Neither do we presume to suggest to her any alteration or
modification of her institutions. But it is necessary, we must
frankly say, and necessary as a preliminary to any intelligent
dealings with her on our part, that we should know whom her spokesmen
speak for when they speak to us, whether for the Reichstag majority
or for the military party and the men whose creed is imperial
domination.
We have spoken now surely in terms too concrete to admit of any
further doubt or question. An evident principle runs through the
whole program I have outlined. It is the principle of justice to all
peoples and nationalities and their right to live on equal terms of
liberty and safety with one another, whether they be strong or weak.
Unless this principle be made its foundation, no part of the
structure of international justice can stand. The people of the
United States could act upon no other principle, and to the
vindication of this principle they are ready to devote their lives,
their honor and everything that they possess. The moral climax of
this, the culminating and final war for human liberty, has come, and
they are ready to put their own strength, their own highest purpose,
their own integrity and devotion to the test.