President Emeritus Charles W. Eliot, Cambridge, Mass.
Dr. Eliot to Mr. Schiff.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 28, 1914.
Dear Mr. Schiff:
I think, just as you do, that the thing which most needs to be done is
to induce Germany to modify its present opinion that the nation must
fight for its very life to its last mark and the last drop of its blood.
Now, every private letter that I have received from Germany, and every
printed circular, pamphlet, or book on the war which has come to me from
German sources insists on the view that, for Germany, it is a question
between world empire or utter downfall. There is no sense or reason in
this view, but the German philosophers, historians, and statesmen are
all maintaining it at this moment.
England, France, and Russia have no such expectations or desires as
regards the fate of Germany. What they propose to do is to put a stop to
Germany's plan of attaining world empire by militarism. Have you any
means of getting into the minds of some of the present rulers of Germany
the idea that no such alternative as life or death is presented to
Germany in this war, and that the people need only abandon their
world-empire ambitions while securing safety in the heart of Europe and
a chance to develop all that is good in German civilization? Sincerely
yours,