Dr. Eliot to Mr. Schiff.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 8, 1914.
Dear Mr. Schiff:
Your letter of Dec. 5 tells me what the difference is between you and me
in respect to the outcome of the war--I am much more hopeful or sanguine
of the world's getting good out of it than you are. Since you do not
hope to get any good to speak of out of it, you want to stop it as soon
as possible. You look forward to future war from time to time between
the nations of Europe and to the maintenance of competitive armaments.
You think that the lust of dominion must continue to be felt and
gratified, now by one nation and now by another; that Great Britain can
gratify it now, but that she will be overpowered by Russia by and by.
I am unwilling to accept these conditions for Europe, or for the world,
without urging the freer nations to make extraordinary efforts to reach
a better solution of the European international problem which, unsolved,
has led down to this horrible pit of general war.
I have just finished another letter to THE NEW YORK TIMES, which will
probably be in print by the time you get back to New York, so I will not
trouble you with any exposition of the grounds of my hopefulness. It is
because I am hopeful that I want to see this war fought out until
Germany is persuaded that she cannot dominate Europe, or, indeed, make
her will prevail anywhere by force of arms. When that change of mind has
been effected I hope that Germany will become a member of a federation
firm enough and powerful enough to prevent any single nation from
aiming at world empire, or even pouncing on a smaller neighbor.
There is another point on which I seem to differ from you: I do not
believe that any single nation has now, or can ever hereafter have, the
leadership of the world, whereas you look forward to the existence of
such leadership or domination in the hands of a single great power. Are
there not many signs already, both in the East and in the West, that the
time has past for world empire? Very sincerely and cordially yours,