Hugins, Roland

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336 THE OPEN COURT.policy of Austria and her attempts in the direction of social refor-mation. The colonial policy of Austria is her Balkan policy ; othercolonies are not even dreamed of in Austria. It is merely an eco-nomic colonization, since the Balkan states are the natural marketfor Austrian productions. Austria is unconscious of any desireof political expansion. It is this Balkan policy which has producedthe antagonism of Russia ; for its most vital demand is the deliv-erance of the Balkans from Russian imperialism. As regards theproblems of social reform, Austria like the rest of Europe owes anenormous debt of gratitude to Germany. Austria was the first Euro-pean nation which in 1887 followed the epoch-making example ofGermany by introducing governmental labor insurance. The nation-alization of railroads, the taking over by municipalities of electriccar lines, the telephone, gas and electricity, stock-yards, of the im-portation of meat etc., are some of the items of that German andAustrian political socialism, which, as already said, has been calledmonarchical socialism by American admirers.If finally I am to sum up the fundamental components of Aus-trian policy, this may best be done by repeating the three main itemsof the inner political, the foreign and the socialistic program : na-tional autonomy, a Balkan policy on an economic basis, and a well-tempered state socialism.UNITED STATES: CRUSADER.BY ROLAND HUGINS."Let us be very clear, and make very clear to allthe world what our motives and objects arc."—President Wilson, April 3, 1917.AMERICA strikes. For three perturbed years she has stood out-*- side Armageddon, watching, irresolute. Now she swings hervast resources of men and materials into action. She smashes ablow at Germany, the foe of democracy, of law, of small nations.She makes battle for the rights of humanity.America is fighting without passion, without hatred. She fightsto build the future, not to avenge the past. For herself she demandsno indemnities, no territories, no compensation. Her hands areclean. She gives herself freely. She has nothing at stake but honor,nothing to gain but the peace of the world.At the beginning a number of radical pacifists called this aUNITED states: CRUSADER. 337"Wall Street war." They mistook the mood of the country,—andof Wall Street. The financiers will keep their trade in munitions,but they are certain to lose more in taxes than they can recoup.This is a war of sentiment. Nearly all of the recognized leadersof American thought endorsed this war before it was declared : Root,Roosevelt, Choate, Taft, Hughes, Eliot, and scores of others. Thesemen are not moved by the hope of speculative profits.Since the start of the war in Europe American opinion hasrun hostile to Germany. Our newspapers, the professors in ouruniversities, our business men and our statesmen, have been vehe-ment in their denunciation of the Central Powers. President Wilsonfollowed the sentiment of these people, he did not lead it. Therewas no hypocrisy, as our German friends charge, in the President'swar message to Congress of April 3. Every word welled from adeep conviction. "We fight," he said, "without rancor and withoutselfish objects." We fight "for a universal dominion of right bysuch a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to allnations and make the world itself at last free."II.This war, as most of us recognize, is a break with our politicalpast, but not a break with our moral past. The United States hasfought five or six wars before ; and with the exception of one, theMexican War, these have always been crusades against wrong-doing.The Revolution threw otT the tyranny of George the Third. TheWar of 1812 defended the rights of neutrals at sea. The Civil Warcrushed slaver}^ The war with Spain freed Cuba from the graspof Weyler and his like. This great republic has struck, now andagain, a swift, clean blow for justice : clearing out the Barbarypirates, throwing open the prison of Vera Cruz. And once more therepublic takes the sword in the same heroic spirit it fought its warsof old. .On its political side, however, this war is the greatest innovationmade in American polity since the foundation. Heretofore we havescrupulously refused to participate in European quarrels. Ourpolicy was laid down, with clarity and precision, by President Wash-ington in his Farewell Address. He declared:"Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none,or a very remote relation. Hence, she must be engaged in frequentcontroversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to ourconcerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicateourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her poli-338 THE OPEN COURT.tics, or the ordinary combinations or collisions of her friendships,or enmities Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of anypart of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils ofEuropean ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?"The "set of primary interests" to which Washington referredis the struggle for power. European nations, he said in effect, areambitious rivals. They compete with one another for territory, forcolonies, for prestige. They are a vast network of hereditaryloyalties and enmities. Their rivalship involves them in frequentwars. They fight for each other or against each other, they combineand recombine, as interest, temper or caprice dictate, so that thebitterest foe of yesterday becomes the dearest ally of to-day. Euro-pean interests have to us at most a very remote relation ; the causesof these frequent controversies are essentially foreign to our con-cerns ; we would do wisely not to entangle our peace and prosperityin their toils.Such was Washington's judgment and advice, given at the timeof the French Revolution, and directly concurred in, as we know,by Hamilton and Madison. For a century and a quarter this elderwisdom has guided xA.merican relations with Europe. But now,after two or three years of deliberation, we have repudiated thispolicy of isolation. We have not gone so far, as yet, as to makea permanent alliance with any part of Europe. None the less weare, for the first time in our history, playing an important and prob-ably decisive role in European affairs.We have reversed our policy, and the effects will be momentousfor us ; but our action is not, on that score alone, to be condemnedby any one. John Stuart Mill remarked: "A great statesman is hewho knows when to depart from traditions, as well as when to ad-here to them." We have departed from our traditions, for reasonsthat we believe to be both adequate and unselfish : We have refusedto believe that the present Titanic struggle is all of a piece withEurope's former wars. We do not think this a conflict betweengreedy rivals, equally unscrupulous and mutually responsible. Wethink that Germany and her accomplices are chiefly, if not wholly,to blame. We believe three things : that Germany was the brutalaggressor in this war ; that she waged the war with a calculated andinhuman frightfulness ; and that her victory would be a positivedisaster for civilization and for the democracies of the world. Forthese beliefs we risk our wealth and our lives. We pledge ourselvesto stop and bring to terms a government that has run amuck.UNITED states: CRUSADER. 339Not even our enemies should be allowed to believe us mean-spirited and guileful. We may, conceivably, be mistaken. Wemay have miscalculated. We may have profoundly misread Euro-pean politics. Of our good sense, only the future can judge. OnApril 26, 1917, President Wilson wrote to Arthur Brisbane: "Inthese trying times, one can feel certain only of his motives, whichhe must try to purge of selfishness of every kind, and await withpatience for the judgment of a calmer day to vindicate the wisdomof the course he has tried conscientiously to follow."III.The purpose of a war is not achieved by starting it. In a longwar the objects with which we begin may not be the objects withwhich we finish. We began the Spanish-American war to free Cuba,but we ended with the Philippines and an Asiatic problem on ourhands. We have, now, no quarrel with the German people as dis-tinct from the German government. But after we have spilled aflood of our blood, it may be, in order to help kill hundreds of thou-sands and perhaps millions of the German people, we may feel lesskindly toward them.We must make clear to all the world, said our President, whatour motives and objects are. Yes, to all the world. And it strikesme that there are people right here in America, and many people inEngland, France, Russia and Italy, who will need to be told, againand again, the objects for which these United States fight. TheGermans will find out what we are saying to them. Our ships andguns will make it very clear to them. "Hindenburg," remarkedLloyd George, "does not know America." Is Mr. Lloyd Georgesure that he himself, and Milner and Curzon and Balfour and Car-son, know America?The specific mistake that Englishmen and Frenchmen will beprone to, is this: that they will mistake the extreme pro-ally parti-sans in America for representatives of the whole of America. Theywill not realize that we have two hyphenate bodies in America, theGerman-Americans and the Anglo-Americans. Neither faction rep-resents the bulk and heart of the American people. The pro-Germansare those whose sympathies in the war lie rather with Germany andAustria than with their opponents. The x\nglo-Americans are thosewho love England, or France, as though it were their native land,and whose loyalty to America is really conditioned on Americanaid to the Entente.The pro-Germans are not a source of danger at present. In340 THE OPEN COURT.any event they have no choice but to acquiesce in the measurestaken by the American government. They are, of necessity, suffer-ing acute spiritual distress ; many of them are torn by conflictingemotions. But whatever their feehng may be, they are powerless,and they know it too well to cause a disturbance. Our Anglo-Americans are, on the other hand, a real source of danger, becausethey actively misrepresent American ideals. They are not, at heart,Americans, with a faith in America's nobility and destiny ; they areat heart Colonials. Civilization for them does not center in Wash-ington and New York and Boston. It centers in Europe,—some-where along a line drawn between Paris and London.These Colonials cursed A.merica when it seemed to be ham-pering the Entente, and blessed it when it helped the Entente. Theyhave shot poisonous gas on President Wilson one month, and astream of rosewater the next. They have for two years sought toinvolve America in the war, and now they are happy and trium-phant. But their work is not finished. They will not rest until theyhave done their utmost to bring about a permanent alliance or"understanding" with Great Britain and her allies. They wantAmerica to help the Entente to the fullest measure possible, but ofcourse they would consider it impertinent for America to attemptto dictate any of the policies of the Entente. They are rapturouslyenthusiastic over the war.As I say, the English and the French will do well not to identifythese Colonials with America. The vast bulk of Americans are notenthusiastic over the war. They go into it reluctantly, grimly, withheavy hearts, impelled only by a sense of duty. The extreme slack-ness of recruiting since the declaration shows that no war fever israging. Had the question of war or peace been submitted topopular vote, we have no notion what the decision would have been;for the idea of a referendum was anathema to those who wantedthe war most. Americans, the bulk of them, are "pro-ally" in onesense only. We believe the Allies to be fighting for principles thatwe, too, hold sacred. But we are distinctly not interested in ad-vancing the imperial ambitions of any one, either ourselves or ourfriends. We fight for the right, as we see the right.IV.And so America speaks a new language in international affairs,and she has something pertinent to say to her friends as well asto her foes. If America should address herself, for example, toUNITED states: CRUSADER. 341Great Britain, who is our nearest of kin and who should understandus best, she would express herself as follows:"For the first time in our history our relations have becomereally cordial and affectionate. We now, as a people, see the vaststore of human worth and character in England ; and we can admireand love her despite her faults. And we know that this is the onlytrue and sensible way for us to regard England; for any nationcan love any other nation, and any can hate any other, as historyhas proved scores of times, and is proving again to-day."We know you will return our love, but we also know that weare purchasing your love with a price, and a costly price. We payfor it with our own spilt blood. We pay for it too, with the hateand rankling sense of injustice aroused against us in millions ofGerman hearts."Europe, we are not unaware, has always looked on us withcontempt. We have been called shopkeepers, dollar chasers, ma-terialists. We have been thought to be a vast uniform pool ofmiddle-class commonplaceness. You, Englishmen, have been readyenough to subscribe to this aspersion, that we are Philistines. Wedo not again want to hear this slander. On purely idealistic groundswe are helping you to win your greatest war. We are fighting thefirst purely doctrinaire war in history. We are a novel force inafifairs : a nationalized sentimentality. And we shall be for a longtime a dangerous sentimentality : rich, ingenious,—and armed."We are fighting Germany because we believe her to be ananachronism ; and we do not think anachronisms of that kind shouldbe tolerated in this modern world. We do not think the twentiethcentury is the time for national piracy, or for thirteenth centurymethods of warfare. We have refused to excuse German brutal-ities on the ground of necessity. We have not allowed her to do,in her desperation, what other nations would be tempted to do indesperation, because we regard her as a nation whose spear knowsno brother, fitter for Roman times than ours."There is one compliment you must not pay to us: do notimagine we are pursuing any deep or subtle policy. Do not imaginewe are better versed in Realpolitik than we appear to be. Thiswar was not forced in America in order to secure an adequatepreparedness, nor to forestall a possible aggression from Japan.We did not even go to war to protect our ships and our commerce.We know perfectly well that our controversy with Germany oversubmarines hinged upon our refusal to enforce international law342 THE OPEN COURT.against your food blockade of Germany. In us there is no wileor guile. May we say that we expect to find none in you ? We havetaken your professions that you are fighting for righteousness andpeace at face value, without any discount. May we say that weexpect those professions to be lived up to?"And may we add further, that we realize that words areslippery things, and may mean different things on different sides ofthe Atlantic? We do not want to destroy the future to avenge thepast. A peace without victory may no longer be possible, but weshall certainly want to see a peace without punishment. We wantto teach Germany a lesson, we do not want to reduce her to impo-tence. A minimum of common sense would tell us that a despoiledand ravaged Germany would simply make Central Europe the breed-ing ground for new wars. We see no more reason to give free playto French hate than to any other variety of it. Hate cannot insurepeace ; only magnanimity can. We can shoot guns, big and little,but we do not expect to find any blood on the nails of our soldiers'boots."In that way and for these purposes, our English friends,America makes war. And for these purposes she will make herfuture wars."SYMPATHY FOR POLAND IN GERMAN POETRY.BY MAXIMILIAN J. RUDWIN.SUFFERING Poland has never failed to arouse the sympathyof the poets of Germany. The critical events in the history ofthis martyr of Europe have always been accompanied by expres-sions of deep compassion on the part of the literary men in Ger-many.^ The first partition of Poland touched the heart-strings ofthe Swabian bard Christian Daniel Schubart (1739-1791), and thisunfortunate poet, who afterward became the innocent victim of thetyrannical duke of Wiirttemberg,^ has the credit of having writtenthefirst German poem which gives expression to the grief of Poland.^1 On the life and imprisonment of Schubart see the article in the Londonjournal Leisure Hour, 1854, III, 667f, and 685 f.- Vide Robert Franz Arnold, Geschichte der deutschcn Polenliteratur,Vol. I : Von den Anfdngen bis i8oq. Halle, 1900. The appearance of thesecond volume, which is to bring the subject down to date, has been undulydelayed. Professor Arnold has shown in the first voulme such an intimateacquaintance with the subject that the continuation of his scholarly work isbeing eagerly expected even on this side of the Atlantic.

United States: Crusader.

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United States: Crusader.

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