New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-01-30
SOUL DESTROYING NEUTRALITY
no,,be and Undesirable Part of individuals Is OaIy WV
N;. Influence Abroad and Its SclfRcspec at fonc-"
.n;on the ONLY Wise and Right Course for This Country
To the Editor Of Tho Tribune.

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: Neutrality is not in itself thlng 'n"'
is noble or praiseworthy IL may under ccr'
tain circumstances be wise and advisable or
even right. But its wisdom or II, righteous
,o,s dcncnds upon each particular case, nnn
n, generalization can serve MS n gu'uc' ~
ID meyer admirable, but often excusabie' Inc
,rcqont neutrality Of tho United states -
neither.
Actual neutrality on the part of the people
of civilized nation is an impossibility where
the war Is ono Of importance, and would oe
n confession OF ignorance and selhsnness un'
worthy OF thinking persons An appeal LOT
such personal neutrality Is shamefui ana DC
grading The most intense partlsansh'p on
the part OF the people IS In no way incom-
patible with the technical neutrality OF 'he
nation as an entity, which is merely refusal
IN intervene and to utilize it's military or
carization ON behalf OF one Of the belliger-
lcnts.
Neutrality is observed by nation broadiy
On the following grounds;
First-Because It Is not concerned In the
question at issue between the belligerent''
Second Because it is afraid to intervene.
Third-Because tho issue at stake - OF
less consequence than the cost Of interyen-
ton.
Fourth Because selfish considerations
show that 4. can profit in wealth by refusing
to become belligerent
Fifth Because it can accomplish more good
az neutral than as a belligerent.
II Is Of course needless TO argue 10 any in
telligent person that the United States is not
concerned in the question at issue IN the Eu-
ropean war The matter has been thrashed
out so thoroughly that we recognize that both
in the abstract and in the concrete it con-
Germs us vitality. In the abstract, it is a con-
nict between democracy and feudalsm, be-
tween peace and militarsm, between the
doctrine of industrial development by work
and intelligence and the doctrine Of the for
chile appropriation Of the fruits Of the labor
of others, between responsible government
and imposed government, between progress
and reaction between the acknowledge Of
the obligation OF international law and the
denial of its superiority to expediency, be
tween all that has been accomplished In the
last hundred and fifty years and the barbar-
ism Of n corqueror of the Middle Ages, be
tween faith keeping and faith breaking, be-
tween Abraham Lincoln and Napoleon. On
the concrete side, the war is 20 decide
whether within few wears the United States
will have TO fight the German Empire, wheth-
er the Monroe Doctrine is 10 be torn TO shreds
and Brazil seized by Germany, whether for
our physical safety IL viii be necessary for
us 20 devote a very large part Of our re-
sources TO the creation of a huge navy and
a vast army whether we must submit not
only 20 taxes burdensome 10 an unparalleled
degree. but also 10 the diversion Of large
part OF our manhood from productive indus
try. On both abstract and concrete grounds
il would be impossible for us to view German
success with liberation.
Few Americans would be willing 70 admit
tina, we are maintaining neutrality because of
fear. The nation is too proud and too great
to acknowledge such thing. We are also
too intelligent not to know that Germany can
not in this war destroy the British fleet, and
that so long a the British fleet is intact Ger
many is impotent TO do Us military injury.
We have seen what Germany has done to
Belgium. 10 Poland, TO Serbia and to North
ern France, and can readily understand
how fear should be a controlling influence in
making nations like Switzerland, Holland,
Denmark. Norway, Sweden, Greece and Ru-
mania preserve their neutrality. Circum-
stances will very probably become so insistent
that even fear will not suffice TO prevenc some
OF these countries, notably Greece, Rumania
and Holland, from ultimate Intervention;
but in the mean time fear is human and
proper reason for keeping them out of the
war They are vulnerable to the terrorzation
Of the German methods We in America are
not vulnerable.
The issues at stake in this war are so huge
that it would be puerile to say that they are
not worth the cost of United States interven-
ton. The whole future course Of the de-
velopment Of the world, OF which we form a
mot inconsiderabe unit, is at issue. More
over our very invulnerablity, due to our &C.
ocraphical position and TO the supremacy Of
the British navy, makes the cost TO US OF IN
tervention comfortable by ourselves and not
by Germany. Were we in the war it would be
wholly for us 10 decide TO what extent we
should participate. We could if we wished
content ourselves with merely passive bel
licerency, such as that carried on by Japan
since the fall of TsingTau, at the same time
rendering important services 10 the Entente
by the mobilization OF our financial and in
THE