New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-04-03

The Cancer of Pacihsm


raise their piping voices against pre-
paredness and in favor of patent
devices for maintaining peace with
out effort. Let our people be on
their guard against fhem.-fron1
Colonel Rooserelts Portland speech.
Militarism has slain its thousands.
But pacifsm has slain it's hundreds of
thousands.
If Great Britain had been prepared for
war in July, 1914, Germany would prob
ably have ordered ustria-Hungary to
modify the ultimatum to Serbia. Ger
tainly the treaty guaranteeing Belgium's
independence and territorial integrity
would not have been treated by Germany
as waste piece of paper. No world war
would have been risked by the Kaiser if
Great Britain's preparation had been
equal to Gerrany's.
Again, if the United States had been
prepared for war in 1915 the Lusitania
would not have been sunk. When Tirpitz
launched his campaign of frightfulness
at sea he gambled on American unpre-
paredness. He discounted the protests
of country which still took pride in the
fact that it was not ready to fight.
Stupendous losses and sacrifices must
be laid directly at the door of the pacifsm
which before 1914 had infected Great.
Britain and the United States.
There were two currents of .pacihsm in
the world One was that of international
socialism, 1t was the more rational and
respectable of the two. 1t sought to op-
pose to the ruthless militarism of the
German autocracy an anti-war union of
the European proletariats, Germany's
included. The Socialist Internationale
failed because the German proletariat'
deserted it. The German people as a
whole were with their government in
wishing to profit by war for economic
and territorial expansion.
The second current was British and
American. Our pacifsm (even more
than that of the British) was the pacifism
Of sentimentality and materialistic Ian
guor. 1t was an outcropping not Of So
cialist propaganda, but of morbid opti-
mism. Our prophets Of peace were even
more deluded than the Lennes and the
Trotzkys. The latter banked on the self
interest of the German masses. Ours
banked only on the chivalry and sweet
reasonableness of the German Junkers.
Our browning folly lay in the cate
gorical assertion that though all the rest
Of the world was in arms and all the
ruthless passions of war had been
aroused there was still no occasion for
US to become nervous and excited. Tran
quill America was to accept the role of
the lamb in the presence of the German
wolf. We were to rely for protection on
the power of innocence and virtuous re-
monstrance.
But this smile does injustice to the
lamb. Responding to the instinct of self
preservation, the lamb would long ago
have grown fangs if it had known how
to grow them. We were not like the
lamb. We had enormous military re-
sources. There was no other obstacle to
their development than the moral delu-
sion of pacifsm.
Now we are cured. But are we going
10 stay cured? While the war lasts we
cannot relapse into military weakness
But how about after the war?
This is one of the problems which pa
triotic Americans must face. 1t is dealt
with in Colonel Roosevelt's appeal at Port
land for the creation Of an opposition
party which will be both critical and con-
structiye.
We have conscription to-day. We owe
it to the compulsion Of events. But we
shall need system of universal train.
ing and service after the war. In his Last
annual report Secretary Baker opposed
the passage Of the Chamberlain bill for
the compulsory training Of men under
draft bge.