Referendum and War The rejection by the American Congress of
the so-called Ludlow resolution has relieved President Roosevelt of con- siderable anxiety. The aim of the resolution, which, if adopted, would probably have necessitated an amendment of the Constitution, was to stipulate that a referendum of the people should be taken before any declaration of war by the United States, and the motion to call the resolution out of committee into the full House was only defeated by 209 - votes to x88: It does not at all follow, however, that all the minority would have supported the resolution in the House ; their vote may simply have represented a desire to see the project adequately thrashed out. The adoption of the resolution would be a blow to the principle of repre- sentative government, for members of a Parliament are elected for the express purpose of taking momentous decisions, and to throw the responsibility back on the electors in a crisis is not, though it may seem to be,. true democracy. The delay, moreover, which such a process would entail might well be disastrous when such a question as the declaration of war was involved. At the best it would encourage the idea that no matter what the provocation America would never fight ; the prevalence of that impression would not improve the outlook for world-peace. There is more hope in Mr. Roosevelt's conviction that the peaceable Powers must be stronger than potential aggressors.
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