
advance in cost of living during the period of the war.
Freak wages growing out of careless setting of high
piece rates in cost-plus war work and other such absurdities
or blunders, to apply no worse names, will, of course, not
stand the light of common sense business and will have to
go; and the men who have been the lucky recipients in the
past, while quite humanly protesting, will accept the neces-
sary situation much as a lucky business man would say
7
good bye to a passing shower of profit. Wage-earners are
human and humanly sensible.
May Hold Share of World Trade.
It may be quite possible by ingenuity, invention and
management, through the stimulation to individual produc-
tion that naturally accompanies a period of depressed in-
dustry, and, most important because as yet quite unmeas-
ured, through a careful study of the possibilities of improved
industrial relations between management and men, that we
may hold our share of the world's trade. It is hard to de-
termine what is any nation's just share. Perhaps it is all
that it can fairly get, but we surely may assume that in the
long run we cannot afford to struggle for trade at the expense
of the physical and moral and social development of any
group of our population. We know that as citizens of a
nation we love and wish to make greater and more powerful
in all good lines, industrial managers will unselfishly de-
termine, and as shrewd business men in all honorable and
far-seeing self-interest will unite, to promote the upgrading
of those, who through lack of training, or opportunity, or
native ability or because of improper economic methods,
have lived under inadequate standards. If need be the op-
portunities of the future must now as always, with far-see-
ing men, warrant temporary and immediate sacrifice.
Food Must Decline Before Wages.
When the prices of foodstuffs shall have fallen by the
removal of artificial props and through the returned pro-
ductivity of various lands at present either wasted by war
or handicapped through shortage of laborers or through
unwillingness to toil; when abnormal profits and wasteful
methods incident to the period of the war have been elim-
inated; and when, through a closer co-operation between
management and wage-earners, the possibilities of increased
production have been secured, the elements that go to make
the wage-earner's budget will show an appreciable decrease.
Then-and not until then-regulated by the maintenance
of general and not class prosperity, should adjustments in
8
wage rates be attempted on the basis of the buying value of
the dollar.
If the worst comes and, through the pressure of com-
petition from abroad, it becomes evident that with all other
resources exhausted, general employment and consequently
general prosperity can only be maintained by a decline in
commodity wage, such further adjustment must necessarily
follow.
It is necessary to emphasize that until all other expedi-
ents are exhausted, the policy of forcing a lower standard
of living by reduction of the money wage, while living costs
are still approximately at their peak, or at any time to reduce
the commodity wage, particularly to do so by arbitrary dis-
charge and rehiring or any of the other discredited methods
which have at times been more or less common, would be
the veriest exhibition of not only injustice, but of folly. It
would surely be accompanied by hostility on the part of
the great wage-earning community, as well as on the part
of the clear-thinking men in the community at large; would
be the surest way to increase the power of the demagogue,
whether he be politician or unprincipled labor leader; would
widen the unfortunate cleavage, which we should be mend-
ing instead of spreading, between wage-earners and man-
agement; and, at the present crisis when the influenza of
Bolshevism is abroad in the world, it would undoubtedly
rapidly spread this disease in our own country. It would,
in short, be bad morals and bad business.
More than once reference has been made above to the
increase in production which it is believed would follow
improved relations between labor, management and capital.
This is a problem that burdens the minds of all sincere
students of the ideals that have supported the world war.
Many efforts to develop a new democracy of industry are
being made in England and serious and promising ventures
in this direction are being launched in the United States.
The thread of gold that runs through the fabric of all
these plans is the recognition of the inherent mutuality of
interest of labor and management. These are indispensable
one to the other and must come to represent not classes of
men, but factors of success often combined in a single indi-
vidual. Exploitation of the wage-earner on the one hand
9
or disintegration of management or capital on the other,
can in the long run work to the good of none and are
destructive of production of goods, which is the basis of our
prosperity. Confidence in mutual justice and fair dealing
between man and man is bound to open the fountains of
effective energy in production as nothing else can do to the
unfolding of the greatest material and social prosperity the
world has known.
Jan. 13, 1919.
VIDON COUNCIL 20
TRADES SE,
10
PAMPHLETS
Dealing With the Vital Issues of
RECONSTRUCTION
PUBLIC WORKS OR PUBLIC
CHARITY?
By Harold G. Moulton
Setting forth the necessity of providing buffer employment dur-
ing the time of demobilization of soldiers and war workers.
RUSSIA IN REVOLUTION
By Ralph B. Dennis
Being a description of the causes and effects of the upheaval in
Russia, and pointing a lesson to thinking people in America.
THE WORLD'S NEXT STEP-
A LEAGUE OF NATIONS
By Clarence L. Speed
A study of the natural evolution towards an international organ-
ization to make secure the peace of the world.
THE BASES OF DURABLE PEACE
Five addresses of President Wilson in which the famous "Four-
teen Points," and the other requirements for ending the war,
accepted by the Germans when they signed the armistice, are
included.
These pamphlets may be had singly or in quantities at the
following prices, delivery prepaid: Single copy, 5c; 100 copies,
$2.00; 1,000 copies, $10.00.
Printed by
WAR COMMITTEE
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB OF CHICAGO
И.
US(19134921 (ulelor)
Sec.
,
The Bases
of
Lasting Peace
As Voiced By
President Wilson
S
I. America's Purpose: International Justice and World
Peace at New York, 27 September, 1918.
II. The 14 Points of 8 January, 1918.
III. The Four Cardinal Principles of 11 February, 1918.
IV. Force to the Utmost-at Baltimore, 6 April, 1918.
V. The Four War Aims-Mt. Vernon, 4 July, 1918.
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB
OF CHICAGO
1918
Resolutions Anent President Wilson's New York
Address of 27 September, 1918, Adopted by
the War Committee of the Union League
Club of Chicago, October 3, 1918.
R
EALIZING the scope and implications of President Wilson's
statement of the war policies of the United States in his
New York address of 27 September, 1918, and that no such
sweeping and searching declaration of purpose in regard to the
relations of nations to one another has ever before been made by
the responsible head of a powerful nation in a time of world crisis
and readjustment;
Recalling that many of the wars that have devastated Europe
in the past have had their roots in unjust conditions created or
acquiesced in by treaties of peace that ignored the rights of peoples;
Bearing in mind that this shocking war, that has finally involved
the United States, has its causes in deep-seated injustice imbedded
in existing European conditions and in the purpose of the Central
Fowers to perpetrate yet further injustice at the expense of neigh-
boring nations assumed to be helpless;
Seeing clearly that war can no longer be easily localized in a
world of closely knit international relations and that, only through
the establishment of substantial justice between the peoples of the
world, can we in the United States hope, henceforth, to find peace
for ourselves;
And believing that the principles, so nobly conceived and so
clearly set forth by the President, will, if put into effect by our Allies
and ourselves, go far toward lifting from the world the nightmare of
war and the social and economic burdens that it entails and will
set free men's hands and minds and spirits for the nobler tasks of
peace;
We, the War Committee of the Union League Club of Chicago,
hereby record our whole-hearted concurrence in the President's
declaration of principles, and we pledge our best endeavors to the
end that, so far as lies in the will and act of the United States, peace,
when attained, shall not once more involve the bartering away of
the rights of peoples in the interest of dynasties or of powerful
states or groups of states, but shall square with the President's
solemn declaration.
America's Purpose
The Establishment of Justice Between the Nations-
New York Address of 27 September, 1918.
M
Y Fellow-Citizens: I am not here to promote the loan.
That will be done-ably and enthusiastically done-
by the hundreds of thousands of loyal and tireless
men and women who have undertaken to present it to you
and to our fellow-citizens throughout the country; and I
have not the least doubt of their complete success; for I
know their spirit and the spirit of the country. My confi-
dence is confirmed, too, by the thoughtful and experienced
co-operation of the bankers here and everywhere, who are
lending their invaluable aid and guidance.
I have come, rather, to seek an opportunity to present
to you some thoughts which I trust will serve to give you,
in perhaps fuller measure than before, a vivid sense of the
great issues involved, in order that you may appreciate and
accept with added enthusiasm the grave significance of the
duty of supporting the government by your men and your
means to the utmost point of sacrifice and self-denial. No
man or woman who has really taken in what this war means
can hesitate to give to the very limit of what they have; and
it is my mission here tonight to try to make it clear once
more what the war really means. You will need no other
stimulation or reminder of your duty.
At every turn of the war we gain a fresh consciousness.
of what we mean to accomplish by it. When our hope and
expectation are most excited we think more definitely than
before of the issues that hang upon it and of the purposes
which must be realized by means of it. For it has positive
and well-defined purposes which we did not determine and
which we cannot alter. No statesman or assembly created
them; no statesman or assembly can alter them. They have
arisen out of the very nature and circumstances of the war.
The most that statesmen or assemblies can do is to carry
them out or be false to them. They were perhaps not clear
at the outset; but they are clear now. The war has lasted
more than four years and the whole world has been drawn
into it.
3
Mankind's Common Will Rules.
The common will of mankind has been substituted for
the particular purpose of individual states. Individual
statesmen may have started the conflict, but neither they nor
their opponents can stop it as they please. It has become a
peoples' war, and peoples of all sorts and races, of every
degree of power and variety of fortune, are involved in its
sweeping processes of change and settlement. We came
into it when its character had become fully defined and it
was plain that no nation could stand apart or be indifferent
to its outcome. Its challenge drove to the heart of every-
thing we cared for and lived for. The voice of the war had
become clear and gripped our hearts. Our brothers from
many lands, as well as our own murdered dead under the
sea, were calling to us, and we responded, fiercely and of
course.
The air was clear about us. We saw things in their full,
convincing proportions as they were; and we have seen
them with steady eyes and unchanging comprehension ever
since. We accepted the issues of the war as facts, not as
any group of men either here or elsewhere had defined them,
and we can accept no outcome which does not squarely meet
and settle them.
Five Issues of the War.
Those issues are these:
܀
Shall the military power of any nation or group
of nations be suffered to determine the fortunes of
peoples over whom they have no right to rule ex-
cept the right of force?
Shall strong nations be free to wrong weak
nations and make them subject to their purpose and
interest?
Shall peoples be ruled and dominated, even in
their own internal affairs, by arbitrary and irre-
sponsible force or by their own will and choice?
Shall there be a common standard of right and
privilege for all peoples and nations or shall the
strong do as they will and the weak suffer without
redress?
Shall the assertion of right be haphazard and
by casual alliance or shall there be a common con-
cert to oblige the observance of common rights?
4
G
No man, no group of men, chose these to be the issues
of the struggle. They are the issues of it; and they
must be settled-by no arrangement or compromise or ad-
justment of interests, but definitely and once for all and
with a full and unequivocal acceptance of the principle that
the interest of the weakest is as sacred as the interest of
the strongest.
What Permanent Peace Means.
This is what we mean when we speak of a permanent
peace, if we speak sincerely, intelligently, and with a real
knowledge and comprehension of the matter we deal with.
We are all agreed that there can be no peace obtained
by any kind of bargain or compromise with the governments
of the Central Empires, because we have dealt with them
already and have seen them deal with other governments
that were parties to this struggle, at Brest-Litovsk and
Bucharest. They have convinced us that they are without
honor and do not intend justice. They observe no cove-
nants, accept no principle but force and their own interest.
We cannot "come to terms" with them. They have made.
it impossible. The German people must by this time be
fully aware that we cannot accept the word of those who
forced this war upon us. We do not think the same thoughts
or speak the same language of agreement.
It is of capital importance that we should also be ex-
plicitly agreed that no peace shall be obtained by any kind
of compromise or abatement of the principles we have
avowed as the principles for which we are fighting. There
should exist no doubt about that. I am, therefore, going to
take the liberty of speaking with the utmost frankness about
the practical implications that are involved in it.
If it be indeed and in truth the common object of the
governments associated against Germany and of the nations
whom they govern, as I believe it to be, to achieve by the
coming settlements a secure and lasting peace, it will be
necessary that all who sit down at the peace table shall come
ready and willing to pay the price, the only price, that will
procure it; and ready and willing, also, to create in some
virile fashion the only instrumentality by which it can be
made certain that the agreements of the peace will be
honored and fulfilled.
in
5
Impartial Justice Must Be Done.
That price is impartial justice in every item of the set-
tlement, no matter whose interest in crossed; and not only
impartial justice, but also the satisfaction of the several
peoples whose fortunes are dealt with. That indispensable
instrumentality is a League of Nations formed under cove-
nants that will be efficacious. Without such an instru-
mentality, by which the peace of the world can be guaran-
teed, peace will rest in part upon the word of outlaws, and
only upon that word. For Germany will have to redeem her
character, not by what happens at the peace table, but by
what follows.
And, as I see it, the constitution of that League of
Nations and the clear definition of its objects must be a part,
is in a sense the most essential part, of the peace settlement
itself. It cannot be formed now. If formed now, it would
be merely a new alliance confined to the nations associated
against a common ency. is not likely that it could be
formed after the selli
!
s necessary to guarantee
guaranteed as an after-
the peace; and the pen
thought. The reason.
in terms again, why it
must be guaranteed is the will be parties to the peace
whose promises have proved untrustworthy, and means.
must be found in connection with the peace settlement itself
to remove that source of insecurity. It would be folly to
leave the guarantee to the subsequent voluntary action of
the governments we have seen destroy Russia and deceive
Rumania.
J
?
C
t
Five Particulars of Settlement.
But these general terms do not disclose the whole mat-
ter. Some details are needed to make them sound less like a
thesis and more like a practical program. These, then, are
some of the particulars, and I state them with the greater
confidence because I can state them authoritatively as repre-
senting this government's interpretation of its own duty
with regard to peace:
First, the impartial justice meted out must in-
volve no discrimination between those to whom we
wish to be just and those to whom we do not wish
to be just. It must be a justice that plays no
favorites and knows no standard but the equal
rights of the several peoples concerned;
6
Second, no special or separate interest of any
single nation or any group of nations can be made
the basis of any part of the settlement which is
not consistent with the common interest of all;
Third, there can be no leagues or alliances or
special covenants and understandings within the
general and common family of the League of
Nations;
Fourth, and more specifically, there can be no
special, selfish economic combinations within the
league and no employment of any form of economic
boycott or exclusion except as the power of eco-
nomic penalty by exclusion from the markets of
the world may be vested in the League of Nations
itself as a means of discipline and control;
Fifth, all international agreements and treaties
of every kind must be made known in their en-
tirety to the rest of the world.
-
Must Exclude Special Alliances.
Special alliances and economic rivalries and hostilities
have been the prolific source in the modern world of the
plans and passions that produce war. It would be an in-
sincere as well as an insecure peace that did not exclude.
them in definite and binding terms.
The confidence with which I venture to speak for our
people in these matters does not spring from our traditions
merely and the well-known principles of international action
which we have always professed and followed. In the same
sentence in which I say that the United States will enter
into no special arrangements or understandings with par-
ticular nations, let me say also that the United States is pre-
pared to assume its full share of responsibility for the main-
tenance of the common covenants and understandings upon
which peace must henceforth rest. We still read Washing-
ton's immortal warning against "entangling alliances" with
full comprehension and an answering purpose. But only
special and limited alliances entangle; and we recognize
and accept the duty of a new day in which we are permitted
to hope for a general alliance which will avoid entangle-
ments and clear the maintenance of common rights.
I have made this analysis of the international situation
which the war has created, not, of course, because I doubted
7
J
whether the leaders of the great nations and peoples with
whom we are associated were of the same mind and enter-
tained a like purpose, but because the air every now and again
gets darkened by mists and groundless doubtings and mis-
chievous perversions of counsel and it is necessary once
and again to sweep all the irresponsible talk about peace in-
trigues and weakening morale and doubtful purpose on the
part of those in authority utterly, and if need be uncere-
moniously, aside and say things in the plainest words that
can be found, even when it is only to say over again what
has been said before, quite as plainly if in less unvarnished
terms.
Responds to the Issues of War.
As I have said, neither I nor any other man in govern-
mental authority created or gave form to the issues of this
war. I have simply responded to them with such vision
as I could command. But I have responded gladly and with
a resolution that has grown warmer and more confident as
the issues have grown clearer and clearer. It is now plain
that they are issues which no man can pervert unless it be
willfully. I am bound to fight for them, and happy to fight
for them as time and circumstance have revealed them to
me as to all the world. Our enthusiasm for them grows
more and more irresistible as they stand out in more and
more vivid and unmistakable outline.
And the forces that fight for them draw into closer and
closer array, organize their millions into more and more un-
conquerable might, as they become more and more distinct
to the thought and purpose of the peoples engaged. It is the
peculiarity of this great war that while statesmen have
seemed to cast about for definitions of their purpose and
have sometimes seemed to shift their ground and their point
of view, the thought of the mass of men, whom statesmen
are supposed to instruct and lead, has grown more and more
unclouded, more and more certain of what it is that they
are fighting for. National purposes have fallen more and
more into the background and the common purpose of en-
lightened mankind has taken their place. The counsels of
plain men have become on all hands more simple and
straightforward and more unified than the counsels of
sophisticated men of affairs, who still retain the impression.
that they are playing a game of power and playing for high
8
stakes. That is why I have said that this is a peoples' war,
not a statesmen's. Statesmen must follow the clarified com-
mon thought or be broken.
Glad to State War Aims.
I take that to be the significance of the fact that as-
semblies and associations of many kinds made up of plain
workaday people have demanded, almost every time they
came together, and are still demanding, that the leaders of
their governments declare to them plainly what it is, exactly
what it is, that they are seeking in this war, and what they
think the items of the final settlement should be. They are
not yet satisfied with what they have been told. They still
seem to fear that they are getting what they ask for only in
statesmen's terms-only in the terms of territorial arrange-
ments and divisions of power, and not in terms of broad-
visioned justice and mercy and peace and the satisfaction
of those deep-seated longings of oppressed and distracted
men and women and enslaved peoples that seem to them the
only things worth fighting a war for that engulfs the world.
Perhaps statesmen have not always recognized this changed
aspect of the whole world of policy and action. Perhaps they
have not always spoken in direct reply to the questions asked
because they did not know how searching those questions
were and what sort of answers they demanded.
But I, for one, am glad to attempt the answer again and
again, in the hope that I may make it clearer and clearer
that my one thought is to satisfy those who struggle in the
ranks and are, perhaps above all others, entitled to a reply
whose meaning no one can have any excuse for misunder-
standing, if he understands the language in which it is
spoken or can get someone to translate it correctly into his
own. And I believe that the leaders of the governments
with which we are associated will speak, as they have occa-
sion, as plainly as I have tried to speak. I hope that they
will feel free to say whether they think that I am in any
degree mistaken in my interpretation of the issues involved
or in my purpose with regard to the means by which a satis-
factory settlement of those issues may be obtained. Unity
of purpose and of counsel are as imperatively necessary in
this war as was unity of command in the battlefield; and
with perfect unity of purpose and counsel will come assur-
ance of complete victory. It can be had in no other way.
9
"Peace drives" can be effectively neutralized and silenced
only by showing that every victory of the nations associated
against Germany brings the nations nearer the sort of peace
which will bring security and reassurance to all peoples and
make the recurrence of another such struggle of pitiless
force and bloodshed forever impossible, and that nothing else
can. Germany is constantly intimating the "terms" she will
accept; and always finds that the world does not want terms.
It wishes the final triumph of justice and fair dealing.
10
The 14 Points
(From the Message to Congress of 8 January, 1918.)
I.
Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after
which there shall be no private international
understandings of any kind, but diplomacy shall
proceed always frankly and in the public view.
II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the
seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and
in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or
in part by international action for the enforcement
of international covenants.
III. The removal, so far as possible, of all
economic barriers and the establishment of an
equality of trade conditions among all the nations
consenting to the peace and associating themselves
for its maintenance.
IV. Adequate guaranties given and taken that
national armaments will be reduced to the lowest
point consisting with domestic safety.
V. A free, open-minded and absolutely impar-
tial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a
strict observance of the principle that in determining
all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the
populations concerned must have equal weight with
the equitable claims of the government whose title
is to be determined.
Evacuation of Russia Necessary.
VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and
such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia
as will secure the best and freest co-operation of
the other nations of the world in obtaining for her
an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for
the independent determination of her own political
development and national policy and assure her of a
sincere welcome into the society of free nations un-
der institutions of her own choosing; and, more
than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that
she may need and may herself desire. The treat-
ment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the
-
11
months to come will be the acid test of their good
will, of their comprehension of her needs as dis-
tinguished from their own interests, and of their
intelligent and unselfish sympathy.
VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must
be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to
limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common
with all other free nations. No other single act will
serve as this will serve to restore confidence among
the nations in the laws which they have themselves
set and determined for the government of their re-
lations with one another. Without this healing act
the whole structure and validity of international
law is forever impaired.
VIII. All French territory should be freed and
the invaded portions restored and the wrong done
to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-
Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world
for nearly fifty years, should be righted in order that
peace may once more be made secure in the interest
of all.
IX. A readjustment of the fontiers of Italy
should be effected along clearly recognizable lines
of nationality.
Must Free Oppressed Nationalities.
X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose
place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded
and assured, should be accorded the freest oppor-
tunity of autonomous development.*
XI. Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro should
be evacuated; occupied territories restored; Serbia
accorded free and secure access to the sea; and the
relations of the several Balkan states to one another
determined by friendly counsel along historically
established lines of allegiance and nationality; and
international guaranties of the political and eco-
nomic independence and territorial integrity of the
several Balkan states should be entered into.
*The tenth point was superseded by a demand for actual freedom and
not mere autonomy for the oppressed nationalities of Austria-Hungary in the
President's reply of 19 October, 1918, to the Austrian request for an armistice.
This said: "The President is, therefore, no longer at liberty to accept mere
autonomy for these peoples as a basis of peace."
""
12
XII. The Turkish portions of the present Otto-
man Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty,
but the other nationalities which are now under
Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted secur-
ity of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity
of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles
should be permanently opened as a free passage to
the ships and commerce of all nations under inter-
national guaranties.
XIII. An independent Polish state should be
erected which should include the territories inhab-
ited by indisputably Polish populations, which
should be assured a free and secure access to the sea
and whose political and economic independence and
territorial integrity should be guaranteed by inter-
national covenant.
XIV. A general association of nations must be
formed under specific covenants for the purpose of
affording mutual guaranties of political independ-
ence and territorial integrity to great and small
states alike.
The Four Cardinal Principles
(From the Message to Congress of 11 February, 1918.)
That each part of the final settlement must be
based upon the essential justice of that particu-
lar cause and upon such adjustments as are most
likely to bring a peace that will be permanent.
I.
II.
That peoples and provinces are not to be
bartered about from sovereignty to sovereignty as if
they were mere chattels and pawns in a game, even
the great game, now forever discredited, of the bal-
ance of power; but that,
III. Every territorial settlement involved in
this war must be made in the interest and for the
benefit of the populations concerned, and not as a
part of any mere adjustment or compromise of
claims among rival states; and,
IV. That all well defined national aspirations
shall be accorded the utmost satisfaction that can be
13
accorded them without introducing new or perpetu-
ating old elements of discord and antagonism that
would be likely in time to break the peace of
Europe and consequently of the world.
Force to the Utmost
(From the reply to Von Hertling and Count Czernin at
Baltimore, 6 April, 1918.)
There is, therefore, but one response possible
from us-force; force to the utmost, force without
stint or limit, the righteous and triumphant force
which shall make right the law of the world and
cast every selfish dominion down in the dust.
The Particulars of Justice
(From the Mt. Vernon Speech of 4 July, 1918.)
I.
The destruction of every arbitrary power any-
where that can separately, secretly, and of its
single choice disturb the peace of the world; or, if
it cannot be presently destroyed, at the least its re-
duction to virtual impotence.
II. The settlement of every question, whether
of territory, of sovereignty, of economic arrange-
ment, or of political relationship, upon the basis of
the free acceptance of that settlement by the people
immediately concerned, and not upon the basis of
the material interest or advantage of any other na-
tion or people which may desire a different settle-
ment for the sake of its own exterior influence or
mastery.
III. The consent of all nations to be governed
in their conduct towards each other by the same
principles of honor and of respect for the common
law of civilized society that govern the individual
citizens of all modern states in their relations with
one another; to the end that all promises and cove-
nants may be sacredly observed, no private plots or
14
conspiracies hatched, no selfish injuries wrought
with impunity, and a mutual trust established upon
the handsome foundation of a mutual respect for
right.
IV. The establishment of an organization of
peace which shall make it certain that the combined
power of free nations will check every invasion of
right and serve to make peace and justice the more
secure by affording a definite tribunal of opinion to
which all must submit and by which every interna-
tional readjustment that cannot be amicably agreed
upon by the peoples directly concerned shall be
sanctioned.
Copies may be obtained of the War Committee of the Union League Club
of Chicago, at the following prices, delivery prepaid:
Single copies
One hundred copies..
One thousand copies...
ZemlWalmoured 20
•
5 cents
$2.00
10.00
15
Pamphlets on Pressing War Issues
Printed by
The War Committee of the Union League Club
of Chicago
Three pamphlets dealing with the
business situation in war time
UNUSUAL BUSINESS NOT BUSINESS AS USUAL
By Harold G. Moulton
A pamphlet dealing with the necessity of putting war work ahead of private
work.
15 pages.
YOUR BUSINESS AND WAR BUSINESS
By Harold G. Moulton
A pamphlet telling manufacturers how they may adjust their business to
the needs of the nation at war. 23 pages.
THE DUTY OF THE CONSUMER IN WAR TIME
By Harold G. Moulton
In which the duty of everyone to economize and forego luxuries in order
that the Government may not lack for labor and supplies, is forcefully
pointed out. 16 pages.
These business pamphlets may be had singly or in quantities at the follow-
ing prices: Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00; 1000 copies, $10.00.
Two pamphlets dealing with vital war questions
WHY WE FIGHT
By Clarence L. Speed
In which the reasons which forced America into the war are pointed out.
28 pages. Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00; 1000 copies, $10.00.
OUR PERIL ON THE EASTERN FRONT
By Clarence L. Speed
Showing the danger to America and the world which would result from a
premature peace, leaving conquests in the East in German hands. 22 pages,
with nationality map of Middle Europe. Single copy, 5c; 100 copies, $2.00;
1000 copies, $15.00.
Leaflets for quantity distribu-
tion in factories and elsewhere
OUR PERIL ON THE EASTERN FRONT
By Clarence L. Speed
A study of the Eastern situation in shorter form.
THEIR JOB AND OURS
By Clarence L. Speed
Showing the necessity of working at home like our soldiers in France fight.
Chicago
THE, UNION LEAGUE CLUB:
J
ITS UNDERLYING PURPOSE
To the members of the Union League Club:
O
NE of the proposed amendments to
the by-laws, which will come before
the Club for action at the annual
meeting on March 25, will, if adopted, create
a new standing committee to be known as
the Public Affairs Committee. Inasmuch as
the creation of this new Committee will auto-
matically terminate the existence of the stand-
ing Committee on Political Action and of the
special War Committee, the undersigned, con-
stituting the entire membership of the Political
Action and War Committees, deem it fitting
to submit to the Club members the following
W
statement:
There would never have been a "Union
League Club of Chicago" if the founders of
the Club had merely sought to create an
organization whose sole or chief function
should be to minister to the creature comfort
of its members. It goes without saying that,
in organizing the Club, the founders intended
to provide a place in which the members
and their guests could find facilities for crea-
ture comfort, and in which they could find
companionship and freedom from the elbow-
ing of restaurants and other gathering places.
But that these facilities were only subsidiary
to another and more commanding purpose is
clearly written in the declarations of the
ܕ
"Articles of Association" which, ignoring all
other objects, set forth the primary objects of
the Club in terms of the obligations of
citizenship.
Clearly, in their thought, the Club, as a
place for recreation, was only a body for the
housing of an indwelling spirit-the spirit of
devotion to and conscious effort for the pro-
tection and upbuilding of that democratic
social order to which our republic is dedicated.
And so it came about that the founders
established not a mere club with any handy
sort of name drawn from literature or from
local tradition and pride, but a Union League
Club charged with a public trust and with a
clear-cut obligation in regard thereto.
And so also it came about that the found-
ers of the Club instituted a Political Action
Committee whose duty it should be to rec-
ommend to the Club any subject of discus-
sion or any political action which seemed to
be advisable. And to emphasize the fact that
this Political Action Committee had a defi-
nite, continuing, vital function to perform in
the life of the Club and that it was not to
be regarded as merely a casual adjunct to the
Board of Managers, the by-laws made the
Political Action Committee an elective body
with co-ordinate rank and self-directing
power. And further to emphasize the impor-
tance attached to the Political Action Com-
mittee and to guarantee it an independent
status, the by-laws made it obligatory on the
Board of Managers to appropriate to the
uses of the Committee three per cent of the
amount of the annual dues.
The Political Action Committee, over and
above conducting exercises on the anniver-
sary of Washington's birthday, has from time
to time undertaken various specific activities.
Such as for instance:
Aiding in bringing about the detection
and prosecution of fraudulent voting in the
First ward.
Conducting a speaking campaign to bring
about the adoption by Chicago, on referen-
dum, of the present merit civil service law.
Urging upon the Board of Education that
it adopt the procedure of appointing a Super-
intendent of Schools only after obtaining the
best possible expert
advice.
Creditable as these other activities of the
Committee have been, there must have arisen
in the minds of the founders a certain degree
of disappointment at the comparative inertia
of the Committee. Certain it is that such a
sense of disappointment has been felt and
voiced by many members during the past
twenty years and by not a few who have
themselves served on the Committee.
Whatever may be the full explanation of
the Committee's comparative ineffectiveness,
the explanation may perhaps be found chiefly
in two facts: First-the funds appropriated
to Committee uses under the by-laws, and
to which the Committee has by custom lim-
ited itself, are insufficient even to permit the
Committee to maintain a diligent, expert
secretarial staff, and without such a staff busy
men will not continuously devote the re-
quired time to such Committee service. Nor,
had the Committee seen fit to try to create
such a staff, would it have had left any ade-
quate sum for educational or other form of
concrete activity. Second-whatever by de-
rivation may be the full import of the words,
"political" and "politics," usage has tended
to limit the significance of the word "politi-
cal," until the average man thinks of it as
having to do only with the programs and
activities of political parties as such. And the
consequence has occasionally been that, when
some matter of great and immediate public
moment was suggested to the P. A. C. for
discussion or action, the proposition was met
by the paralyzing claim of "ultra vires" as
not being a "political" question.
The suggested change in name should
obviate any possible misunderstanding of the
scope of work of the Committee and open
to it naturally the door to the activity that
the founders beyond peradventure intended
to open. The increase in the number of the
Committee from nine to fifteen, bringing it
back to the size at which it started when
the Club was founded, makes possible a more
representative cross-section of the Club and
allows of creating working sub-committees
that will not altogether overburden the mem-
bers. Carrying over to the new P. A. C. the
method of obtaining working funds by the
voluntary contributions of Club members
who are interested in the work in hand-
which was inaugurated by the War Com-
mittee and has latterly been followed by the
Political Action and War Committees acting
jointly—will enable the new Committee to
C
maintain a competent staff and do effective
public work.
As to the method of naming the person-
nel of the Committee, the method which
has been followed in the past did undeniably
give character and status to the Committee.
In practice, however, some objections have
been raised to the working out of the
method.
It has been strongly urged that under the
present procedure an elective committee ar-
rives at decisions without concurrent action.
by the Board of Managers, and that the Board
and more particularly the officers of the Club
are occasionally placed in the position of hav-
ing to assist in carrying out programs in whose
origins they have had little part and are some-
times, it is claimed, held responsible in the
public eye for decisions in which they do
not fully sympathize.
Pag
pa
>>>>
assume.
For, in all soberness, we must clearly realize
that if Democracy is to justify itself in oper-
ation, there must be continuous, wise, public-
spirited leadership by those groups in each
community whose broader education, variety
and depth of experience in life and compar-
ative leisure for reading, travel and thought
fit them to help educate and guide their less
fortunately situated fellows.
What Democracy may mean without
competent leadership, the pathetic situation
in Russia and the floundering in Germany
It is believed that whatever is sound in disclose only too well. Our immigration for
the suggestion of the desirability of a greater several decades past (and we say this without
degree of co-ordination between the Board
any intention to disparage the racial stocks
and the P. A. C. may be accomplished and their potentialities) has been from quar-
through the change in the by-laws now pro- ters where education-whether by books or
posed; while at the same time it is believed by political opportunity-has been regret-
that the initiative and immediate responsi- ably scant. Under our system these peoples
become part and parcel of our social, eco-
nomic and political life. One will not be
charged by any thoughtful observer of Amer-
ican life with being an alarmist or a pessimist,
bility of the Committee will not be lessened.
On the other hand it is quite clear that
neither the Board as a whole, nor any Com-
mittee made up wholly of members of the
Board, can perform the tasks that the Board
and its Committees must perform and still
have, in addition, sufficient time for the ini-
tiative and the deliberations absolutely essen-
tial to vigorous and wise P. A. C. action.
The proposed method places the appoint-
ment of the Committee in the hands of the
Club President with the approval of the Board;
but the selection is made from the whole
body of the Club membership, irrespective
of whether or not a person designated hap-
pens to be or not to be a member of the
Board of Managers. And while each incom-
ing President, by virtue of the fact that he
names a majority of the Committee, includ-
ing therein its Chairman, has the power to
direct in a general way the course of the
Committee, seven of the fifteen hold over
and make possible a continuity of purpose
and program which is of the utmost impor-
tance if the Committee is to meet success-
fully its share of the community burden that
this Club through its Committe should
-
-
if he emphasizes the gravity of the issues by
which we in America-we here in Chi-
cago-are confronted at this time.
The Union League Club, by virtue of the
opportunities that have come to its member-
ship, is one of those groups which owe to
the community intelligent, high - minded
leadership. The community which has
given us our opportunities has a right to ex-
pect from this Club a return in loyalty and
devotion—not loyalty to some issue now no
longer vital, not devotion to an idea now
BRITTON I. BUDD
ROBERT W. CHILDS
MARK W. CRESAP
O. C. DOERING
SAMUEL O. DUNN
BERNARD FLEXNER
CHARLES W. FOLDS
STEPHEN A. FOSTER
JOHN F. GILCHRIST
MARTIN M. GRIDLEY
WALTER D. HERRICK
accepted by all and become a memory, but
loyalty and devotion to our country in the
trying issues that now confront us.
It is in the hope and expectation that the
Union League Club will in its acts today be
true to the tradition founded on its acts of
yesterday, that we support the proposed
amendment to the by-laws, believing that
it will strengthen the hands of the Com-
mittee which was designed to translate into
terms of public leadership the ideals and
purposes on which the Club was founded.
Chicago, 15 March, 1919
H. H. HILTON
MORTON D. HULL
F. B. JOHNSTONE
EDWIN S. MILLS
CHARLES M. MODERWELL
JOHN V. NORCROSS
ALLEN B. POND
A. D. SHERIDAN
E. M. SKINNER
GRAHAM TAYLOR
CHAS. P.WHITNEY
Constituting the entire membership of the
Political Action Committee and the War Committee
-

་
A PLEA FOR DEPORTATION OF
ALIEN ENEMIES NOW INTERNED
BY THE UNITED STATES
WAR COMMITTEE
THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB
OF CHICAGO
Rokfelghat SIGNÁLÓMONTSERRA
COMPAN
:

KAREN
PLEASE
Explanation
CTING upon instructions of the War Committee of the Union League
Club, its secretary, Allen B. Pond, on December 4, 1918, wrote to Thomas
Watt Gregory, Attorney General of the United States, asking how many
persons had been interned as dangerous alien enemies, whether they were
under the jurisdiction of the State Department or the Department of Justice, and what
program, if any, the Government has as to the disposition of them on the conclusion of
peace. Mr. Gregory, on December 7, replied that the interned alien enemies are under
the jurisdiction of the Department of Justice in the sense that it has the right to order
their arrest and internment, and may release an alien enemy on parole after he has
been interned. He regretted that the question as to the number interned could not
be disclosed at this time, and said that the question of the disposal of interned persons
was under consideration, but that no decision had been reached.
The War Committee, at its meeting of December 19, 1918, expressed its belief that
persons interned as dangerous alien enemies should be deported at the close of the war
as undesirables, and instructed its secretary to write to the Attorney General to this
effect. The accompanying letter has, therefore, been forwarded to Attorney General
Gregory, and also to the members of the Congressional Committee on Military Affairs,
before whom, we are advised, legislation authorizing such deportation is now pending.
The Military Affairs Committee is constituted as follows:
House of Representatives
S. HUBERT DENT, JR.
WILLIAM J. FIELDS
PERCY E. QUIN
WILLIAM GORDON
ASHTON C. SHALLENBERGER
KAT
CHAS. POPE CALDWELL
JAMES W. WISE
RICHARD OLNEY
SAMUEL J. NICHOLLS
THOMAS W. HARRISON
DANIEL E. GARRETT
GEORGE R. LUNN
JULIUS KAHN
DANIEL R. ANTHONY, JR.
JOHN C. MCKENZIE
FRANK L. GREENE
JOHN M. MORIN
JOHN Q. TILSON
THOMAS S. Crago
HARRY E. HULL
J. KUHIO KALANIANAOLE
DEČAKAN APPROAC
Senate
GEORGE E. CHAMBERLAIN
GILBERT M. HITCHCOCK
DUNCAN U. FLETCHER
HENRY L. MYERS
CHARLES S. THOMAS
MORRIS SHEPPARD
J. C. W. BECKHAM
WILLIAM F. KIRBY
JAMES A. REED
KENNETH MCKELLAR
HOKE SMITH
FRANCIS E. WARREN
JOHN W. WEEKS
JAMES W. WADSWORTH, JR.
HOWARD SUTHERLAND
HARRY S. NEW
JOSEPH S. FRELINGHUYSEN
HIRAM W. JOHNSON
PHILANDER C. KNOX
TagN
Santa Cata

Thomas Watt Gregory, Esq.
Attorney General of the United States
Washington, D. C.
Dear Sir:
OUTINEREA AKAN TET TALUNIEGULACJenak
Referring again to the question as to the disposition of interned alien
enemies after the conclusion of peace (see my letter of 4 December and
your reply J. M. M. 9-16-12-1454 of 7 December, 1918)—it is the judgment
of the War Committee of the Union League Club of Chicago that these
persons should be deported from the United States when released from
internment and that they should not at a subsequent time be allowed to
take up a residence or to sojourn or travel in the United States.
Our reasons for this judgment are briefly these:
First Persons of their sort, and presumptively in many instances these
very persons, prior to our entry into the war and even prior to August,
1914, were engaged in the effort to estrange our people from the people of
foreign countries-notably of England, Japan, Mexico and South American
states. Unhappily such efforts met with a measure of success.
Dagmar delicat
Second Similarly there was an effort by persons attached to the interests
of the Central Powers to break down in the United States that solidarity
of sentiment, purpose and culture which is of fundamental importance in
the successful conduct of a democratic state. There is no reasonable
doubt that many of the interned aliens took part in this work of under-
mining American solidarity.
Third It is reasonable to believe that Germany and those peoples of
the former Austro-Hungarian Empire that were in accord with her are
not going to be made over mentally and spiritually for a generation or
and it is reasonable to expect that their devotees in the United
States will again take up their propaganda to alienate the United States
from its former allies.
more;
BESOCERYMPERDIDO,
Fourth The interned aliens are persons who were quite definitely
proved to be dangerous to this country during the war and they will
KJARNAN MANSON SANA PREDA
1, 2 MONROCE
ATAONEKANANJA Camo S PRAGTEIKŠANAI. PATRIC

*
beyond doubt be ready aids in the propaganda that the Central Powers
will surely seek to carry on again.
Fifth The acts which led to the interning of these aliens are in
themselves sufficient justification for their deportation. The knowledge
that we have gained of the lengths to which the German propaganda has
gone gives added ground for the exclusion of these people who have never
seen fit to transfer their obligations to the United States and who betrayed
our hospitality in our time of trial.
If legislation is required in order that this group may be deported, it is
our judgment that such legislation should be sought.
The educational propaganda work of the War Committee of the Union
League Club was, in the first instance and from time to time thereafter,
directed to people of German ancestry; and this has served to direct our
attention more particularly to the danger to the United States that lurks
in the pro-German devotion of many in the alien group.
Respectfully yours,
WAR COMMITTEE
BY ALLEN B. POND
Secretary
Chicago, December 20, 1918
E
:

To the Members of the
Union League Club
of Chicago
The War Committee of the Union League Club,
having scanned the field and weighed many possible
opportunities for fruitful service, has been confirmed
in its early impression that educational propaganda is
still the most practicable field for the chief work of
the Committec. It is indeed becoming increasingly
evident that the successful and rapid prosecution of
he war depends for us quite as much on the ready
and intelligent co-operation of every section of a
united and steadfast people as it does on the wisdom
and administrative efficiency of our government at
Washington.
1
This indispensable intelligent co-operation must
be based on an informed public opinion. Such a pub-
lic opinion must be founded on a deeper and clearer
understanding of the underlying causes of the war, of
the ambitions and plans of those groups in Germany
that control German opinion and policy and that de-
liberately brought on the war. Such a public opinion
will stand out sharply against the background of a
bitter comprehension of the way in which Imperial
Germany has cast to the winds the whole fabric of
international morality and the slowly built-up
brotherliness of our boasted Christian Civilization.
Such a public opinion will have its roots in a keen
realization that peace for us hereafter is indissolubly
linked up with the nature of the adjustments that are
made after the war in what, at first, appeared to many
of us to be purely local European matters-matters
in which we had no immediate and vital concern.
Such a public opinion, based on such knowledge as
this, will set its face as a flint against specious pro-
posals of peace and will not allow its own war-wcari-
ness to lead it to seek or to acquiesce in a premature
peace that will leave the Prussian oligarchs with en-
larged political advantages that will, after a few
decades make them stronger than before and will en-
able them to carry out the threat, already being made
by leaders of German thought, that the next time
Imperial Germany takes the world by the throat she
will have a strangle hold.
Your Committee is carrying on its propaganda
by the distribution of pamphlets, by furnishing ma-
terial to newspapers and by securing an audience for
speakers who have an important war message to de-
liver. A considerable number of pamphlets-mono-
graphs, reprinted addresses and the like-have been
and are being prepared and issued by various organi-
zations and individuals, including the Government
Committee on Public Information. Many of these
documents are suitable without change for the ob-
jects your Committee has in view. In no case has
the distributing machinery been equal to the need;
and in many cases the supply of documents is limited
by the inability of the original printers to meet the
demand. This last is particularly true in the case of
some of the most valuable publications of the gov-
crnment committee above referred to. We are ad-
vised that there is no possible danger of any serious
duplication of distribution.
;
The Committee will, if the requisite funds are
forthcoming, cause documents to be prepared and
printed to meet certain conditions not met by any
available existing material.
The Committee proposes to reach the following
groups; chiefly in this immediate vicinity:
a-The membership of the Union League Club-
to the end that every member may become, as he
should, a well-advised and intelligent leader of public
opinion.
b-People of German origin, both citizens and
aliens.
c-The laboring classes, who have or conceive
that they have certain peculiar interests not neces-
sarily identical with the interests of other groups in
this community.
d-Certain employed and middle class groups not
so likely as some other groups to have ready access
to the sort of documents and data that your Com-
mittce regards as specially important.
In pursuance of this policy the Committee has
already caused the insertion of matter in the three
largest German language newspapers during a series
of months, being nearly 2½ million issues. It has
printed and mailed some 95,000 copies of each of
two documents to one of the groups above referred
to, and it proposes to send other documents to the
same group. It proposes to send some 200,000 copies
of certain other documents to another of the groups.
It proposes to distribute large numbers of yet other
documents to still other groups.
The distribution will be in part by mail, as in the
case of the 95,000 copies above referred to,-in part
by the use of public library and school facilities-
each of these affording a way to reach the parents.
through the children—and in part through the secre-
taries of certain organized groups. In its work of
distribution your Committee is co-operating with the
Washington Committee and with the Committee of
the State Council of Defense, and is securing the
advice of the best posted leaders of some of the
groups that it desires to reach. It is not emphasizing
its own agency when it seems probable that some
other visible agency will be more effective than its
own.
In planning its work-both as to groups to be
reached and as to subject matter-your Committee
has sought and is constantly availing itself of the
best obtainable expert opinion.
In addition to its educational work, the War
Committee has agreed to co-operate with the Com-
mercial Club and the Chicago Club in defraying for
one year the operating expense of the Club for Sol-
diers and Sailors that is soon to be opened at Nos.
205-07 West Washington Street. The purpose of this
club is to provide, in a centrally located downtown
place, a club which any and all soldiers and sailors,
passing through or stationed near Chicago, may call
their own and where, without payment of dues, they
may enjoy in a wholesome environment the privi-
leges that a men's club usually offers. We wan
our enlisted men to conduct themselves in manl
fashion and to avoid the evils that historically dog
the footsteps of the soldier and that often carry in
their train ills quite as serious as those that are in-
curred on the field of battle. It is for us to give
these young men the chance to escape the traps
that a great city sets for the feet of young men oft
duty and with no decent, lounging place. No wiser.
no kinder thing can be done by us who once were
young than to give our hearty support to this enter-
prise.
The scope of the needed work along the lines
that the Committee has mapped out is practically
limited only by the funds available. To carry out
effectively the work which the Committee regards as
of prime and immediate importance will require some
$150,000 in the next six or eight months. Members
of the Union League Club can in our opinion perform
no service more worthy of the name and traditions
of the Club or of more assured value to our country
at this time than to provide the means for the Com-
mittee to carry out its program.
Respetfully submitted,
The War Committee
of the Union League Club
of Chicago
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
3 9015 00481 2353
th
*