Mr. Roosevelt has made a statement on the war which
is thoroughly sound and thoroughly American. He tells his fellow-citizens that they must do two things: profit by the lessons of the war, and aid in the achievement of a just peace
A peace which consecrates militarism will be of small service. A peace obtained by crushing the liberty and life of unoffending peoples is as cruel as the most cruel war. . . . A peace which left Belgium's wrongs unavenged, and which did not provide against the recurrence of such wrongs as those from which she has suffered, would not be a real peace."
Mr. Roosevelt, in dealing with the causes of the conflict, spoke as follows : "When once Belgium was invaded, every circum- stance of national honour and interest forced England to act precisely as she did act. She could not bold up her head among the nations had she acted otherwise." About Belgium also only one view was possible. She was deliberately brutalized :— " I admire and respect the German people. I am proud of the German blood in my veins, but it is impossible not to face the danger of a Transatlantic application of all that Bernhardism implies. The United States must be prepared. Arbitration treaties, the Hague Court, and all the rest of the pacifist stock-in- trade are useless unless backed by force. No abundance of the milder virtues will save the nation that has lost its virile qualities. On the other hand, no admiration of strength must make us deviate from the laws of righteousness. What has occurred to Belgium is precisely what would occur, under similar conditions, to us unless we were able to show that the action would be dangerous. If any old-world military Power, European or Asiatic, were at war and deemed such action necessary and safe, it would at once seize the Panama Canal or the Danish West Indies or Magdalena Bay exactly as Belgium and Luxemburg have been overrun by Germany or as Korea has been seized by Japan."
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