Beyond the most persuasive influence of civilization, pleading, as
never before, with voice of reason and affection, that the
universal tyrant and master-evil of Christendom, the War System,
may cease, and the means now absorbed in its support be employed
for the benefit of the Human Family, there are two special
influences which cannot be without weight at this time. The first
is German authority in the writings of philosophers, by whom
Germany rules in thought; and the second is the uprising of the
working-men: both against war as acknowledged arbiter between
nations, and insisting upon peaceful substitutes.