In arriving at terms of peace, there are at least three conditions
which cannot be overlooked in the interest of civilization, and
that the peace may be such in reality as in name, and not an
armistice only,--three postulates which stand above all question,
and dominate this debate, so that any essential departure from
them must end in wretched failure.
The first is the natural requirement of Germany, that there shall
be completest guaranty against future aggression, constituting
what is so well known among us as "Security for the Future." Count
Bismarck, with an exaggeration hardly pardonable, alleges more
than twenty invasions of Germany by France, and declares that
these must be stopped forever. [Footnote: Circular of September
16, 1870: Foreign Relations of the United States,--Executive
Documents, 41st Cong. 3d Sess., H. of R., Vol. I. No. 1, Part 1,
pp. 212-13.] Many or few, they must be stopped forever. The second
condition to be regarded is the natural requirement of France,
that the guaranty, while sufficient, shall be such as not to wound
needlessly the sentiments of the French people, or to offend any
principle of public law. It is difficult to question these two
postulates, at least in the abstract. Only when we come to the
application is there opportunity for difference. The third
postulate, demanded alike by justice and humanity, is the
establishment of some rule or precedent by which the recurrence of
such a barbarous duel shall be prevented. It will not be enough to
obtain a guaranty for Germany; there must be a guaranty for
Civilization itself.
On careful inquiry, it will be seen that all these can be
accomplished in one way only, which I will describe, when I have
first shown what is now put forward and discussed as the claim of
Germany, under two different heads, Indemnity and Guaranty.