The Washington herald., 1917-01-23

4 lnOsc COTultlOhS.
| The present war must first be ended;
but We owe It to candor and to Joint
regard for the opinion of mankind to say
I that so far as our participation in guar
/ antee Of future peace is concerned 1t
makes great deal of difference in what
/ way and upon what terms 1t Is ended.
| The treaties and agreements which bring
1t to an end must embody terms which
will create a peace that is worth guar
! anteeing and preserving; a peace that
will win the approval of mankind, not
merely a peace that will serve the sew
eral interests and immediate aims of the
\ nations engaged. We shall have no voice
| in determining what those terms shall
be, but We shall, feel sure, have a voice
In determining whether they shall be
made lasting or not by the guarantees of
universal covenant; and our judgment
| upon what is fundamental and essential
as a condition precedent to permanency
should be spoken now, not afterward.
| when It may be too late.
Must Include New World.
mo covenant OF cooperative peace
| that does not include the peoples of the
new world can suffice to keep the future
safe against war; and yet there is only
! one, sort Of peace that the peoples Of
America could join In guaranteeing.
The elements of that peace must be
] elements that engage the confidence and
satisfy the principles OF the American
| governments, elements consistent with
! their political faith and the practical
convictions which the peoples of Amer
| lea have once for all embraced and un-
dertaken to defend.
! II do not mean to say that any Amer
| lean government would throw any OBJ
! stacle in the way of any terms of peace
the governments now at war might
agree upon, or seek to upset them when
made, whatever they might be.
! 81 only take 1t for granted that mere
| terms of peace between the belligerents
| will not be satisfactory even to the bel
igerents themselves. Mere agreements
may not make peace secure. It will be
! absolutely necessary that a force be Gre
| ated as a guarantor of the permanency
OF the settlement SO much greater than
| the force of any nation now engaged
or any alliance hitherto formed or pro-
! Jected that no nation, no probable COM
| bination of nations, could face or with
stand It, If the peace presently to be
| made Is to endure, 1t must be a peace
made secure by the organized major
force Of mankind.
! The terms of the Immediate peaoe
| agreed upon will determine whether IL is
peace Tor which such a guarantee can
De secured. The question upon which the
whole future peace and policy of the
world depends is this:
Peace Means Sea Freedom
And the paths of the sea must, alike in
law and In fact, be free. The freedom Of
\ the seas Is the sine qua non OF peaca
equality. and cooperation. No doubt a
somewhat radical reconsideration Of
many OF the rules of international prac-
tice hitherto sought to be established NAV
De necessary in order to make the seas
! indeed free and common in practically all
circumstances for the use Of mankind,
but the motive for such changes Is con-
! vincing and compelling. There can be no
| trust or intimacy between the peoples Of
the world without them. The free con-
stant unthreatened intercourse of na-
! tons Is an essential part of the process
of peace and of development.
1T need not be difficult to define or TO
secure the freedom OF the seas If the
governments Of the world sincerely de-
sire to come to an agreement concerning
it.
TT is a problem closely connected with
the limitation Of naval armament and the
cooperation OF the navies of the world In
Keeping the seas at once free and safe.
And the question OF limiting naval arma-
ments opens the wider and perhaps more
difficult question of the limitation of
armies and of all programs Of military
preparation.
Difficult and delicate as these ques-
tons are, they must be faced with the
utmost candor and decided in a spirit of
real accommodation II peace is to come
with healing in its wings, and come to
stay Peace cannot be had without con-
cesston and sacrifice. There can be no
sense of safety and equality among the
nations if great preponderating arma-
ments are henceforth to continue here
thPra N IA nd al
Plan for Peace as for War.
The statesmen Of the world must plan
for peace and nations must adjust and
accommodate their policy to it as they
have planned for war and made ready
for pitiless contest and rivalry.
THE question of armaments, whether
on land or sea, is the most Immediately
and intensely practical question connect
ed with the future fortunes OF nations
and mankind.
It have spoken upon these great mat
ters without reserve and with the ut
most erplicitness because 1t has seemed
to me to be necessary II the worlds
yearning desire for peace with anywhere
to find free voice and utterance. Per
haps I am the only person in high au-
thority amongst all the peoples of the
world who is at liberty to speak and hold
nothing back. I am speaking as an in
dividual. and yet 1 am speaking also, Of
course, as the responsible head Of a
great government, and I feel confident
that I have said what the people of the
United States would wish me to say.
May I not add that I hope and be-
lieve that 1 am in effect speaking for
liberals and friends of humanity in every
nation and OF every program of Hbertyr
would fain believe that I am speaking
for the silent mass Of mankind every
where who have as yet had no place or
opportunity to speak their real hearts
out conoArnfnR thu daath and r,,,n ,h.r