At a recent meeting at Cooper Institute one of the speakers was
interrupted with the question: “Is Europe to-day an example of peace by
preparedness?” The inference of the question was that preparedness for
war, so far from preventing war, tends to breed war. This would be true
if all nations would disarm. Europe to-day is not an example of peace by
preparedness, but of war through unequal preparedness. Only one nation
was thoroughly prepared for war, and that nation, in the conflict thus
far, has proved the victor on all the battle fronts. If the other great
nations had been equally prepared, there would undoubtedly have been no
war. Half measures never led to satisfactory results. France and England
and Russia knew, or should have known, that Germany was better prepared
for war than any nation in all history ever was before. They made a show
of preparation, but when the war began they were not half prepared. They
had ample warning which they neglected to heed. They are now reaping the
bitter fruit of their folly. Preparedness for war is not an insurance of
peace if one potentially rival nation is permitted to so far exceed the
others as to outclass them. Preparation for war is useless unless it is
adequate.