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diff --git a/5399-0.txt b/5399-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f932bb --- /dev/null +++ b/5399-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2025 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Essay On The American Contribution And +The Democratic Idea, by Winston Churchill +[The Author is the American Winston Churchill not the British] + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Essay On The American Contribution And The Democratic Idea + +Author: Winston Churchill + +Release Date: October 6, 2006 [EBook #5399] +Last Updated: August 24, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN CONTRIBUTION *** + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +AN ESSAY ON THE AMERICAN CONTRIBUTION AND THE DEMOCRATIC IDEA + +By Winston Churchill + + + + +I. + +Failure to recognize that the American, is at heart an idealist is +to lack understanding of our national character. Two of our greatest +interpreters proclaimed it, Emerson and William James. In a recent +address at the Paris Sorbonne on “American Idealism,” M. Firmin Roz +observed that a people is rarely justly estimated by its contemporaries. +The French, he says, have been celebrated chiefly for the skill of their +chefs and their vaudeville actors, while in the disturbed ‘speculum +mundi’ Americans have appeared as a collection of money grabbers whose +philosophy is the dollar. It remained for the war to reveal the true +nature of both peoples. The American colonists, M. Roz continues, unlike +other colonists, were animated not by material motives, but by the +desire to safeguard and realize an ideal; our inherent characteristic +today is a belief in the virtue and power of ideas, of a national, +indeed, of a universal, mission. In the Eighteenth Century we proposed +a Philosophy and adopted a Constitution far in advance of the political +practice of the day, and set up a government of which Europe predicted +the early downfall. Nevertheless, thanks partly to good fortune, and +to the farseeing wisdom of our early statesmen who perceived that the +success of our experiment depended upon the maintenance of an isolation +from European affairs, we established democracy as a practical form of +government. + +We have not always lived up to our beliefs in ideas. In our dealings +with other nations, we yielded often to imperialistic ambitions and +thus, to a certain extent, justified the cynicism of Europe. We took +what we wanted--and more. From Spain we seized western Florida; the +annexation of Texas and the subsequent war with Mexico are acts upon +which we cannot look back with unmixed democratic pride; while more than +once we professed a naive willingness to fight England in order to +push our boundaries further north. We regarded the Monroe Doctrine as +altruistic, while others smiled. But it suited England, and her sea +power gave it force. + +Our war with Spain in 1898, however, was fought for an idea, and, +despite the imperialistic impulse that followed it, marks a transition, +an advance, in international ethics. Imperialistic cynics were not +lacking to scoff at our protestation that we were fighting Spain in +order to liberate Cuba; and yet this, for the American people at large, +was undoubtedly the inspiration of the war. We kept our promise, we did +not annex Cuba, we introduced into international affairs what is known +as the Big Brother idea. Then came the Platt Amendment. Cuba was free, +but she must not wallow near our shores in an unhygienic state, or +borrow money without our consent. We acquired valuable naval bases. +Moreover, the sudden and unexpected acquisition of Porto Rico and the +Philippines made us imperialists in spite of ourselves. + +Nations as well as individuals, however, must be judged by their +intentions. The sound public opinion of our people has undoubtedly +remained in favour of ultimate self-government for the Philippines, and +the greatest measure of self-determination for little Porto Rico; it has +been unquestionably opposed to commercial exploitation of the islands, +desirous of yielding to these peoples the fruits of their labour in +developing the resources of their own lands. An intention, by the +way, diametrically different from that of Germany. In regard to our +protectorate in the island of San Domingo, our “semi-protectorate” in +Nicaragua, the same argument of intention may fairly be urged. Germany, +who desired them, would have exploited them. To a certain extent, no +doubt, as a result of the momentum of commercial imperialism, we are +still exploiting them. But the attitude of the majority of Americans +toward more backward peoples is not cynical; hence there is hope that a +democratic solution of the Caribbean and Central American problem may +be found. And we are not ready, as yet, to accept without further +experiment the dogma that tropical and sub-tropical people will not +ultimately be able to govern themselves. If this eventually, prove to be +the case at least some such experiment as the new British Labour Party +has proposed for the Empire may be tried. Our general theory that the +exploitation of foreign peoples reacts unfavourably on the exploiters is +undoubtedly sound. + +Nor are the ethics of the manner of our acquisition of a part of Panama +and the Canal wholly defensible from the point of view of international +democracy. Yet it must be remembered that President Roosevelt was +dealing with a corrupt, irresponsible, and hostile government, and that +the Canal had become a necessity not only for our own development, but +for that of the civilization of the world. + +The Spanish War, as has been said, marked a transition, a development +of the American Idea. In obedience to a growing perception that dominion +and exploitation are incompatible with and detrimental to our system of +government, we fought in good faith to gain self-determination for an +alien people. The only real peril confronting democracy is the arrest +of growth. Its true conquests are in the realms of ideas, and hence it +calls for a statesmanship which, while not breaking with the past, while +taking into account the inherent nature of a people, is able to deal +creatively with new situations--always under the guidance of current +social science. + +Woodrow Wilson’s Mexican policy, being a projection of the American Idea +to foreign affairs, a step toward international democracy, marks the +beginning of a new era. Though not wholly understood, though opposed by +a powerful minority of our citizens, it stirred the consciousness of a +national mission to which our people are invariably ready to respond. +Since it was essentially experimental, and therefore not lacking in +mistakes, there was ample opportunity for a criticism that seemed at +times extremely plausible. The old and tried method of dealing with such +anarchy as existed across our southern border was made to seem the safe +one; while the new, because it was untried, was presented as disastrous. +In reality, the reverse was the case. + +Mr. Wilson’s opponents were, generally speaking, the commercial classes +in the community, whose environment and training led them to demand +a foreign policy similar to that of other great powers, a financial +imperialism which is the logical counterpart in foreign affairs of the +commercial exploitation of domestic national resources and domestic +labour. These were the classes which combated the growth of democracy at +home, in national and state politics. From their point of view--not +that of the larger vision--they were consistent. On the other hand, the +nation grasped the fact that to have one brand of democracy at home and +another for dealing with foreign nations was not only illogical but, in +the long run, would be suicidal to the Republic. And the people at large +were committed to democratic progress at home. They were struggling for +it. + +One of the most important issues of the American liberal movement early +in this century had been that for the conservation of what remains +of our natural resources of coal and metals and oil and timber and +waterpower for the benefit of all the people, on the theory that these +are the property of the people. But if the natural resources of this +country belong to the people of the United States, those of Mexico +belong to the people of Mexico. It makes no difference how “lazy,” + ignorant, and indifferent to their own interests the Mexicans at present +may be. And even more important in these liberal campaigns was the issue +of the conservation of human resources--men and women and children who +are forced by necessity to labour. These must be protected in health, +given economic freedom and a just reward for their toil. The American +democracy, committed to the principle of the conservation of domestic +natural and human resources, could not without detriment to itself +persist in a foreign policy that ignored them. For many years our +own government had permitted the squandering of these resources by +adventurous capitalists; and gradually, as we became a rich industrial +nation, these capitalists sought profitable investments for their +increasing surplus in foreign lands. Their manner of acquiring +“concessions” in Mexico was quite similar to that by which they had +seized because of the indifference and ignorance of our own people--our +own mines and timber lands which our government held in trust. Sometimes +these American “concessions” have been valid in law though the law +itself violated a democratic principle; more often corrupt officials +winked at violations of the law, enabling capitalists to absorb bogus +claims. + +The various rulers of Mexico sold to American and other foreign +capitalists the resources belonging to the people of their country, and +pocketed, with their followers, the proceeds of the sale. Their control +of the country rested upon force; the stability of the Diaz rule, +for instance, depended upon the “President’s” ability to maintain his +dictatorship--a precarious guarantee to the titles he had given. Hence +the premium on revolutions. There was always the incentive to the +upstart political and military buccaneer to overthrow the dictator and +gain possession of the spoils, to sell new doubtful concessions and levy +new tribute on the capitalists holding claims from a former tyrant. + +The foreign capitalists appealed to their governments; commercial +imperialism responded by dispatching military forces to protect the +lives and “property” of its citizens, in some instances going so far as +to take possession of the country. A classic case, as cited by Hobson, +is Britain’s South African War, in which the blood and treasure of the +people of the United Kingdom were expended because British capitalists +had found the Boers recalcitrant, bent on retaining their own country +for themselves. To be sure, South Africa, like Mexico is rich in +resources for which advancing civilization continually makes demands. +And, in the case of Mexico, the products of the tropics, such as rubber, +are increasingly necessary to the industrial powers of the temperate +zone. On the other hand, if the exploiting nation aspire to +self-government, the imperialistic method of obtaining these products +by the selfish exploitation of the natural and human resources of the +backward countries reacts so powerfully on the growth of democracy at +home--and hence on the growth of democracy throughout the world--as to +threaten the very future of civilization. The British Liberals, when +they came into power, perceived this, and at once did their best to +make amends to South Africa by granting her autonomy and virtual +independence, linking her to Britain by the silken thread of Anglo-Saxon +democratic culture. How strong this thread has proved is shown by the +action of those of Dutch blood in the Dominion during the present war. + +Eventually, if democracy is not to perish from the face of the earth, +some other than the crude imperialistic method of dealing with backward +peoples, of obtaining for civilization the needed resources of their +lands, must be inaugurated--a democratic method. And this is perhaps +the supreme problem of democracy today. It demands for its solution a +complete reversal of the established policy of imperialism, a new theory +of international relationships, a mutual helpfulness and partnership +between nations, even as democracy implies cooperation between +individual citizens. Therefore President Wilson laid down the doctrine +that American citizens enter Mexico at their own risk; that they must +not expect that American blood will be shed or the nation’s money be +expended to protect their lives or the “property” they have acquired +from Mexican dictators. This applies also to the small capitalists, +the owners of the coffee plantations, as well as to those Americans in +Mexico who are not capitalists but wage earners. The people of Mexico +are entitled to try the experiment of self-determination. It is an +experiment, we frankly acknowledge that fact, a democratic experiment +dependent on physical science, social science, and scientific education. +The other horn of the dilemma, our persistence in imperialism, is even +worse--since by such persistence we destroy ourselves. + +A subjective judgment, in accordance with our own democratic standards, +by the American Government as to the methods employed by a Huerta, for +instance, is indeed demanded; not on the ground, however, that such +methods are “good” or “bad”; but whether they are detrimental to Mexican +self-determination, and hence to the progress of our own democracy. + + + + +II. + +If America had started to prepare when Belgium was invaded, had entered +the war when the Lusitania was sunk, Germany might by now have been +defeated, hundreds of thousands of lives might have been spared. All +this may be admitted. Yet, looking backward, it is easy to read the +reason for our hesitancy in our national character and traditions. +We were pacifists, yes, but pacifists of a peculiar kind. One of our +greatest American prophets, William James, knew that there was an issue +for which we were ready to fight, for which we were willing to make the +extreme sacrifice,--and that issue he defined as “war against war.” It +remained for America to make the issue. + +Peoples do not rush to arms unless their national existence is +threatened. It is what may be called the environmental cause that drives +nations quickly into war. It drove the Entente nations into war, though +incidentally they were struggling for certain democratic institutions, +for international justice. But in the case of America, the environmental +cause was absent. Whether or not our national existence was or is +actually threatened, the average American does not believe that it is. +He was called upon to abandon his tradition, to mingle in a European +conflict, to fight for an idea alone. Ideas require time to develop, to +seize the imagination of masses. And it must be remembered that in 1914 +the great issue had not been defined. Curiously enough, now that it +is defined, it proves to be an American issue--a logical and positive +projection of our Washingtonian tradition and Monroe doctrine. These +had for their object the preservation and development of democracy, +the banishment from the Western Hemisphere of European imperialistic +conflict and war. We are now, with the help of our allies, striving to +banish these things from the face of the earth. It is undoubtedly +the greatest idea for which man has been summoned to make the supreme +sacrifice. + +Its evolution has been traced. Democracy was the issue in the Spanish +War, when we fought a weak nation. We have followed its broader +application to Mexico, when we were willing to ignore the taunts and +insults of another weak nation, even the loss of “prestige,” for the +sake of the larger good. And we have now the clue to the President’s +interpretation of the nation’s mind during the first three years of the +present war. We were willing to bear the taunts and insults of Germany +so long as it appeared that a future world peace night best be brought +about by the preservation of neutrality, by turning the weight of the +impartial public opinion of our democracy and that of other neutrals +against militarism and imperialism. Our national aim was ever consistent +with the ideal of William James, to advance democracy and put an end to +the evil of war. + +The only sufficient reason for the abandonment of the Washingtonian +policy is the furtherance of the object for which it was inaugurated, +the advance of democracy. And we had established the precedent, +with Spain and Mexico, that the Republic shall engage in no war of +imperialistic conquest. We war only in behalf of, or in defence of, +democracy. + +Before the entrance of America, however, the issues of the European +War were by no means clear cut along democratic lines. What kind of +democracy were the allies fighting for? Nowhere and at no time had it +been defined by any of their statesmen. On the contrary, the various +allied governments had entered into compacts for the transference +of territory in the event of victory; and had even, by the offer of +rewards, sought to play one small nation against another. This secret +diplomacy of bargains, of course, was a European heritage, the result of +an imperialistic environment which the American did not understand, +and from which he was happily free. Its effect on France is peculiarly +enlightening. The hostility of European governments, due to their fear +of her republican institutions, retarded her democratic growth, and +her history during the reign of Napoleon III is one of intrigue for +aggrandizement differing from Bismarck’s only in the fact that it was +unsuccessful. Britain, because she was separated from the continent and +protected by her fleet, virtually withdrew from European affairs in +the latter part of the nineteenth century, and, as a result, made great +strides in democracy. The aggressions of Germany forced Britain in +self-defence into coalitions. Because of her power and wealth she became +the Entente leader, yet her liberal government was compelled to enter +into secret agreements with certain allied governments in order to +satisfy what they deemed to be their needs and just ambitions. She had +honestly sought, before the war, to come to terms with Germany, and had +even proposed gradual disarmament. But, despite the best intentions, +circumstances and environment, as well as the precarious situation of +her empire, prevented her from liberalizing her foreign relations to +conform with the growth of democracy within the United Kingdom and the +Dominions. Americans felt a profound pity for Belgium. But she was +not, as Cuba had been, our affair. The great majority of our citizens +sympathized with the Entente, regarded with amazement and disgust the +sudden disclosure of the true character of the German militaristic +government. Yet for the average American the war wore the complexion +of other European conflicts, was one involving a Balance of Power, +mysterious and inexplicable. To him the underlying issue was not +democratic, but imperialistic; and this was partly because he was unable +to make a mental connection between a European war and the brand of +democracy he recognized. Preaching and propaganda fail unless it can be +brought home to a people that something dear to their innermost nature +is at stake, that the fate of the thing they most desire, and are +willing to make sacrifices for, hangs in the balance. + +During a decade the old political parties, between which there was +now little more than an artificial alignment, had been breaking up. +Americans were absorbed in the great liberal movement begun under the +leadership of President Roosevelt, the result of which was to transform +democracy from a static to a pragmatic and evolutionary conception,--in +order to meet and correct new and unforeseen evils. Political freedom +was seen to be of little worth unless also accompanied by the economic +freedom the nation had enjoyed before the advent of industrialism. +Clerks and farmers, professional men and shopkeepers and artisans were +ready to follow the liberal leaders in states and nation; intellectual +elements from colleges and universities were enlisted. Paralleling +the movement, at times mingling with it, was the revolt of labour, +manifested not only in political action, but in strikes and violence. +Readily accessible books and magazines together with club and forum +lectures in cities, towns, and villages were rapidly educating the +population in social science, and the result was a growing independent +vote to make politicians despair. + +Here was an instance of a democratic culture growing in +isolation, resentful of all external interference. To millions of +Americans--especially in our middle western and western states--bent +upon social reforms, the European War appeared as an arresting +influence. American participation meant the triumph of the forces +of reaction. Colour was lent to this belief because the conservative +element which had opposed social reforms was loudest in its demand for +intervention. The wealthy and travelled classes organized preparedness +parades and distributed propaganda. In short, those who had apparently +done their utmost to oppose democracy at home were most insistent that +we should embark upon a war for democracy across the seas. Again, what +kind of democracy? Obviously a status quo, commercially imperialistic +democracy, which the awakening liberal was bent upon abolishing. + +There is undoubtedly in such an office as the American presidency +some virtue which, in times of crisis, inspires in capable men an +intellectual and moral growth proportional to developing events. +Lincoln, our most striking example, grew more between 1861 and 1865 +than during all the earlier years of his life. Nor is the growth of +democratic leaders, when seen through the distorted passions of +their day, apparently a consistent thing. Greatness, near at hand, is +startlingly like inconsistency; it seems at moments to vacillate, to +turn back upon and deny itself, and thus lays itself open to seemingly +plausible criticism by politicians and time servers and all who cry out +for precedent. Yet it is an interesting and encouraging fact that the +faith of democratic peoples goes out, and goes out alone, to leaders +who--whatever their minor faults and failings--do not fear to reverse +themselves when occasion demands; to enunciate new doctrines, seemingly +in contradiction to former assertions, to meet new crises. When a +democratic leader who has given evidence of greatness ceases to develop +new ideas, he loses the public confidence. He flops back into the ranks +of the conservative he formerly opposed, who catch up with him only when +he ceases to grow. + +In 1916 the majority of the American people elected Mr. Wilson in the +belief that he would keep them out of war. In 1917 he entered the war +with the nation behind him. A recalcitrant Middle West was the first +to fill its quota of volunteers, and we witnessed the extraordinary +spectacle of the endorsement of conscription: What had happened? A very +simple, but a very great thing Mr. Wilson had made the issue of the +war a democratic issue, an American issue, in harmony with our national +hopes and traditions. But why could not this issue have been announced +in 1914 or 1915? The answer seems to be that peoples, as well as their +leaders and interpreters, must grow to meet critical situations. In 1861 +the moral idea of the Civil War was obscured and hidden by economic and +material interests. The Abraham Lincoln who entered the White House in +1861 was indeed the same man who signed the Emancipation Proclamation +in 1863; and yet, in a sense, he was not the same man; events and +responsibilities had effected a profound but logical growth in his +personality. And the people of the Union were not ready to endorse +Emancipation in 1861. In 1863, in the darkest hour of the war, the +spirit of the North responded to the call, and, despite the vilification +of the President, was true to him to victory. More significant still, +in view of the events of today, is what then occurred in England. The +British Government was unfriendly; the British people as a whole had +looked upon our Civil War very much in the same light as the American +people regarded the present war at its inception--which is to say that +the economic and materialistic issue seemed to overshadow the moral one. +When Abraham Lincoln proclaimed it to be a war for human freedom, +the sentiment of the British people changed--of the British people as +distinct from the governing classes; and the textile workers of the +northern counties, whose mills could not get cotton on account of the +blockade, declared their willingness to suffer and starve if the slaves +in America might be freed. + +Abraham Lincoln at that time represented the American people as +the British Government did not represent the British people. We are +concerned today with peoples rather than governments. + +It remained for an American President to announce the moral issue of the +present war, and thus to solidify behind him, not only the liberal mind +of America, but the liberal elements within the nations of Europe. He +became the democratic leader of the world. The issue, simply stated, is +the advancement of democracy and peace. They are inseparable. Democracy, +for progress, demands peace. It had reached a stage, when, in a +contracting world, it could no longer advance through isolation: +its very existence in every country was threatened, not only by the +partisans of reaction from within, but by the menace from without of a +militaristic and imperialistic nation determined to crush it, restore +superimposed authority, and dominate the globe. Democracy, divided +against itself, cannot stand. A league of democratic nations, of +democratic peoples, has become imperative. Hereafter, if democracy wins, +self-determination, and not imperialistic exploitation, is to be the +universal rule. It is the extension, on a world scale, of Mr. +Wilson’s Mexican policy, the application of democratic principles to +international relationships, and marks the inauguration of a new era. We +resort to force against force, not for dominion, but to make the +world safe for the idea on which we believe the future of civilization +depends, the sacred right of self-government. We stand prepared to treat +with the German people when they are ready to cast off autocracy and +militarism. Our attitude toward them is precisely our attitude toward +the Mexican People. We believe, and with good reason, that the German +system of education is authoritative and false, and was more or less +deliberately conceived in order to warp the nature and produce +complexes in the mind of the German people for the end of preserving and +perpetuating the power of the Junkers. We have no quarrel with the +duped and oppressed, but we war against the agents of oppression. To the +conservative mind such an aspiration appears chimerical. But America, +youngest of the nations, was born when modern science was gathering +the momentum which since has enabled it to overcome, with a bewildering +rapidity, many evils previously held by superstition to be ineradicable. +As a corollary to our democratic creed, we accepted the dictum that to +human intelligence all things are possible. The virtue of this dictum +lies not in dogma, but in an indomitable attitude of mind to which the +world owes its every advance in civilization; quixotic, perhaps, but +necessary to great accomplishment. In searching for a present-day +protagonist, no happier example could be found than Mr. Henry Ford, who +exhibits the characteristic American mixture of the practical and the +ideal. He introduces into industry humanitarian practices that even +tend to increase the vast fortune which by his own efforts he has +accumulated. He sees that democratic peoples do not desire to go to +war, he does not believe that war is necessary and inevitable, he lays +himself open to ridicule by financing a Peace Mission. Circumstances +force him to abandon his project, but he is not for one moment +discouraged. His intention remains. He throws all his energy and wealth +into a war to end war, and the value of his contribution is inestimable. + +A study of Mr. Ford’s mental processes and acts illustrates the true +mind of America. In the autumn of 1916 Mr. Wilson declared that “the +people of the United States want to be sure what they are fighting +about, and they want to be sure that they are fighting for the things +that will bring the world justice and peace. Define the elements; let +us know that we are not fighting for the prevalence of this nation over +that, for the ambitions of this group of nations as compared with the +ambitions of that group of nations, let us once be convinced that we are +called in to a great combination for the rights of mankind, and America +will unite her force and spill her blood for the great things she has +always believed in and followed.” + +“America is always ready to fight for the things which are American.” + Even in these sombre days that mark the anniversary of our entrance into +the war. But let it be remembered that it was in the darkest days of the +Civil War Abraham Lincoln boldly proclaimed the democratic, idealistic +issue of that struggle. The Russian Revolution, which we must seek +to understand and not condemn, the Allied defeats that are its +consequences, can only make our purpose the firmer to put forth all our +strength for the building up of a better world. The President’s masterly +series of state papers, distributed in all parts of the globe, have +indeed been so many Proclamations of Emancipation for the world’s +oppressed. Not only powerful nations shall cease to exploit little +nations, but powerful individuals shall cease to exploit their fellow +men. Henceforth no wars for dominion shall be waged, and to this +end secret treaties shall be abolished. Peoples through their +representatives shall make their own treaties. And just as democracy +insures to the individual the greatest amount of self-determination, +nations also shall have self-determination, in order that each shall be +free to make its world contribution. All citizens have duties to +perform toward their fellow citizens; all democratic nations must be +interdependent. + +With this purpose America has entered the war. But it implies that our +own household must be swept and cleaned. The injustices and inequalities +existing in our own country, the false standards of worth, the +materialism, the luxury and waste must be purged from our midst. + + + + +III. + +In fighting Germany we are indeed fighting an evil Will--evil because it +seeks to crush the growth of individual and national freedom. Its object +is to put the world back under the thrall of self-constituted authority. +So long as this Will can compel the bodies of soldiers to do its +bidding, these bodies must be destroyed. Until the Will behind them is +broken, the world cannot be free. Junkerism is the final expression +of reaction, organized to the highest efficiency. The war against the +Junkers marks the consummation of a long struggle for human liberty in +all lands, symbolizes the real cleavage dividing the world. As in the +French Revolution and the wars that followed it, the true significance +of this war is social. But today the Russian Revolution sounds the +keynote. Revolutions tend to express the extremes of the philosophies +of their times--human desires, discontents, and passions that cannot be +organized. The French Revolution was a struggle for political freedom; +the underlying issue of the present war is economic freedom--without +which political freedom is of no account. It will not, therefore, +suffice merely to crush the Junkers, and with them militarism and +autocracy. Unless, as the fruit of this appalling bloodshed and +suffering, the democracies achieve economic freedom, the war will +have been fought in vain. More revolutions, wastage and bloodshed will +follow, the world will be reduced to absolute chaos unless, in the more +advanced democracies, an intelligent social order tending to remove +the causes of injustice and discontent can be devised and ready for +inauguration. This new social order depends, in turn, upon a world order +of mutually helpful, free peoples, a league of Nations.--If the world +is to be made safe for democracy, this democratic plan must be ready for +the day when the German Junker is beaten and peace is declared. + +The real issue of our time is industrial democracy we must face that +fact. And those in America and the Entente nations who continue to +oppose it will do so at their peril. Fortunately, as will be shown, that +element of our population which may be designated as domestic Junkers +is capable of being influenced by contemporary currents of thought, +is awakening to the realization of social conditions deplorable and +dangerous. Prosperity and power had made them blind and arrogant. Their +enthusiasm for the war was, however, genuine; the sacrifices they are +making are changing and softening them; but as yet they can scarcely be +expected, as a class, to rejoice over the revelation--just beginning +to dawn upon their minds--that victory for the Allies spells the end of +privilege. Their conception of democracy remains archaic, while wealth +is inherently conservative. Those who possess it in America have as a +rule received an education in terms of an obsolete economics, of the +thought of an age gone by. It is only within the past few years that our +colleges and universities have begun to teach modern economics, +social science and psychology--and this in the face of opposition from +trustees. Successful business men, as a rule, have had neither the time +nor the inclination to read books which they regard as visionary, +as subversive to an order by which they have profited. And that some +Americans are fools, and have been dazzled in Europe by the glamour of a +privilege not attainable at home, is a deplorable yet indubitable fact. +These have little sympathy with democracy; they have even been heard +to declare that we have no right to dictate to another nation, even an +enemy nation, what form of government it shall assume. We have no right +to demand, when peace comes, that the negotiations must be with the +representatives of the German people. These are they who deplore the +absence among us of a tradition of monarchy, since the American people +“should have something to look up to.” But this state of mind, which +needs no comment, is comparatively rare, and represents an extreme. We +are not lacking, however, in the type of conservative who, innocent of a +knowledge of psychology, insists that “human nature cannot be changed,” + and that the “survival of the fittest” is the law of life, yet these +would deny Darwin if he were a contemporary. They reject the idea that +society can be organized by intelligence, and war ended by eliminating +its causes from the social order. On the contrary they cling to the +orthodox contention that war is a necessary and salutary thing, and +proclaim that the American fibre was growing weak and flabby from luxury +and peace, curiously ignoring the fact that their own economic class, +the small percentage of our population owning sixty per cent. of the +wealth of the country, and which therefore should be most debilitated by +luxury, was most eager for war, and since war has been declared has most +amply proved its courage and fighting quality. This, however, and other +evidences of the patriotic sacrifices of those of our countrymen who +possess wealth, prove that they are still Americans, and encourages the +hope and belief that as Americans they ultimately will do their share +toward a democratic solution of the problem of society. Many of them are +capable of vision, and are beginning to see the light today. + +In America we succeeded in eliminating hereditary power, in obtaining a +large measure of political liberty, only to see the rise of an economic +power, and the consequent loss of economic liberty. The industrial +development of the United States was of course a necessary and desirable +thing, but the economic doctrine which formed the basis of American +institutions proved to be unsuited to industrialism, and introduced +unforeseen evils that were a serious menace to the Republic. An +individualistic economic philosophy worked admirably while there was +ample land for the pioneer, equality of opportunity to satisfy the +individual initiative of the enterprising. But what is known as +industrialism brought in its train fear and favour, privilege and +poverty, slums, disease, and municipal vice, fostered a too rapid +immigration, established in America a tenant system alien to our +traditions. The conditions which existed before the advent of +industrialism are admirably pictured, for instance, in the autobiography +of Mr. Charles Francis Adams, when he describes his native town of +Quincy in the first half of the Nineteenth Century. In those early +communities, poverty was negligible, there was no great contrast between +rich and poor; the artisan, the farmer, the well-to-do merchant met +on terms of mutual self-respect, as man to man; economic class +consciousness was non-existent; education was so widespread that +European travellers wonderingly commented on the fact that we had no +“peasantry”; and with few exceptions every citizen owned a piece of land +and a home. Property, a refuge a man may call his own, and on which +he may express his individuality, is essential to happiness and +self-respect. Today, less than two thirds of our farmers own their land, +while vast numbers of our working men and women possess nothing but the +labour of their hands. The designation of labour as “property” by our +courts only served to tighten the bonds, by obstructing for a time the +movement to decrease the tedious and debilitating hours of contact of +the human organism with the machine,--a menace to the future of the +race, especially in the case of women and children. If labour is +“property,” wretches driven by economic necessity have indeed only the +choice of a change of masters. In addition to the manual workers, an +army of clerical workers of both sexes likewise became tenants, and +dependents who knew not the satisfaction of a real home. + +Such conditions gradually brought about a profound discontent, a +grouping of classes. Among the comparatively prosperous there was set +up a social competition in luxury that was the bane of large and +small communities. Skilled labour banded itself into unions, employers +organized to oppose them, and the result was a class conflict never +contemplated by the founders of the Republic, repugnant to democracy +which by its very nature depends for its existence on the elimination of +classes. In addition to this, owing to the unprecedented immigration of +ignorant Europeans to supply the labour demand, we acquired a sinister +proletariat of unskilled economic slaves. Before the war labour +discovered its strength; since the war began, especially in the allied +nations with quasi-democratic institutions, it is aware of its power to +exert a leverage capable of paralyzing industry for a period sufficient +to destroy the chances of victory. The probability of the occurrence +of such a calamity depends wholly on whether or not the workman can +be convinced that it is his war, for he will not exert himself to +perpetuate a social order in which he has lost faith, even though he now +obtains a considerable increase in wages. Agreements entered into with +the government by union leaders will not hold him if at any time he +fails to be satisfied that the present world conflict will not result +in a greater social justice. This fact has been demonstrated by what +is known as the “shop steward” movement in England, where the workers +repudiated the leaders’ agreements and everywhere organized local +strikes. And in America, the unskilled workers are largely outside of +the unions. + +The workman has a natural and laudable desire to share more fully in +the good things of life. And it is coming to be recognized that material +prosperity, up to a certain point, is the foundation of mental and +spiritual welfare: clean and comfortable surroundings, beauty, rational +amusements, opportunity for a rational satisfaction of the human +instincts are essential to contentment and progress. The individual, of +course, must be enlightened; and local labour unions, recognizing +this, are spending considerable sums all over the country on schools +to educate their members. If a workman is a profiteer, he is more to be +excused than the business profiteer, against whom his anger is directed; +if he is a spendthrift, prodigality is a natural consequence of rapid +acquisition. We have been a nation of spendthrifts. + +A failure to grasp the psychology of the worker involves disastrous +consequences. A discussion as to whether or not his attitude is +unpatriotic and selfish is futile. No more profound mistake could be +made than to attribute to any element of the population motives wholly +base. Human nature is neither all black nor all white, yet is capable +of supreme sacrifices when adequately appealed to. What we must get into +our minds is the fact that a social order that insured a large measure +of democracy in the early days of the Republic is inadequate to meet +modern industrial conditions. Higher wages, material prosperity alone +will not suffice to satisfy aspirations for a fuller self-realization, +once the method by which these aspirations can be gained is glimpsed. +For it cannot be too often repeated that the unquenchable conflicts are +those waged for ideas and not dollars. These are tinged with religious +emotion. + + + + +IV. + +Mr. Wilson’s messages to the American people and to the world have +proclaimed a new international order, a League of Democracies. And in a +recent letter to New Jersey Democrats we find him warning his party, +or more properly the nation, of the domestic social changes necessarily +flowing from his international program. While rightly resolved to +prosecute the war on the battle lines to the utmost limit of American +resources, he points out that the true significance of the conflict lies +in “revolutionary change.” “Economic and social forces,” he says, “are +being released upon the world, whose effect no political seer dare to +conjecture.” And we “must search our hearts through and through and +make them ready for the birth of a new day--a day we hope and believe +of greater opportunity and greater prosperity for the average mass of +struggling men and women.” He recognizes that the next great step in +the development of democracy which the war must bring about--is the +emancipation of labour; to use his own phrase, the redemption of masses +of men and women from “economic serfdom.” “The old party slogans,” he +declares, “will mean nothing to the future.” + +Judging from this announcement, the President seems prepared to condemn +boldly all the rotten timbers of the social structure that have outlived +their usefulness--a position that hitherto no responsible politician has +dared to take. Politicians, on the contrary, have revered the dead wood, +have sought to shore the old timbers for their own purposes. But so +far as any party is concerned, Mr. Wilson stands alone. Both of the two +great parties, the Republican and the Democratic, in order to make +a show of keeping abreast of the times, have merely patched their +platforms with the new ideas. The Socialist Party in the United States +is relatively small, is divided against itself, and has given no +evidence of a leadership of broad sanity and vision. It is fortunate +we have been spared in this country the formation of a political labour +party, because such a party would have been composed of manual workers +alone, and hence would have tended further to develop economic class +consciousness, to crystallize class antagonisms. Today, however, neither +the Republican nor the Democratic party represents the great issue of +the times; the cleavage between them is wholly artificial. The formation +of a Liberal Party, with a platform avowedly based on modern social +science, has become essential. Such a party, to be in harmony with our +traditions and our creed, to arrest in our democracy the process of +class stratification which threatens to destroy it, must not draw its +members from the ranks of manual labour alone, but from all elements +of our population. It should contain all the liberal professions, and +clerks and shopkeepers, as well as manual workers; administrators, and +even those employers who have become convinced that our present +economic system does not suffice to meet the needs of the day. In short, +membership in such a party, as far as possible, should not be based upon +occupation or economic status, but on an honest difference of view from +that of the conservative opposition. This would be a distinctly American +solution. In order to form such a party a campaign of education will +be necessary. For today Mr. Wilson’s strength is derived from the +independent vote representing the faith of the people as a whole; but +the majority of those who support the President, while they ardently +desire the abolition in the world of absolute monarchy, of militarism +and commercial imperialism, while they are anxious that this war shall +expedite and not retard the social reforms in which they are interested, +have as yet but a vague conception of the social order which these +reforms imply. + +It marks a signal advance in democracy when liberal opinion in any +nation turns for guidance and support to a statesman of another nation. +No clearer sign of the times could be desired than the fact that our +American President has suddenly become the liberal leader of the world. +The traveller in France, and especially in Britain, meets on all sides +striking evidence of this. In these countries, until America’s entrance +into the war, liberals had grown more and more dissatisfied with the +failure of their governments to define in democratic terms the issue of +the conflict, had resented the secret inter-allied compacts, savouring +of imperialism and containing the germs of future war. They are now +looking across the Atlantic for leadership. In France M. Albert Thomas +declared that Woodrow Wilson had given voice to the aspirations of his +party, while a prominent Liberal in England announced in a speech that +it had remained for the American President to express the will and +purpose of the British people. The new British Labour Party and the +Inter-Allied Labour and Socialist Conferences have adopted Mr. Wilson’s +program and have made use of his striking phrases. But we have between +America and Britain this difference: in America the President stands +virtually alone, without a party behind him representing his views; +in Britain the general democratic will of the nation is now being +organized, but has obtained as yet no spokesman in the government. + +Extraordinary symptomatic phenomena have occurred in Russia as well as +in Britain. In Russia the rebellion of an awakening people against an +age-long tyranny has almost at once leaped to the issue of the day, +taken on the complexion of a struggle for industrial democracy. Whether +the Germans shall be able to exploit the country, bring about a reaction +and restore for a time monarchical institutions depends largely upon +the fortunes of the war. In Russia there is revolution, with concomitant +chaos; but in Britain there is evolution, an orderly attempt of a people +long accustomed to progress in self-government to establish a new +social order, peacefully and scientifically, and in accordance with a +traditional political procedure. + +The recent development of the British Labour Party, although of deep +significance to Americans, has taken place almost without comment in +this country. It was formally established in 1900, and was then composed +of manual workers alone. In 1906, out of 50 candidates at the polls, 39 +were elected to Parliament; in 1910, 42 were elected. The Parliamentary +Labour Party, so called, has now been amalgamated with four and a half +millions of Trade Unionists, and with the three and a half millions +of members of the Co-operative Wholesale Society and the Co-operative +Union. Allowing for duplication of membership, these three +organizations--according to Mr. Sidney Webb--probably include two fifths +of the population of the United Kingdom. “So great an aggregation of +working class organizations,” he says, “has never come shoulder to +shoulder in any country.” Other smaller societies and organizations are +likewise embraced, including the Socialists. And now that the suffrage +has been extended, provision is made for the inclusion of women. The new +party is organizing in from three to four hundred constituencies, and +at the next general election is not unlikely to gain control of the +political balance of power. + +With the majority of Americans, however, the word “labour” as +designating a party arouses suspicion and distrust. By nature and +tradition we are inclined to deplore and oppose any tendency toward +the stratification of class antagonisms--the result of industrial +discontent--into political groups. The British tradition is likewise +hostile to such a tendency. But in Britain the industrial ferment has +gone much further than with us, and such a result was inevitable. By +taking advantage of the British experience, of the closer ties now being +knit between the two democracies, we may in America be spared a stage +which in Britain was necessary. Indeed, the program of the new British +Labour Party seems to point to a distinctly American solution, one in +harmony with the steady growth of Anglo-Saxon democracy. For it is now +announced that the word “labour,” as applied to the new party, does not +mean manual labour alone, but also mental labour. The British unions +have gradually developed and placed in power leaders educated in social +science, who have now come into touch with the intellectual leaders +of the United Kingdom, with the sociologists, economists, and social +scientists. The surprising and encouraging result of such association is +the announcement that the new Labour Party is today publicly thrown open +to all workers, both by hand and by brain, with the object of securing +for these the full fruits of their industry. This means the inclusion of +physicians, professors, writers, architects, engineers, and inventors, +of lawyers who no longer regard their profession as a bulwark of the +status quo; of clerks, of administrators of the type evolved by the war, +who indeed have gained their skill under the old order but who now in a +social spirit are dedicating their gifts to the common weal, organizing +and directing vast enterprises for their governments. In short, all +useful citizens who make worthy contributions--as distinguished from +parasites, profiteers, and drones, are invited to be members; there is +no class distinction here. The fortunes of such a party are, of course, +dependent upon the military success of the allied armies and navies. But +it has defined the kind of democracy the Allies are fighting for, and +thus has brought about an unqualified endorsement of the war by those +elements of the population which hitherto have felt the issue to be +imperialistic and vague rather than democratic and clear cut. President +Wilson’s international program is approved of and elaborated. + +The Report on Reconstruction of the new British Labour Party is perhaps +the most important political document presented to the world since the +Declaration of Independence. And like the Declaration, it is written +in the pure English that alone gives the high emotional quality of +sincerity. The phrases in which it tersely describes its objects are +admirable. “What is to be reconstructed after the war is over is +not this or that government department, this or that piece of social +machinery, but Society itself.” There is to be a systematic approach +towards a “healthy equality of material circumstance for every person +born into the world, and not an enforced dominion over subject nations, +subject colonies, subject classes, or a subject sex.” In industry as +well as in government the social order is to be based “on that equal +freedom, that general consciousness of consent, and that widest +participation in power, both economic and political, which is +characteristic of democracy.” But all this, it should be noted, is not +to be achieved in a year or two of “feverish reconstruction”; “each +brick that the Labour Party helps to lay shall go to erect the structure +it intends and no other.” + +In considering the main features of this program, one must have in +mind whether these are a logical projection and continuation of the +Anglo-Saxon democratic tradition, or whether they constitute an absolute +break with that tradition. The only valid reason for the adoption of +such a program in America would be, of course, the restoration of some +such equality of opportunity and economic freedom as existed in our +Republic before we became an industrial nation. “The first condition +of democracy,”--to quote again from the program, “is effective personal +freedom.” + +What is called the “Universal Enforcement of the National Minimum” + contemplates the extension of laws already on the statute books in order +to prevent the extreme degradation of the standard of life brought about +by the old economic system under industrialism. A living minimum wage is +to be established. The British Labour Party intends “to secure to +every member of the community, in good times and bad alike... all the +requisites of healthy life and worthy citizenship.” + +After the war there is to be no cheap labour market, nor are the +millions of workers and soldiers to fall into the clutches of charity; +but it shall be a national obligation to provide each of these with work +according to his capacity. In order to maintain the demand for labour +at a uniform level, the government is to provide public works. The +population is to be rehoused in suitable dwellings, both in rural +districts and town slums; new and more adequate schools and training +colleges are to be inaugurated; land is to be reclaimed and afforested, +and gradually brought under common ownership; railways and canals are to +be reorganized and nationalized, mines and electric power systems. One +of the significant proposals under this head is that which demands the +retention of the centralization of the purchase of raw materials brought +about by the war. + +In order to accomplish these objects there must be a “Revolution in +National Finance.” The present method of raising funds is denounced; and +it is pointed out that only one quarter of the colossal expenditure made +necessary by the war has been raised by taxation, and that the three +quarters borrowed at onerous rates is sure to be a burden on the +nation’s future. The capital needed, when peace comes, to ensure a happy +and contented democracy must be procured without encroaching on the +minimum standard of life, and without hampering production. Indirect +taxation must therefore be concentrated on those luxuries of which it +is desirable that the consumption be discouraged. The steadily rising +unearned increment of urban and mineral land ought, by appropriate +direct taxation, to be brought into the public exchequer; “the definite +teachings of economic science are no longer to be disregarded.” Hence +incomes are to be taxed above the necessary cost of family maintenance, +private fortunes during life and at death; while a special capital levy +must be made to pay off a substantial portion of the national debt. + +“The Democratic Control of Industry” contemplates the progressive +elimination of the private capitalist and the setting free of all who +work by hand and brain for the welfare of all. + +The Surplus Wealth is to be expended for the Common Good. That which +Carlyle designates as the “inward spiritual,” in contrast to the +“outward economical,” is also to be provided for. “Society,” says the +document, “like the individual, does not live by bread alone, does not +exist only for perpetual wealth production.” First of all, there is to +be education according to the highest modern standard; and along with +education, the protection and advancement of the public health, ‘mens +sana in corpore sano’. While large sums must be set aside, not only for +original research in every branch of knowledge, but for the promotion +of music, literature, and fine art, upon which “any real development of +civilization fundamentally depends.” + +In regard to the British Empire, the Labour Party urges self-government +for any people, whatever its colour, proving itself capable, and the +right of that people to the proceeds of its own toil upon the resources +of its territory. An unequivocal stand is taken for the establishment, +as a part of the treaty of peace, of a Universal Society of Nations; +and recognizing that the future progress of democracy depends upon +co-operation and fellowship between liberals of all countries, the +maintenance of intimate relationships is advocated with liberals +oversea. + +Finally, a scientific investigation of each succeeding problem in +government is insisted upon, and a much more rapid dissemination among +the people of the science that exists. “A plutocratic party may choose +to ignore science, but no labour party can hope to maintain its position +unless its proposals are, in fact, the outcome of the best political +science of its time.” + + + + +V. + +There are, it will be seen, some elements in the program of the new +British Labour Party apparently at variance with American and English +institutions, traditions, and ideas. We are left in doubt, for instance, +in regard to its attitude toward private property. The instinct for +property is probably innate in humanity, and American conservatism in +this regard is, according to certain modern economists, undoubtedly +sound. A man should be permitted to acquire at least as much property +as is required for the expression of his personality; such a wise +limitation, also, would abolish the evil known as absentee ownership. +Again, there will arise in many minds the question whether the funds +for the plan of National finance outlined in the program may be obtained +without seriously deranging the economic system of the nation and of the +world. The older school denounces the program as Utopian. On the other +hand, economists of the modern school who have been consulted have +declared it practical. It is certain that before the war began it would +not have been thought possible to raise the billions which in four +years have been expended on sheer destruction; and one of our saddest +reflections today must be of regret that a small portion of these +billions which have gone to waste could not have been expended for the +very purposes outlined--education, public health, the advancement of +science and art, public buildings, roads and parks, and the proper +housing of populations! It is also dawning upon us, as a result of new +practices brought about by the war, that our organization of industry +was happy-go-lucky, inefficient and wasteful, and that a more scientific +and economical organization is imperative. Under such a new system it +may well be, as modern economists claim, that, we shall have an ample +surplus for the Common Good. + +The chief objection to a National or Democratic Control of Industry has +been that it would tend to create vast political machines and thus give +the politicians in office a nefarious power. It is not intended here to +attempt a refutation of this contention. The remedy lies in a changed +attitude of the employee and the citizen toward government, and the +fact that such an attitude is now developing is not subject to absolute +proof. It may be said, however, that no greater menace to democracy +could have arisen than the one we seem barely to have escaped--the +control of politics and government by the capitalistic interests of the +nation. What seems very clear is that an evolutionary drift toward the +national control of industry has for many years been going on, and that +the war has tremendously speeded up the tendency. Government has stepped +in to protect the consumer of necessities from the profiteer, and +is beginning to set a limit upon profits; has regulated exports and +imports; established a national shipping corporation and merchant +marine, and entered into other industries; it has taken over the +railroads at least for the duration of the war, and may take over coal +mines, and metal resources, as well as the forests and water power; it +now contemplates the regulation of wages. + +The exigency caused by the war, moreover, has transformed the former +practice of international intercourse. Co-operation has replaced +competition. We are reorganizing and regulating our industries, our +business, making sacrifices and preparing to make more sacrifices in +order to meet the needs of our Allies, now that they are sore beset. For +a considerable period after the war is ended, they will require our aid. +We shall be better off than any other of the belligerent nations, and +we shall therefore be called upon to practice, during the years of +reconstruction, a continuation of the same policy of helpfulness. +Indeed, for the nations of the world to spring, commercially speaking, +at one another’s throats would be suicidal even if it were possible. Mr. +Sidney Webb has thrown a flood of light upon the conditions likely to +prevail. For example, speculative export trade is being replaced by +collective importing, bringing business more directly under the control +of the consumer. This has been done by co-operative societies, by +municipalities and states, in Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom, +and in Germany. The Co-operative Wholesale Society of Great Britain, +acting on behalf of three and a half million families, buys two and a +half million dollars of purchases annually. And the Entente nations, in +order to avoid competitive bidding, are buying collectively from us, not +only munitions of war, but other supplies, while the British Government +has made itself the sole importer of such necessities as wheat, sugar, +tea, refrigerated meat, wool, and various metals. The French and Italian +governments, and also certain neutral states, have done likewise. A +purchasing commission for all the Allies and America is now proposed. +After the war, as an inevitable result, for one thing, of transforming +some thirty million citizens into soldiers, of engaging a like number of +men and women at enhanced wages on the manufacture of the requisites of +war, Mr. Webb predicts a world shortage not only in wheat and foodstuffs +but in nearly all important raw materials. These will be required for +the resumption of manufacture. In brief, international co-operation +will be the only means of salvation. The policy of international trade +implied by world shortage is not founded upon a law of “supply and +demand.” The necessities cannot be permitted to go to those who can +afford to pay the highest prices, but to those who need them most. For +the “free play of economic forces” would mean famine on a large scale, +because the richer nations and the richer classes within the nations +might be fully supplied; but to the detriment and ruin of the world +the poorer nations and the poorer classes would be starved. Therefore +governments are already beginning to give consideration to a new +organization of international trade for at least three years after +the war. Now if this organization produce, as it may produce, a more +desirable civilization and a happier world order, we are not likely +entirely to go back--especially in regard to commodities which are +necessities--to a competitive system. The principle of “priority +of need” will supersede the law of “supply and demand.” And the +organizations built up during the war, if they prove efficient, will not +be abolished. Hours of labour and wages in the co-operative League of +Nations will gradually be equalized, and tariffs will become things +of the past. “The axiom will be established,” says Mr. Webb, “that the +resources of every country must, be held for the benefit not only of its +own people but of the world.... The world shortage will, for years to +come, make import duties look both oppressive and ridiculous.” + +So much may be said for the principle of Democratic Control. In spite of +all theoretical opposition, circumstances and evolution apparently point +to its establishment. A system that puts a premium on commercial greed +seems no longer possible. + +The above comments, based on the drift of political practice during +the past decade and a half, may be taken for what they are worth. +Predictions are precarious. The average American will be inclined to +regard the program of the new British Labour Party as the embodiment of +what he vaguely calls Socialism, and to him the very word is repugnant. +Although he may never have heard of Marx, it is the Marxian conception +that comes to his mind, and this implies coercion, a government that +constantly interferes with his personal liberty, that compels him +to tasks for which he has no relish. But your American, and your +Englishman, for that matter, is inherently an individualist he wants as +little government as is compatible with any government at all. And the +descendants of the continental Europeans who flock to our shores +are Anglo-Saxonized, also become by environment and education +individualists. The great importance of preserving this individualism, +this spirit in our citizens of self-reliance, this suspicion against too +much interference with personal liberty, must at once be admitted. And +any scheme for a social order that tends to eliminate and destroy it +should by Americans be summarily rejected. + +The question of supreme interest to us, therefore, is whether the +social order implied in the British program is mainly in the nature of +a development of, or a break with, the Anglo-Saxon democratic tradition. +The program is derived from an English source. It is based on what is +known as modern social science, which has as its ultimate sanction the +nature of the human mind as revealed by psychology. A consideration of +the principles underlying this proposed social order may prove that it +is essentially--if perhaps paradoxically--individualistic, a logical +evolution of institutions which had their origin in the Magna Charta. +Our Declaration of Independence proclaimed that every citizen had the +right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” which means +the opportunity to achieve the greatest self-development and +self-realization. The theory is that each citizen shall find his place, +according to his gifts and abilities, and be satisfied therewith. We may +discover that this is precisely what social science, in an industrial +age, and by spiritualizing human effort, aims to achieve. We may find +that the appearance of such a program as that of the British Labour +Party, supported as it is by an imposing proportion of the population +of the United Kingdom, marks a further step, not only in the advance of +social science and democracy, but also of Christianity. + +I mention Christianity, not for controversial or apologetic reasons, but +because it has been the leaven of our western civilization ever since +the fall of the Roman Empire. Its constant influence has been to soften +and spiritualize individual and national relationships. The bitter +controversies, wars, and persecutions which have raged in its name are +utterly alien to its being. And that the present war is now being fought +by the Allies in the hope of putting an end to war, and is thus in the +true spirit of Christianity, marks an incomparable advance. + +Almost up to the present day, both in our conception and practice of +Christianity, we have largely neglected its most important elements. +Christian orthodoxy, as Auguste Sabatier points out, is largely derived +from the older supernatural religions. The preservative shell of dogma +and superstition has been cracking, and is now ready to burst, and the +social teaching of Jesus would seem to be the kernel from which has +sprung modern democracy, modern science, and modern religion--a trinity +and unity. + +For nearly two thousand years orthodoxy has insisted that the social +principles of Christianity are impractical. And indeed, until the +present day, they have been so. Physical science, by enormously +accelerating the means of transportation and communication, has so +contracted the world as to bring into communion peoples and races +hitherto far apart; has made possible an intelligent organization of +industry which, for the first time in history, can create a surplus +ample to maintain in comfort the world’s population. But this demands +the will to co-operation, which is a Christian principle--a recognition +of the brotherhood of man. Furthermore, physical science has increased +the need for world peace and international co-operation because the +territories of all nations are now subject to swift and terrible +invasion by modern instruments of destruction, while the future +submarine may sweep commerce from the seas. + +Again, orthodoxy declares that human nature is inherently “bad,” while +true Christianity, endorsed by psychology, proclaims it inherently +“good,” which means that, properly guided, properly educated, it is +creative and contributive rather than destructive. No more striking +proof of this fact can be cited than the modern experiment in prison +reform in which hardened convicts, when “given a chance,” frequently +become useful citizens. Unjust and unintelligent social conditions are +the chief factors in making criminals. + +Our most modern system of education, of which Professor John Dewey is +the chief protagonist, is based upon the assertions of psychology that +human nature is essentially “good” creative. Every normal child is +supposed to have a special “distinction” or gift, which it is the task +of the educator to discover. This distinction found, the child achieves +happiness in creation and contribution. Self-realization demands +knowledge and training: the doing of right is not a negative but a +positive act; it is not without significance that the Greek word for sin +is literally “missing the mark.” Christianity emphasizes above all else +the worth of the individual, yet recognizes that the individual can +develop only in society. And if the individual be of great worth, this +worth must be by society developed to its utmost. Universal suffrage is +a logical corollary. + +Universal suffrage, however, implies individual judgment, which means +that the orthodox principle of external authority is out of place both +in Christianity and democracy. The Christian theory is that none shall +intervene between a man’s Maker and himself; democracy presupposes that +no citizen shall accept his beliefs and convictions from others, but +shall make up his own mind and act accordingly. Open-mindedness is the +first requisite of science and democracy. + +What has been deemed, however, in Christianity the most unrealizable +ideal is that which may be called pacifism--to resist not evil, to turn +the other cheek, to agree with your adversary while you are in the +way with him. “I come not,” said Jesus, in one of those paradoxical +statements hitherto so difficult to understand, “I come not to bring +peace, but a sword.” It is indeed what we are fighting for--peace. But +we believe today, more strongly than ever before, as democracy advances, +as peoples tend to gain more and more control over their governments, +that even this may not be an unrealizable ideal. Democracies, intent on +self-realization and self-development, do not desire war. + +The problem of social science, then, appears to be to organize human +society on the principles and ideals of Christianity. But in view of +the fact that the trend of evolution is towards the elimination of +commercial competition, the question which must seriously concern us +today is--What in the future shall be the spur of individual initiative? +Orthodoxy and even democratic practice have hitherto taken it for +granted--in spite of the examples of highly socialized men, benefactors +of society--that the average citizen will bestir himself only for +material gain. And it must be admitted that competition of some sort is +necessary for self-realization, that human nature demands a prize. There +can be no self-sacrifice without a corresponding self-satisfaction. +The answer is that in the theory of democracy, as well as in that of +Christianity, individualism and co-operation are paradoxically blended. +For competition, Christianity substitutes emulation. And with democracy, +it declares that mankind itself can gradually be rained towards the +level of the choice individual who does not labour for gain, but in +behalf of society. For the process of democracy is not degrading, but +lifting. Like Christianity, democracy demands faith, and has as its +inspiring interpretation of civilization evolution towards a spiritual +goal. Yet the kind of faith required is no longer a blind faith, but one +founded on sane and carefully evolved theories. Democracy has become a +scientific experiment. + +In this connection, as one notably inspired by emulation, by the joy of +creative work and service, the medical profession comes first to +mind. The finer element in this profession is constantly increasing in +numbers, growing more and more influential, making life less easy for +the quack, the vendor of nostrums, the commercial proprietor of the +bogus medical college. The doctor who uses his talents for gain is +frowned upon by those of his fellow practitioners whose opinion really +counts. Respected physicians in our cities give much of their time to +teaching, animating students with their own spirit; and labour long +hours, for no material return, in the clinics of the poor. And how +often, in reading our newspapers, do we learn that some medical +scientist, by patient work, and often at the risk of life and health, +has triumphed over a scourge which has played havoc with humanity +throughout the ages! Typhoid has been conquered, and infant paralysis; +gangrene and tetanus, which have taken such toll of the wounded in +Flanders and France; yellow fever has been stamped out in the tropics; +hideous lesions are now healed by a system of drainage. The very list of +these achievements is bewildering, and latterly we are given hope of +the prolongation of life itself. Here in truth are Christian deeds +multiplied by science, made possible by a growing knowledge of and +mastery over Nature. + +Such men by virtue of their high mission are above the vicious social +and commercial competition poisoning the lives of so many of their +fellow citizens. In our democracy they have found their work, and the +work is its own reward. They give striking testimony to the theory that +absorption in a creative or contributive task is the only source of +self-realization. And he has little faith in mankind who shall +declare that the medical profession is the only group capable of being +socialized, or, rather, of socializing themselves--for such is the +true process of democracy. Public opinion should be the leaven. What +is possible for the doctor is also possible for the lawyer, for the +teacher. In a democracy, teaching should be the most honoured of the +professions, and indeed once was,--before the advent of industrialism, +when it gradually fell into neglect,--occasionally into deplorable +submission to the possessors of wealth. Yet a wage disgracefully +low, hardship, and even poverty have not hindered men of ability from +entering it in increasing numbers, renouncing ease and luxuries. The +worth of the contributions of our professors to civilization has been +inestimable; and fortunately signs are not lacking that we are coming +to an appreciation of the value of the expert in government, who is +replacing the panderer and the politician. A new solidarity of teaching +professional opinion, together with a growing realization by our public +of the primary importance of the calling, is tending to emancipate it, +to establish it in its rightful place. + +Nor are our engineers without their ideal. A Goethals did not cut an +isthmus in two for gain. + +Industrialism, with its concomitant “corporation” practice, has +undoubtedly been detrimental to the legal profession, since it has +resulted in large fees; in the accumulation of vast fortunes, frequently +by methods ethically questionable. Grave social injustices have been +done, though often in good faith, since the lawyer, by training and +experience, has hitherto been least open to the teachings of the new +social science, has been an honest advocate of the system of ‘laissez +faire’. But to say that the American legal profession is without ideals +and lacking in the emulative spirit would be to do it a grave injustice. +The increasing influence of national and state bar associations +evidences a professional opinion discouraging to the unscrupulous; +while a new evolutionary and more humanitarian conception of law is now +beginning to be taught, and young men are entering the ranks imbued +with this. Legal clinics, like medical clinics, are established for the +benefit of those who cannot afford to pay fees, for the protection +of the duped from the predatory quack. And, it must be said of this +profession, which hitherto has held a foremost place in America, +that its leaders have never hesitated to respond to a public call, to +sacrifice their practices to serve the nation. Their highest ambition +has even been to attain the Supreme Court, where the salary is a mere +pittance compared to what they may earn as private citizens. + +Thus we may review all the groups in the nation, but the most +significant transformation of all is taking place within the business +group,--where indeed it might be least expected. Even before the war +there were many evidences that the emulative spirit in business had +begun to modify the merely competitive, and we had the spectacle of +large employers of labour awakening to the evils of industrialism, and +themselves attempting to inaugurate reforms. As in the case of labour, +it would be obviously unfair to claim that the employer element was +actuated by motives of self-interest alone; nor were their concessions +due only to fear. Instances could be cited, if there were space, of +voluntary shortening of hours of labour, of raising of wages, when +no coercion was exerted either by the labour unions or the state; +and--perhaps to their surprise employers discovered that such acts were +not only humane but profitable! Among these employers, in fact, may be +observed individuals in various stages of enlightenment, from the few +who have educated themselves in social science, who are convinced that +the time has come when it is not only practicable but right, who realize +that a new era has dawned; to others who still believe in the old +system, who are trying to bolster it up by granting concessions, by +establishing committees of conference, by giving a voice and often a +financial interest, but not a vote, in the conduct of the corporation +concerned. These are the counterpart, in industry, of sovereigns whose +away has been absolute, whose intentions are good, but who hesitate, +often from conviction, to grant constitutions. Yet even these are +responding in some degree to social currents, though the aggressive +struggles of labour may have influenced them, and partially opened +their eyes. They are far better than their associates who still seek to +control the supplies of food and other necessities, whose efficiency is +still solely directed, not toward a social end, but toward the amassing +of large fortunes, and is therefore wasted so far as society is +concerned. They do not perceive that by seeking to control prices they +merely hasten the tendency of government control, for it is better to +have government regulation for the benefit of the many than proprietary +control, however efficient, for the benefit of the few. + +That a significant change of heart and mind has begun to take place +amongst capitalists, that the nucleus of a “public opinion” has been +formed within an element which, by the use and wont of business and +habits of thought might be regarded as least subject to the influence of +social ideas, is a most hopeful augury. This nascent opinion has begun +to operate by shaming unscrupulous and recalcitrant employers into +better practices. It would indeed fare ill with democracy if, in such +an era, men of large business proved to be lacking in democratic +initiative, wholly unreceptive and hostile to the gradual introduction +of democracy into industry, which means the perpetuation of the +American Idea. Fortunately, with us, this capitalistic element is of +comparatively recent growth, the majority of its members are essentially +Americans; they have risen from small beginnings, and are responsive +to a democratic appeal--if that appeal be properly presented. And, as a +matter of fact, for many years a leaven had been at work among them; the +truth has been brought home to them that the mere acquisition of wealth +brings neither happiness nor self-realization; they have lavished their +money on hospitals and universities, clinics, foundations for scientific +research, and other gifts of inestimable benefit to the nation and +mankind. Although the munificence was on a Medicean scale, this private +charity was in accord with the older conception of democracy, and paved +the way for a new order. + +The patriotic and humanitarian motive aroused by the war greatly +accelerated the socializing transformation of the business man and the +capitalist. We have, indeed, our profiteers seeking short cuts to luxury +and wealth; but those happily most representative of American affairs, +including the creative administrators, hastened to Washington with a +willingness to accept any position in which they might be useful, and +in numerous instances placed at the disposal of the government the +manufacturing establishments which, by industry and ability, they +themselves had built up. That in thus surrendering the properties for +which they were largely responsible they hoped at the conclusion of +peace to see restored the ‘status quo ante’ should not be held against +them. Some are now beginning to surmise that a complete restoration is +impossible; and as a result of their socializing experience, are even +wondering whether it is desirable. These are beginning to perceive +that the national and international organizations in the course of +construction to meet the demands of the world conflict must form the +model for a future social structure; that the unprecedented pressure +caused by the cataclysm is compelling a recrystallization of society in +which there must be fewer misfits, in which many more individuals than +formerly shall find public or semi-public tasks in accordance with their +gifts and abilities. + +It may be argued that war compels socialization, that after the war +the world will perforce return to materialistic individualism. But this +calamity, terrible above all others, has warned us of the imperative +need of an order that shall be socializing, if we are not to witness the +destruction of our civilization itself. Confidence that such an order, +thanks to the advancement of science, is now within our grasp should not +be difficult for Americans, once they have rightly conceived it. We, who +have always pinned our faith to ideas, who entered the conflict for an +Idea, must be the last to shirk the task, however Herculean, of world +reconstruction along the lines of our own professed faith. We cannot be +renegades to Democracy. + +Above all things, then, it is essential for us as a people not to +abandon our faith in man, our belief that not only the exceptional +individual but the majority of mankind can be socialized. What is true +of our physicians, our scientists and professional men, our manual +workers, is also true of our capitalists and business men. In a more +just and intelligent organization of society these will be found willing +to administer and improve for the common weal the national resources +which formerly they exploited for the benefit of themselves and their +associates. The social response, granted the conditions, is innate in +humanity, and individual initiative can best be satisfied in social +realization. + +Universal education is the cornerstone of democracy. And the recognition +of this fact may be called the great American contribution. But in +our society the fullest self-realization depends upon a well balanced +knowledge of scientific facts, upon a rounded culture. Thus education, +properly conceived, is a preparation for intelligent, ethical, and +contented citizenship. Upon the welfare of the individual depends the +welfare of all. Without education, free institutions and universal +suffrage are mockeries; semi-learned masses of the population are at the +mercy of scheming politicians, controversialists, and pseudo-scientific +religionists, and their votes are swayed by prejudice. + +In a materialistic competitive order, success in life depends upon the +knack--innate or acquired, and not to be highly rated--of outwitting +one’s neighbour under the rules of the game--the law; education is +merely a cultural leaven within the reach of the comparatively few +who can afford to attend a university. The business college is a more +logical institution. In an emulative civilization, however, the problem +is to discover and develop in childhood and youth the personal aptitude +or gift of as many citizens as possible, in order that they may find +self-realization by making their peculiar contribution towards the +advancement of society. + +The prevailing system of education, which we have inherited from the +past, largely fails to accomplish this. In the first place, it has been +authoritative rather than scientific, which is to say that students have +been induced to accept the statements of teachers and text books, and +have not been trained to weigh for themselves their reasonableness and +worth; a principle essentially unscientific and undemocratic, since it +inculcates in the future citizen convictions rather than encourages the +habit of open-mindedness so necessary for democratic citizenship. +For democracy--it cannot be too often repeated--is a dynamic thing, +experimental, creative in its very essence. No static set of opinions +can apply to the constantly changing aspect of affairs. New discoveries, +which come upon us with such bewildering rapidity, are apt abruptly to +alter social and industrial conditions, while morals and conventions are +no longer absolute. Sudden crises threaten the stability of nations +and civilizations. Safety lies alone in the ability to go forward, +to progress. Psychology teaches us that if authoritative opinions, +convictions, or “complexes” are stamped upon the plastic brain of +the youth they tend to harden, and he is apt to become a Democrat or +Republican, an Episcopalian or a Baptist, a free trader or a tariff +advocate or a Manchester economist without asking why. Such “complexes” + were probably referred to by the celebrated physician who emphasized +the hopelessness of most individuals over forty. And every reformer and +forum lecturer knows how difficult it is to convert the average audience +of seasoned adults to a new idea: he finds the most responsive groups +in the universities and colleges. It is significant that the “educated” + adult audiences in clubs and prosperous churches are the least open to +conversion, because, in the scientific sense, the “educated” classes +retain complexes, and hence are the least prepared to cope with the +world as it is today. The German system, which has been bent upon +installing authoritative conviction instead of encouraging freedom of +thought, should be a warning to us. + +Again, outside of the realm of physical science, our text books have +been controversial rather than impartial, especially in economics and +history; resulting in erroneous and distorted and prejudiced ideas of +events, such for instance, as our American Revolution. The day of the +controversialist is happily coming to an end, and of the writer who +twists the facts of science to suit a world of his own making, or of +that of a group with which he is associated. Theory can now be labelled +theory, and fact, fact. Impartial and painstaking investigation is the +sole method of obtaining truth. + +The old system of education benefited only the comparatively few to +whose nature and inclination it was adapted. We have need, indeed, of +classical scholars, but the majority of men and women are meant for +other work; many, by their very construction of mind, are unfitted to +become such. And only in the most exceptional cases are the ancient +languages really mastered; a smattering of these, imposed upon the +unwilling scholar by a principle opposed to psychology,--a smattering +from which is derived no use and joy in after life, and which has no +connection with individual inclination--is worse than nothing. Precious +time is wasted during the years when the mind is most receptive. While +the argument of the old school that discipline can only be inculcated +by the imposition of a distasteful task is unsound. As Professor Dewey +points out, unless the interest is in some way involved there can be +no useful discipline. And how many of our university and high school +graduates today are in any sense disciplined? Stimulated interest +alone can overcome the resistance imposed by a difficult task, as any +scientist, artist, organizer or administrator knows. Men will discipline +themselves to gain a desired end. Under the old system of education a +few children succeed either because they are desirous of doing well, +interested in the game of mental competition; or else because they +contrive to clothe with flesh and blood some subject presented as a +skeleton. It is not uncommon, indeed, to recognize in later years with +astonishment a useful citizen or genius whom at school or college we +recall as a dunce or laggard. In our present society, because of archaic +methods of education, the development of such is largely left to chance. +Those who might have been developed in time, who might have found their +task, often become wasters, drudges, and even criminals. + +The old system tends to make types, to stamp every scholar in the same +mould, whether he fits it or not. More and more the parents of today +are looking about for new schools, insisting that a son or daughter +possesses some special gift which, under teachers of genius, might be +developed before it is too late. And in most cases, strange to say, the +parents are right. They themselves have been victims of a standardized +system. + +A new and distinctly American system of education, designed to meet the +demands of modern conditions, has been put in practice in parts of the +United States. In spite of opposition from school boards, from all +those who cling to the conviction that education must of necessity be an +unpalatable and “disciplinary” process, the number of these schools is +growing. The objection, put forth by many, that they are still in the +experimental stage, is met by the reply that experiment is the very +essence of the system. Democracy is experimental, and henceforth +education will remain experimental for all time. But, as in any other +branch of science, the element of ascertained fact will gradually +increase: the latent possibilities in the mind of the healthy child will +be discovered by knowledge gained through impartial investigation. The +old system, like all other institutions handed down to us from the ages, +proceeds on no intelligent theory, has no basis on psychology, and is +accepted merely because it exists. + +The new education is selective. The mind of each child is patiently +studied with the view of discovering the peculiar bent, and this bent +is guided and encouraged. The child is allowed to forge ahead in those +subjects for which he shows an aptitude, and not compelled to wait on a +class. Such supervision, of course, demands more teachers, teachers of +an ability hitherto deplorably rare, and thoroughly trained in their +subjects, with a sympathetic knowledge of the human mind. Theirs will be +the highest and most responsible function in the state, and they must be +rewarded in proportion to their services. + +A superficial criticism declares that in the new schools children will +study only “what they like.” On the contrary, all subjects requisite for +a wide culture, as well as for the ability to cope with existence in +a highly complex civilization, are insisted upon. It is true, however, +that the trained and gifted teacher is able to discover a method of so +presenting a subject as to seize the imagination and arouse the interest +and industry of a majority of pupils. In the modern schools French, for +example, is really taught; pupils do not acquire a mere smattering +of the language. And, what is more important, the course of study is +directly related to life, and to practical experience, instead of being +set forth abstractly, as something which at the time the pupil perceives +no possibility of putting into use. At one of the new schools in the +south, the ignorant child of the mountains at once acquires a knowledge +of measurement and elementary arithmetic by laying out a garden, +of letters by inscribing his name on a little signboard in order to +identify his patch--for the moment private property. And this principle +is carried through all the grades. In the Gary Schools and elsewhere +the making of things in the shops, the modelling of a Panama Canal, the +inspection of industries and governmental establishments, the +designing, building, and decoration of houses, the discussion and even +dramatization of the books read,--all are a logical and inevitable +continuation of the abstract knowledge of the schoolroom. The success of +the direct application of learning to industrial and professional +life may also be observed in such colleges as those at Cincinnati and +Schenectady, where young men spend half the time of the course in the +shops of manufacturing, corporations, often earning more than enough to +pay their tuition. + +Children are not only prepared for democratic citizenship by being +encouraged to think for themselves, but also to govern and discipline +themselves. On the moral side, under the authoritative system of lay +and religious training, character was acquired at the expense of mental +flexibility--the Puritan method; our problem today, which the new system +undertakes, is to produce character with open-mindedness--the kind +of character possessed by many great scientists. Absorption in an +appropriate task creates a moral will, while science, knowledge, informs +the mind why a thing is “bad” or “good,” disintegrating or upbuilding. +Moreover, these children are trained for democratic government by the +granting of autonomy. They have their own elected officials, their +own courts; their decisions are, of course, subject to reversal by the +principal, but in practice this seldom occurs. + +The Gary Schools and many of the new schools are public schools. And the +principle of the new education that the state is primarily responsible +for the health of pupils--because an unsound body is apt to make an +unsound citizen of backward intelligence--is now being generally adopted +by public schools all over the country. This idea is essentially an +element of the democratic contention that all citizens must be given +an equality of opportunity--though all may not be created equal--now +becoming a positive rather than a negative right, guaranteed by the +state itself. An earnest attempt is thus made by the state to give +every citizen a fair start that in later years he may have no ground +for discontent or complaint. He stands on his own feet, he rises in +proportion to his ability and industry. Hence the program of the British +Labour Party rightly lays stress on education, on “freedom of mental +opportunity.” The vast sums it proposes to spend for this purpose are +justified. + +If such a system of education as that briefly outlined above is +carefully and impartially considered, the objection that democratic +government founded on modern social science is coercive must disappear. +So far as the intention and effort of the state is able to confer it, +every citizen will have his choice of the task he is to perform for +society, his opportunity for self-realization. For freedom without +education is a myth. By degrees men and women are making ready to take +their places in an emulative rather than a materialistically competitive +order. But the experimental aspect of this system should always be borne +in mind, with the fact that its introduction and progress, like that of +other elements in the democratic program, must be gradual, though always +proceeding along sound lines. For we have arrived at that stage of +enlightenment when we realize that the only mundane perfection lies in +progress rather than achievement. The millennium is always a lap ahead. +There would be no satisfaction in overtaking it, for then we should have +nothing more to do, nothing more to work for. + +The German Junkers have prostituted science by employing it for the +destruction of humanity. In the name of Christianity they have waged +the most barbaric war in history. Yet if they shall have demonstrated +to mankind the futility of efficiency achieved merely for material ends; +if, by throwing them on a world screen, they shall have revealed +the evils of power upheld alone by ruthlessness and force, they will +unwittingly have performed a world service. Privilege and dominion, +powers and principalities acquired by force must be sustained by force. +To fail will be fatal. Even a duped people, trained in servility, will +not consent to be governed by an unsuccessful autocracy. Arrogantly +Germany has staked her all on world domination. Hence a victory for the +Allies must mean a democratic Germany. + +Nothing short of victory. There can be no arrangement, no +agreement, no parley with or confidence in these modern scions of +darkness--Hohenzollerns, Hindenburgs, Zudendorffs and their tools. +Propaganda must not cease; the eyes of Germans still capable of sight +must be opened. But, as the President says, force must be used to the +limit--force for a social end as opposed to force for an evil end. There +are those among us who advocate a boycott of Germany after peace is +declared. These would seem to take it for granted that we shall fall +short of victory, and hence that selfish retaliative or vindictive +practices between nations, sanctioned by imperialism, will continue to +flourish after the war. But should Germany win she will see to it that +there is no boycott against her. A compromised peace would indeed mean +the perpetuation of both imperialism and militarism. + +It is characteristic of those who put their faith in might alone that +they are not only blind to the finer relationships between individuals +and nations, but take no account of the moral forces in human affairs +which in the long run are decisive,--a lack of sensitiveness which +explains Germany’s colossal blunders. The first had to do with Britain. +The German militarists persisted in the belief that the United Kingdom +was degenerated by democracy, intent upon the acquisition of wealth, +distracted by strife at home, uncertain of the Empire, and thus would +selfishly remain aloof while the Kaiser’s armies overran and enslaved +the continent. What happened, to Germany’s detriment, was the instant +socialization of Britain, and the binding together of the British +Empire. Germany’s second great blunder was an arrogant underestimation +of a self-reliant people of English culture and traditions. She believed +that we, too, had been made flabby by democracy, were wholly intent upon +the pursuit of the dollar--only to learn that America would lavish +her vast resources and shed her blood for a cause which was American. +Germany herself provided that cause, shaped the issues so that there +was no avoiding them. She provided the occasion for the socializing +of America also; and thus brought about, within a year, a national +transformation which in times of peace might scarce in half a century +have been accomplished. + +Above all, as a consequence of these two blunders, Germany has been +compelled to witness the consummation of that which of all things she +had most to fear, the cementing of a lasting fellowship between the +English speaking Republic and the English speaking Empire. For we had +been severed since the 18th Century by misunderstandings which of late +Germany herself had been more or less successful in fostering. She has +furnished a bond not only between our governments, but--what is vastly +more important for democracy--a bond between our peoples. Our soldiers +are now side by side with those of the Empire on the Frontier of +Freedom; the blood of all is shed and mingled for a great cause embodied +in the Anglo-Saxon tradition of democracy; and our peoples, through the +realization of common ideas and common ends, are learning the supreme +lesson of co-operation between nations with a common past, are being +cemented into a union which is the symbol and forerunner of the +democratic league of Nations to come. Henceforth, we believe, because +of this union, so natural yet so long delayed, by virtue of the ultimate +victory it forecasts, the sun will never set on the Empire of the free, +for the drum beats of democracy have been heard around the world. To +this Empire will be added the precious culture of France, which the +courage of her sons will have preserved, the contributions of Italy, and +of Russia, yes, and of Japan. + +Our philosophy and our religion are changing; hence it is more and more +difficult to use the old terms to describe moral conduct. We say, +for instance, that America’s action in entering the war has been +“unselfish.” But this merely means that we have our own convictions +concerning the ultimate comfort of the world, the manner of +self-realization of individuals and nations. We are attempting to +turn calamity into good. If this terrible conflict shall result in +the inauguration of an emulative society, if it shall bring us to the +recognition that intelligence and science may be used for the upbuilding +of such an order, and for an eventual achievement of world peace, every +sacrifice shall have been justified. + +Such is the American Issue. Our statesmen and thinkers have helped to +evolve it, our people with their blood and treasure are consecrating it. +And these statesmen and thinkers, of whom our American President is +not the least, are of democracy the pioneers. From the mountain tops on +which they stand they behold the features of the new world, the dawn of +the new day hidden as yet from their brothers in the valley. Let us have +faith always that it is coming, and struggle on, highly resolving that +those who gave their lives in the hour of darkness shall not have died +in vain. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of An Essay On The American Contribution +And The Democratic Idea, by Winston Churchill + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN CONTRIBUTION *** + +***** This file should be named 5399-0.txt or 5399-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/9/5399/ + +Produced by David Widger + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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