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diff --git a/old/wc62w10.txt b/old/wc62w10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b9d5245 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/wc62w10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1984 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Ebook On The American Contribution, by Winston Churchill +WC#62 in our series by Winston Churchill (USA author, not Sir Winston) + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**EBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These EBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers***** + + +Title: On The American Contribution + +Author: Winston Churchill (USA author, not Sir Winston Churchill) + +Release Date: March, 2004 [EBook #5399] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on June 30, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + + + + + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMERICAN CONTRIBUTION, BY CHURCHILL *** + + + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + + + + + +AN ESSAY ON THE AMERICAN CONTRIBUTION AND THE DEMOCRATIC IDEA + +By Winston Churchill + + +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 +expert 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 +1881 was indeed the name 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 selfreliance, 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 eve 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 openmindedness 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 AMERICAN CONTRIBUTION, BY CHURCHILL *** + +************ This file should be named wc62w10.txt or wc62w10.zip ************ + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, wc62w11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, wc62w10a.txt + +This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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