The Washington herald., 1919-03-23

gium was in any real sense neutral
or could possibly have been neutral.
cannot be sustained.
What Is more. IL IL could be sus-
tained England would cut con-
temptible figure as a thriftless,
helpless. blind and silly gull. victo-
risus only by undeserved and ex-
traordinAry luck and by the help OF
America at the last hour.
Such a figure has sufficient points
In common with the British sailor
lieutenant of a melodrama to be
more congenial and fattering to
simpletons than the truth; but II
England had been governed by its
simpletons the Kaiser would at this
moment be installed in Buckingham
Palace and Prussian guards would
be knocking the hats of English
men who did not salute as they
passed.
MeIodrama Easy to Find.
Those who cannot bear the truth.
or still banker after melodrama can
find their fill in papers that cater
specially for them.
They must not expect to find 1t at
the Peace Conference. The Sale de
truth, but neither is it a palace for
popular patriotism. For as all the del
egations have a different patria and
every patria has moral pretensions,
intolerable to and incompatible with
the moral pretensions of all other
patrias, patriotism has to be dropped
before any discussion is possible ex-
cept a discussion of the sort that is
most effectively conducted with chair
legs and revolvers.j
1t may now be asked whether under
these circumstances l am justified,
face to face with so many simple
tons who are incapable If real poll
tics, in letting the cat out of the bag.
Why not leave the mass of men
happy in their belief that the war
was a melodrama of which they were
heroes, and leave the dipIomatists to
do the real business between them
selves quietly?
II is quite a fair question, but there
are several conclusive answers to it
without falling back on the excuse
that 1 am not very largely read by
simpletons.
/ will give one or two of them.
Even IL IL were OF no Importance
that the British voter should know ex-
actly what his government has done
land that view is rank oligarchy) it is
OF enormous Importance that the
Germans. among whom I have many
readers, should know-and know ac-
curately-what has just happened to
them and that the rest of the world
should know it, too.
We are the most powerful single
state on earth now, but we still hold
to the resolution we made when we
were only a tight little island and by
no means always a right little island.
We will endure expressions and mas
ters from one another, but we will
suffer no other state on earth to mas
ter US or have the means OF master
ing US.
II any state begins to build up an
armament with that in view, or even
without that as a possible result, that
state will have to fight us. and in
such fights we have not been beaten
since 1906.
This success is due neither to luck
nor to any superiority inherent in the
English people, but to the fact that
as our interest in preventing hege-
mony is not peculiar to US, we are
always able to form an alliance
against hegemonlsm. And we are rich
enough to see our allies through with
money as well as with reinforcements
The moral is that hegemonies are
impossible, and attempts at them are
certain to end in armament races and,