Within the last week Mr. Lloyd George has spoken with admirable
candor and in admirable spirit for the people and Government of Great
Britain. There is no confusion of counsel among the adversaries of
the Central Powers, no uncertainty of principle, no vagueness of
detail. The only secrecy of counsel, the only lack of fearless
frankness, the only failure to make definite statement of the objects
of the war lies with Germany and her allies. The issues of life and
death hang upon these definitions. No statesman who has the least
conception of his responsibility ought for a moment to permit himself
to continue this tragical and appalling outpouring of blood and
treasure unless he is sure beyond a peradventure that the objects of
the vital sacrifice are part and parcel of the very life of society,
and that the people for whom he speaks think them right and
imperative, as he does.
There is, moreover, a voice calling for these definitions of
principle and of purpose which is, it seems to me, more thrilling and
more compelling than any of the many moving voices with which the
troubled air of the world is filled. It is the voice of the Russian
people. They are prostrate and all but helpless, it would seem,
before the grim power of Germany, which has hitherto known no
relenting and no pity. Their power apparently is shattered. And yet
their soul is not subservient. They will not yield either in
principle or in action. Their conception of what is right, of what it
is humane and honorable for them to accept, has been stated with a
frankness, a largeness of view, a generosity of spirit and a
universal human sympathy which must challenge the admiration of every
friend of mankind; and they have refused to compound their ideals or
desert others that they themselves may be safe.