=A Short History of War and Peace.= By G. H. PERRIS, Author of “Russia
in Revolution,” “The Life and Teaching of Tolstoy,” etc. Membre de
l’Institute International de Paix. 50 cents net. Home University Library.
New York, Henry Holt & Company; London, Williams and Norgate.
Mr. Perris, who like all other authors of the Home University Library
series is a recognized authority of his subject. He gives a brilliant
summary, condensing into a nutshell the steps by which the nations have
passed from a state of constant war to a state of comparative peace, and
shows that soldiers of genius no longer appear because the environment
is unfavorable and the demand has failed, Othello’s occupation’s gone.
The mechanism of war has killed the art of war; and this mechanism is
doomed itself because, while it can reap no recompense, its cost in
use is likely to bring its owners to the pit of bankruptcy, famine and
revolution.
In summing up Mr. Perris says: “So far from being based upon unchangeable
passions, the nature of man as “a social animal” is based upon material
and moral interests which have undergone deep changes, indeed, but in a
certain general order and direction. We can trace these changes both in
the structure and the function of successive societies established in the
course of the swarming process by which the earth has been filled.” He
shows that the ideas of arbitration have been gaining ground slowly but
surely.
=Belgium.= By C. K. ENSOR, sometime scholar of Balliol College, Oxford,
England. With maps, 50 cents net. Series of the Home University Library,
number 95, pp 256. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1915.
The events of August, 1914, and their sequel have shown Belgium to many
in a new light. They have seen a nation where they had supposed that
there was only geographical expression. They have seen martial courage
where they had forgotten that it had been famous for centuries. They have
been surprised to find in this little land so much civic patriotism.
Belgium is the most accessible country on the Continent to the English:
and it has been visited by numberless Americans since Longfellow’s day,
but it is proverbially easy to overlook what lies under one’s nose.
Those of us who have long been aware that Belgium is something more than
a collection of old buildings and Old Masters, or a stopping place on
the journey to Germany or Switzerland, can but welcome the new interest
which is taken in her by the wider public on both sides of the Atlantic,
for she is worthy of it. The episode which the world pities is not an
historical accident, ennobling by chance the record of an ignoble people.
If under the ordeal they have become great, it was because they had
greatness in them.
The author in speaking of the architecture of Belgium has his doubts as
to how much of it will escape the devastation of the European War. “But
in any case the first sequel of peace in Belgium must be rebuilding.
It will be fortunate then,” the author says, “that in consequence of
the building fever of recent years the country is equipped beyond the
ordinary needs of its size with architects, builders, trained workmen,
and experience, which may enable its ruined towns to rise purified
and beautified from their ashes.” This statement may be true if the
architects, builders, trained workmen and other workers have not been
killed in battle. The devastation of Belgium, alone is argument enough
for the rest of the world to quit the foolishness of war.
=An Open Letter to the Nation with Regard to a Peace Plan.= By JAMES
HOWARD KEHLER, New York: Mitchell Kennerley. 1915, pp 25.
The letter in this neat little volume is addressed to The President, The
Ministers of Government and The Congress of the United States: To the
Members of the Peace Societies: To the Press and to the People:
There is a lot of good common sense in this letter. For example, in the
opening of the letter the author asks that the name of the War Department
be changed to that of the Peace Department, and that its Ministers
hereafter be known as Secretaries of Peace, and that what are known as
War Policies hereafter may be known as Peace Policies. He shows that in
reality the Secretary of War is really a secretary of Peace, and that his
primary office is not to make war, but to avert it, and the degree of his
prestige is in direct ratio to his success in preserving the peace and
tranquility of our people, and that our war budgets are in fact peace
budgets, etc.
Of course, we know that the Secretary of War does not have a thing to
do with the diplomatic correspondence that arranges for a war, but
nevertheless the idea of giving significance to the symbolism of the
names of the offices and their ministers has considerable value.
=The Socialists and the War.= By WILLIAM ENGLISH WALLING, author of
“Socialism As It Is,” “Progressivism and After,” etc., etc. New York:
Henry Holt & Co., 1915. 512 pp. $1.50 net.
The author here presents a documentary statement of the position of
the Socialists of all countries; with special reference to their peace
policies, and includes a summary of the Revolutionary state Socialist
measures adopted by the Governments at war. The editor of this work is a
well known writer on Socialism, being the author of “Socialism As It Is,”
“Progressivism and After,” and other books along this line, of which it
may be said that this is his best effort.
About three fourths of the book consists of documentary statements of
Socialists of all countries toward the war, and the running editorial
comments set forth vividly the conditions under which the various
statements were made with an indication of why they are important.
The Socialist and a good many others who are great on asking questions
will find a few here that are well answered in a fair way. Would the
common people of Europe have declared war? Have the peoples of Europe
definitely accepted monarchy, or is republicanism a force to be reckoned
with? If one side forced the other side to disarm, would this partial
disarmament make for total disarmament, or would it make for a war of
revenge? And many other questions of a similar nature. A large part of
the material utilized by the author, has appeared, under his editorship
in The New Review. The Socialists believe that war should be ended
immediately, or when the present European war becomes a “draw.”
=Defenseless America.= By HUDSON MAXIM. New York: Hearst’s International
Library Company. 1915. Price, $2.00, pp. 318.
This volume has been named “A call to arms against War.” A phalanx of
facts are presented upon the defenseless condition of this country. After
reading this volume we seem to be as helpless as a new-born baby. As a
fact we are a new born country. The United States is the youngest of the
family of nations, but nevertheless we are a lusty youngster.
It is a fact that self-preservation is the first law of nature.
Self-preservation should also be the first law of nations. Is that the
case in this country? Upon this subject Mr. Maxim has written this
interesting volume.
Every person has a right to his own opinions, and he also has a right
to have such opinions as he thinks are right. That is an undisputed
privilege. Many think that the United States is well enough prepared,
while on the other hand many think that this Government is in a
precarious condition on account of its lack of defensive material. Mr.
Maxim in accordance with the title of his book holds the latter view.
According to his first chapter, any statement against heavier national
armament is a dangerous preachment.
Ernest Haeckle has said that there is nothing constant but change. He
might have said also that there is a no more consistent thing in its
constancy than human inconsistency. And Herbert Spencer rightfully said
that, as he grew older, the more and more he realized the extent to which
mankind is governed by irrationality. Billings was probably right when he
said, “It is not so much the ignorance of men that makes them ridiculous
as what they know that is not so.”
=German Philosophy and Politics.= By JOHN DEWEY, Professor of Philosophy
in Columbia University. New York, 1915. Henry Holt & Co. Price, $1.25
net, pp. 134.
Dr. John Dewey, one of the world’s greatest philosophers, here gives
the unprofessional philosopher a succinct notion of the development of
classic German philosophy from Kant to Hegel. All technical details
are omitted. Professor Dewey gives some interesting side-lights on
German war philosophy, and shows how German thought took shape in the
struggle for German nationality against the Napoleonic menace, and how
profoundly that crisis affected the philosophy of morals, of the state,
and of history which has since that time penetrated into the common
consciousness of Germany.
Doctor Dewey thinks that cavalry generals who employ philosophy to
bring home practical lessons are mighty rare outside of Germany. More
significant than the words themselves are their occasion and the
occupation of the one who utters them. Outside of Germany it would be
indeed hard to find an audience where an appeal for military preparedness
would be reinforced by allusions to the Critique of Pure Reason. By
taking the statements as given by the German philosophers one can
understand the temper in which opinion in Germany meets a national
crisis. When the philosopher Eucken, who received the Nobel prize for
contributing to the idealistic literature of the world, justifies the
part taken by Germany in a world war because the Germans alone do not
represent a particularistic and nationalistic spirit, but embody the
“universalism” of humanity itself, he utters a conviction bred in German
thought by the ruling interpretation of German philosophic idealism. By
the side of this motif the glorification of war as a biologic necessity,
forced by increase of population, is a secondary detail giving a
totally false impression when isolated from its context. Philosophical
justification of war follows inevitably from a philosophy of history
composed in nationalistic terms. The author says that history is the
movement, the march of God on earth through time. Only one nation at a
time can be last and hence the fullest realization of God.
=The War and America.= By HUGO MÜNSTERBERG. D. Appleton & Co., New York
and London. 1915. $1.00 net, pp. 210.
=The Peace and America.= By PROF. HUGO MÜNSTERBERG. D. Appleton & Co.,
New York and London. 1915. Price $1.00 net, pp. 280.
These two illuminating books written by Professor Münsterberg of Harvard
University, give a wealth of information regarding the causes of the
Great War. He is known as perhaps the greatest psychologist in America
to-day. He is, however, well qualified to write on this great subject on
account of his intense interest in the outcome of the conflict, and also
on account of his great desire for peace between nations.
The War and America discusses the essential factors and issues of the
European War and their meaning and import for Americans. All the fighting
that has been done through the thousands of years past were nothing but
mere skirmishes as compared with the conflict of to-day. The one great
lesson for America in the European conflict will show that the loss and
waste will be so much larger than the righting of a possible wrong will
amount to that it will be utterly impossible to even think of going
into a war on a large scale as has been done in the Great War. All
concessions could have been granted a half dozen times over by each and
every nation involved in the conflict, and yet, the cost would have been
but a mere drop in the bucket as compared with what it now amounts to,
after one year of hostilities. Professor Münsterberg says: “A gigantic
destruction of human life such as this war demands must naturally force
on everyone the wish for a substitute which is less painful to the
imagination.” Perhaps good will come of the war in that respect. It will
be such a lesson to the world that it will be thoroughly awakened to
the real danger of the present foolish method of settling international
disputes. Professor Münsterberg is a writer of great fame, having
written more books on Psychology than any other man, he gives a broad
interpretation to that peculiar state of international affairs which have
ultimately to reckon with the Peace Movement.