The United States cannot satisfy all the people of the belligerent
countries by its neutrality. The people of Europe are so wrought up by
the present deplorable conditions that most of them have come to believe
that all who are not for them are against them. There is irritation both
on the part of the Teutonic allies and the Anglo-French allies because
our government has not shown more decided sympathies with one side or
the other, and taken a more decisive stand for or against the
conflicting contentions. When the war ends there will doubtless be anger
against us in all the belligerent countries. Should the war end in
anything like a draw, leaving one or more great nations with a veteran
and still formidable army and navy, such an army and navy would be more
than a match for any force that the United States now has in being.
Should one of the nations, thus relieved from peril on its own
continent, see fit to call this country to account for some fancied
failure in neutral obligation, or to demand from us a large indemnity,
the countries formerly at war with it might not see fit to make any
intervention in our behalf. They might all say to Uncle Samuel: “You
left us to fight our own battles and were not moved to interfere even by
the dictates of humanity. Now we will leave you to fight yours!”
It is useless to say that at the end of the war all the countries, and
notably England and Germany, will be so exhausted that they will be
unable to engage in another great war. History does not so teach. At the
end of a long war a country has its forces mobilized and equipped and
the military spirit at its height. At the close of our four years’
exhausting Civil War, the United States was the most formidable military
power in the world, which it is very far from being to-day. It is no
time for our people to imitate the ostrich and hide their heads in the
sand. There are perils ahead for us whether the war ends soon or late,
and however it ends. And besides that, if we desire to promote the
world’s peace, we must be prepared to speak with a strong voice.
Idealistic notions are valuable in their place, but they are about as
potent in the storm of war, and the aftermath of a great world-war, as
the twittering of sparrows in a storm. If our country lies helpless it
will simply be a temptation to some of the now warring nations to recoup
themselves from our wealth for their enormous losses.