Sentence:  When we repeat the remark that such suffering <WSD>was</WSD> a bad thing , the feeling with which we made it last week may be at or near the vanishing point , but if we were asked whether we meant to say what we did before , we should certainly answer Yes . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun)