NINETEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART VII 415 



Third, I thought the farmers of this country wanted a quicli peace, 

 and get the boys back as soon as possible — not a minute before our job 

 is done, but just as soon as it is done. 



It struck me like this: 



First, that the greatest and most powerful and superb organization 

 that this world has ever seen has just arrested the most dangerous gang 

 of hold-ups on earth. That the sheriff came pretty nearly being the 

 Lord Almighty Himself. That there are several things that have got to 

 be done now. That the first is that a part of the posse which is no longer 

 needed must now be sent home to go to work — that is, demobilization. 



Second, the criminals must be tried and sentenced and set to work out 

 their own sentence — that is peace. 



Third, that we have to make a certain reorganization of the posse, sc 

 that in the future, instead of having to punish those who are guilty, we 

 will have a machine to prevent wars — ^that is the League of Nations. In- 

 cidental to that we have got to have the property stolen returned to its 

 proper owners, and the cause for the irritation removed. 



Fourth, that the communities from which the posse came have got 

 to reorganize themselves so as to get what they fought for — that is re- 

 construction. 



Demobilization is already wall under way. I regret as much as you do 

 that the coming of peace found us unprepared in doing what "we should 

 have done to help our soldiers get back in the places they ought to have, 

 instead of turning them loose to shift for themselves, and that there were 

 many mistakes made in not supplying dependents while the bread-winners 

 were on the other side. 



Demobilization is not reconstruction. Reconstruction is getting what 

 we fought for. We fought for democracy and justice. We paid a price 

 we hardly realize. We have not paid one million, five hundred thousand 

 lives, as France; nor six hundred thousand lives, as England. We will, 

 however, feel it for years to come. The paying of these enormous taxes, 

 which are going to be tremendous for a long time — and they were com- 

 paratively easy while the war was on, but now the enthusiasm is more or 

 less removed, and we have got to pay them in the gray dawn of the morn- 

 ing to come. So let us get out of this what we ought to get out of it. 

 The price is gigantic. 



Now the terms of peace that are made on the other side are going 

 to be not only our terms, but our children's terms and our grandchildren's 

 terms. This is the most formative period in the history of the world since 

 Christ. The decisions made now will have more to do with the affairs 

 of billions of people than anything else that has ever been done in the 

 world. Therefore it is our business, as I see it, to take account of these 

 things and to think about them, and let our conclusions be known. 



Three things have got to be done at the peace table. In the first 

 place, Germany has got to be sentenced. What I hope will be done and 

 is going to be done is that Allies, including ourselves, ought to get 

 together to make up their minds what ought to be done with Germany. 



Second, the creation of new nationalities, especially in eastern Europe. 



