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Caption: War Publications - WWI Compilation 1923 - Article 13
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THE GREAT CONDITION "There can IK- but one issue. The settlement must be final. There can be no compromise."—PRESIDENT WlLSON Peace that is not conclusive is not worth having. The conclusiveness of peace depends on the attainment of the righteous purpose of the war. Peace terms proposed in the hope that mere cessation of war and bloodshed will satisfy the combatants or restore harmony and goodwill, are futile and foolish. The loss of a life, or of a million lives, is not the worst thing that could happen to the world. There are things more precious than life. If these statements are true, and I take it that we all agree that they are, the flabby peace-monger is worse than foolish. He is dangerous. lie asks for peace not to establish principle but to avoid danger and trouble and unsightliness. His moral sense is perverted. His scale of moral values is unsound. He would stroke the back of the hissing rattlesnake because of the mottled beauty of its skin. He would pacify the untamed tiger by scratching his ears and offering him a bit of the raw beef he is struggling for. The snake may respond to the patting. The tiger will seek to fill his stomach with more meat, even though it be that of the peace offerer himself. # The people among us who say they wish peace may be grouped roughly into three classes; the "peace at any price" people; the "peace by discussion" people; and the "peace by principle" people. The first group, again, includes several sub-groups. There are, in the first place, some sincere souls who look on war and bloodshed as wrong in themselves and believe that no end which these can attain can be justifiable, because of the sinfulness of the means. They are children horrified by a nightmare and do no harm excepting when, like children, they get in our way. Because they can make the tiger purr with their music when his belly is full, they think they can do it when he is roused by hunger, Then there are the cowards—not many among ttl than! i • •
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