Speech at the Guildhall, Sept. 5.
My Lord Mayor and Citizens of London: It is three and a half years since
I last had the honor of addressing in this hall a gathering of the
citizens. We were then met under the Presidency of one of your
predecessors, men of all creeds and parties, to celebrate and approve
the joint declaration of the two great English-speaking States that for
the future any differences between them should be settled, if not by
agreement, at least by judicial inquiry and arbitration, and never in
any circumstances by war. [Cheers.] Those of us who hailed that great
Eirenicon between the United States and ourselves as a landmark on the
road of progress were not sanguine enough to think, or even to hope,
that the era of war was drawing to a close. But still less were we
prepared to anticipate the terrible spectacle which now confronts us of
a contest which for the number and importance of the powers engaged, the
scale of their armaments and armies, the width of the theatre of
conflict, the outpouring of blood and the loss of life, the incalculable
toll of suffering levied upon non-combatants, the material and moral
loss accumulating day by day to the higher interests of civilized
mankind--a contest which in every one of these aspects is without
precedent in the annals of the world. ["Hear, hear!"] We were very
confident three years ago in the rightness of our position, when we
welcomed the new securities for peace. We are equally confident in it
today, when reluctantly, and against our will, but with a clear judgment
and a clean conscience, [cheers,] we find ourselves involved with the
whole strength of this empire in a bloody arbitration between might and
right [Cheers.] The issue has passed out of the domain of argument into
another field, but let me ask you, and through you the world outside,
what would have been our condition as a nation today if we had been base
enough through timidity or through perverted calculation of
self-interest, or through a paralysis of the sense of honor and duty,
[cheers,] if we had been base enough to be false to our word and
faithless to our friends?
Blind Barbarian Vengeance.
Our eyes would have been turned at this moment with those of the whole
civilized world to Belgium, a small State, which has lived for more than
seventy years under the several and collective guarantee to which we in
common with Prussia and Austria were parties, and we should have seen at
the instance and by the action of two of these guaranteeing powers her
neutrality violated, her independence strangled, her territory made use
of as affording the easiest and the most convenient road to a war of
unprovoked aggression against France. We, the British people, would at
this moment have been standing by with folded arms and with such
countenance as we could command while this small and unprotected State,
in defense of her vital liberties, made a heroic stand against
overweening and overwhelming force; we should have been admiring as
detached spectators the siege of Liége, the steady and manful resistance
of a small army to the occupation of their capital, with its splendid
traditions and memories, the gradual forcing back of the patriotic
defenders of their native land to the ramparts of Antwerp, countless
outrages inflicted by buccaneering levies exacted from the unoffending
civil population, and, finally, the greatest crime committed against
civilization and culture since the Thirty Years' War, the sack of
Louvain, [cries of "Shame!"] with its buildings, its pictures, its
unique library, its unrivaled associations--a shameless holocaust of
irreparable treasures lit up by blind barbarian vengeance. [Prolonged
cheers.] What account should we, the Government and the people of this
country, have been able to render to the tribunal of our national
conscience and sense of honor if, in defiance of our plighted and solemn
obligations, we had endured, nay, if we had not done our best to
prevent, yes, and to avenge, [renewed cheers,] these intolerable
outrages? For my part I say that sooner than be a silent witness--which
means in effect a willing accomplice--of this tragic triumph of force
over law and of brutality over freedom, I would see this country of ours
blotted out of the pages of history. [Prolonged cheers.]
Germany's Aim--to Crush Freedom.
That is only a phase--a lurid and illuminating phase in the contest in
which we have been called by the mandate of duty and of honor to bear
our part. The cynical violation of the neutrality of Belgium was, after
all, but a step--the first step--in a deliberate policy of which, if not
the immediate, the ultimate, and the not far distant aim, was to crush
the independence and autonomy of the free States of Europe. First
Belgium, then Holland, then Switzerland, countries, like our own, imbued
and sustained with the spirit of liberty, were one after another to be
bent to the yoke, and these ambitions were fed and fostered by a body of
new doctrines and new philosophies preached by professors and learned
men. The free and full self-development which to these small States, to
ourselves, to our great and growing dominions over the seas, to our
kinsmen across the Atlantic, is the well-spring and life-breath of
national existence--that free self-development is the one capital
offense in the code of those who have made force their supreme divinity,
and who upon its altars are prepared to sacrifice both the gathered
fruits and the potential germs of the unfettered human spirit. [Cheers.]
I use this language advisedly. This is not merely a material; it is also
a spiritual conflict. [Cheers.] Upon its issues everything that contains
promise and hope, that leads to emancipation and a fuller liberty for
the millions who make up the mass of mankind will be found sooner or
later to depend.
Our Efforts for Peace.
Let me now just for a moment turn to the actual situation in Europe. How
do we stand? For the last ten years, by what I believe to be happy and
well-considered diplomatic arrangements, we have established friendly
and increasingly intimate relations with the two powers, France and
Russia, with whom, in days gone by, we have had in various parts of the
world occasions for constant friction, and now and again for possible
conflict. Those new and better relations, based in the first instance
upon business principles of give and take, matured into a settled temper
of confidence and good-will. They were never in any sense or at any
time, as I have frequently said in this hall, directed against other
powers. No man in the history of the world has ever labored more
strenuously or more successfully than my right honorable friend Sir
Edward Grey [cheers] for that which is the supreme interest of the
modern world, a general and abiding peace. It is, I venture to think, a
very superficial criticism which suggests that under his guidance the
policy of this country has ignored, still less that it has counteracted
and hampered, the concert of Europe. It is little more than a year ago
that under his Presidency, in the stress and strain of the Balkan
crisis, the Ambassadors of all the great powers met here day after day
curtailing the area of possible differences, reconciling warring
ambitions and aims, and preserving against almost incalculable odds the
general harmony. And it was in the same spirit and with the same
purpose, when a few weeks ago Austria delivered her ultimatum to Servia,
that our Foreign Secretary put forward the proposal for a mediating
conference between the four powers who were not directly
concerned--Germany, France, Italy, and ourselves. If that proposal had
been accepted actual controversy would have been settled with honor to
everybody, and the whole of this terrible welter would have been
avoided. ["Hear, hear!"]
Germany's Responsibility.
And with whom does the responsibility rest [cries of "The Kaiser!"] for
this refusal and for all the illimitable suffering which now confronts
the world? One power and one power only, and that power--Germany. [Loud
hisses.] That is the fount and origin of this worldwide catastrophe. We
are persevering to the end. No one who has not been confronted as we
were with the responsibility of determining the issues of peace and war
can realize the strength and energy and persistency with which we
labored for peace. We persevered by every expedient that diplomacy could
suggest, straining almost to the breaking point our most cherished
friendships and obligations, even to the last making effort upon effort,
and hoping against hope. Then, and only then, when we were at last
compelled to realize that the choice lay between honor and dishonor,
between treachery and good faith, when at last we reached the dividing
line which makes or mars a nation worthy of the name, it was then, and
then only, that we declared for war. [Cheers.] Is there any one in this
hall or in this United Kingdom or in the vast empire of which we here
stand in the capital and centre who blames or repents our decision?
[Cries of "No!"] For these reasons, as I believe, we must steel
ourselves to the task, and in the spirit which animated our forefathers
in their struggle against the domination of Napoleon we must and we
shall persevere to the end. [Cheers.]
Memorable and Glorious Example of Belgium.
It would be a criminal mistake to underestimate either the magnitude,
the fighting quality, or the staying power of the forces which are
arrayed against us. But it would be equally foolish and equally
indefensible to belittle our own resources, whether for resistance or
attack. [Cheers.] Belgium has shown us by a memorable and a glorious
example what can be done by a relatively small State when its citizens
are animated and fired by the spirit of patriotism. In France and Russia
we have as allies two of the greatest powers of the world engaged with
us in a common cause, who do not mean to separate themselves from us any
more than we mean to separate ourselves from them. [Cheers.] We have
upon the seas the strongest and most magnificent fleet that has ever
been seen. The expeditionary force which left our shores less than a
month ago has never been surpassed, as its glorious achievements in the
field have already made clear, not only in material and equipment but in
the physical and the moral quality of its constituents. [Cheers.]
Work of the Navy.
As regards the navy, I am sure my right honorable friend (Mr. Winston
Churchill) will tell you there is happily little more to be done. I do
not flatter it when I say that its superiority is equally marked in
every department and sphere of its activity. [Cheers.] We rely on it
with the most absolute confidence, not only to guard our shores against
the possibility of invasion, not only to seal up the gigantic
battleships of the enemy in the inglorious seclusion of his own ports
[laughter] whence, from time to time, he furtively steals forth to sow
the seeds of murderous snares, which are more full of menace to neutral
ships than to the British fleet. Our navy does all this, and while it is
thirsting, I do not doubt, for that trial of strength in a fair and open
fight, which is so far prudently denied it, it does a great deal more.
It has hunted the German mercantile marine from the high seas. It has
kept open our own sources of food supply and has largely curtailed
those of the enemy, and when the few German cruisers which still infest
the more distant ocean routes have been disposed of, as they will be
disposed of very soon, [cheers,] it will achieve for British and neutral
commerce passing backward and forward, from and to every part of our
empire, a security as complete as it has ever enjoyed in the days of
unbroken peace. Let us honor the memory of the gallant seamen who, in
the pursuit of one or another of these varied and responsible duties,
have already laid down their lives for their country.
Call for United Effort.
In regard to the army there is call for a new, a continuous, a
determined, and a united effort. For, as the war goes on, we shall have
not merely to replace the wastage caused by casualties, not merely to
maintain our military power at its original level, but we must, if we
are to play a worthy part, enlarge its scale, increase its numbers, and
multiply many times its effectiveness as a fighting instrument.
[Cheers.] The object of the appeal which I have made to you, my Lord
Mayor, and to the other chief Magistrates of our capital cities, is to
impress upon the people of the United Kingdom the imperious urgency of
this supreme duty. Our self-governing dominions throughout the empire,
without any solicitation on our part, have demonstrated with a
spontaneousness and a unanimity unparalleled in history their
determination to affirm their brotherhood with us and to make our cause
their own. [Cheers.] From Canada, from Australia, from New Zealand, from
South Africa, and from Newfoundland the children of the empire assert,
not as an obligation, but as a privilege, their right and their
willingness to contribute money and material, and, what is better than
all, the strength and sinews, the fortunes, and the lives of their best
manhood. [Cheers.] India, too, with no less alacrity, has claimed her
share in the common task. [Cheers.] Every class, and creed, British and
natives, Princes and people, Hindus and Mohammedans, vie with one
another in noble and emulous rivalry. Two divisions of our magnificent
Indian Army are already on their way. [Cheers.] We welcome with
appreciation and affection their proffered aid. In an empire which knows
no distinction of race or cause we all alike as subjects of the
King-Emperor are joint and equal custodians of our common interests and
fortunes. We are here to hail with profound and heartfelt gratitude
their association, side by side and shoulder to shoulder, with our home
and dominion troops, under the flag which is the symbol to all of a
unity that a world in arms cannot dissever or dissolve. With these
inspiring appeals and examples from our fellow-subjects all over the
world, what are we doing and what ought we to do here at home?
Over a Quarter of a Million Men Enrolled.
Mobilization was ordered on the 4th of August; immediately afterward
Lord Kitchener issued his call for 100,000 recruits for the regular
army, which has been followed by a second call for another 100,000. The
response up to today gives us between 250,000 and 300,000. [Cheers.] I
am glad to say that London has done its share. The total number of
Londoners accepted is not less than 42,000. [Cheers.] I need hardly say
that that appeal involves no disparagement or discouragement of the
territorial force. The number of units in that force who have
volunteered for foreign service is most satisfactory and grows every
day. We look to them with confidence to increase their numbers, to
perfect their organization and training, and to play efficiently the
part which has always been assigned to them, both offensive and
defensive, in the military system of the empire. But to go back to the
expansion of the regular army. We want more men--men of the best
fighting quality, and if for a moment the number who offer themselves
and are accepted should prove to be in excess of those who can at once
be adequately trained and equipped, do not let them doubt that prompt
provision will be made for the incorporation of all willing and able
men in the fighting forces of the kingdom. We want, first of all, men,
and we shall endeavor to secure them. Men desiring to serve together
shall, wherever possible, be allotted to the same regiment or corps. The
raising of battalions by counties or municipalities with this object
will be in every way encouraged. But we want not less urgently a larger
supply of ex-non-commissioned officers, and the pick of the men with
whom in past days they served, men, therefore, whom in most cases we
shall be asking to give up regular employment and to return to the work
of the State, which they alone are competent to do. The appeal we make
is addressed quite as much to their employers as to the men themselves.
The men ought to be absolutely assured of reinstatement in their
business at the end of the war. [Cheers.] Finally, there are numbers of
commissioned officers now in retirement who are much experienced in the
handling of troops and have served their country in the past. Let them
come forward, too, and show their willingness, if need be, to train
bodies of men for whom at the moment no cadre or unit can be found.
Abundant Ground for Pride and Confidence.
I have little more to say. Of the actual progress of the war I will not
say anything, except that in my judgment in whatever direction we look
there is abundant ground for pride and for confidence. [Cheers.] I say
nothing more, because I think we should all bear in mind that we are at
present watching the fluctuations of fortune only in the early stages of
what is going to be a protracted struggle. We must learn to take long
views, and to cultivate, above all, other faculties--those of patience,
endurance, and steadfastness. Meanwhile, let us go, each of us, to his
or her appropriate place in the great common task. Never had a people
more or richer sources of encouragement and inspiration. Let us realize,
first of all, that we are fighting as a united empire, in a cause worthy
of the highest traditions of our race. Let us keep in mind the patient
and indomitable seamen, who never relax for a moment, night or day,
their stern vigil of the lonely sea. Let us keep in mind our gallant
troops, who today, after a fortnight's continuous fighting under
conditions which would try the metal of the best army that ever took the
field, maintain not only an undefeated but an unbroken front. [Cheers.]
Finally, let us recall the memories of the great men and the great deeds
of the past, commemorated, some of them, in the monuments which we see
around us on these walls, not forgetting the dying message of the
younger Pitt, his last public utterance, made at the table of one of
your predecessors, my Lord Mayor, in this very hall: "England has saved
herself by her exertions, and will, as I trust, save Europe by her
example." The England of those days gave a noble answer to his appeal,
and did not sheath the sword until, after nearly twenty years of
fighting, the freedom of Europe was secured. Let us go and do likewise.
[Prolonged cheers.]
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