Schmidt was a supporter of the new Republic of Turkey during the 1920s, when public skepticism of Turkish human rights practices was high (see Armenian genocide). In a speech sponsored by the Brooklyn Ethical Culture Society, he advocated self-rule by the Turks and free international trade through the Dardanelles. &lt;a href="Genocides%20in%20history%23Ottoman%20Empire/Turkey"&gt;Ottoman/Turkish abuses of ethnic and religious minorities&lt;/a&gt; were thought to be correctable through greater education of its peoples and elites. In October 1935, Schmidt spoke out against the Italian invasion of Ethiopia. Joining Bishop William T. Manning at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and a call for the United States to 'decide whether it will join with other nations 'in police action for the preservation of peace.'" Schmidt's subsequent address at the Society for Ethical Culture note that "... whatever the outcome of the situation may be, there will follow a period of moral deterioration. Whether Ethiopia is conquered in a short or in a long drawn-out war, whether by the grace of the great military powers Ethiopia is preserved at the cost of her economic integrity, or whether by her courage and strength Ethiopia maintains her independence, moral deterioration of the peoples involved is unavoidable." Three years later, Schmidt offered an assessment of the Japanese aggression against the Republic of China in terms which connected the capacity to wage an unjust war to the disconnectedness between a people and its government.