52 



The Journal of Heredity 



tioii of ]jroperty that the world has 

 seen. We are neutral. Wc try to sec 

 fairly, and to see all sides. This docs 

 not mean that wc have no opinion. 

 Quite the contrary; but it means that 

 we do not take sides with any of the 

 contending ])arties. There are at least 

 three sides to this controversy: the side 

 of the Teutonic allies; the side of the 

 other allies ; the side of the American or 

 the outside observer. It is not my part 

 to determine which side is right — if 

 there is such a thing as right in a situa- 

 tion of this kind — but only to state one 

 (jpinion and the reasons for it. It is 

 my imvilege to state an American point 

 of view. Of course I might not hold 

 this point of view if I were a national 

 in either of the sides to the conflict. 



RESPONSIBILITY FOR WAR. 



Much effort has been expended to 

 lay the blame for the starting of the 

 vast war. But it is of little consequence 

 who sj^rtnig the tra]). The great fact 

 is that the trap had been set. 



It is a singular • phenomenon, this 

 effort to escape the responsibility. For 

 years the military establishments have 

 been glorified, and to be part in the 

 establishment has been accounted the 

 highest of honor. But now the re- 

 sijc)nsilnlity must be exj^lained away. 

 Where, then, is the glory of war? 



The effort to exjjlain, to ju.stify, to 

 escape the responsibility, is a significant 

 phase in this catastrophe. And every 

 exjjlanation only exposes the more the 

 wretchedness of the situation. 



We must not take to ourselves too 

 much luster for our escape from the 

 present destruction. We are not es- 

 sentially different, only as we arc more 

 fortunately i)laced on the j^lanet and as 

 we have a nn^re flexil)le jjolitical organi- 

 zation. We do not have the problems. 



We are not to deny or even to over- 

 look the great results that have come 

 from war. X'irile races have forced 

 themselves to the front and have im- 

 pressed their stamp on society; the 

 I)e()i)les have been mixed and also as- 

 sorted; lethargic folk have been gal- 

 vanized intf) activity; iron has been put 

 into men's sinews; heroic deeds have 

 arisen; far reaches of the imagination 



have been o]3encd. The state of 

 himian affairs has been brought to its 

 present condition largely as the result 

 of war. 



On the other hand, we are not to 

 overlook the damaging results, the 

 destruction, the anguish, the check to all 

 productive enterprise, the hatred and 

 revenge, the thieving and hypocrisy 

 and deceit, the miserable spy system, 

 the loss of standards, the demoralization, 

 the loss of respect and regard for the 

 rights of the other, the thwarting of 

 national and racial devclo])ments which, 

 so far as wc can see, gave every ]3romise 

 of great results. We naturally extol the 

 nations that have survived; we do not 

 know how many superior stocks may 

 have been sacrificed to military con- 

 quest, or how many racial possibilities 

 may have been su]3prcsscd in their 

 beginnings. 



NO JUSTIFICATION OF WAR. 



But even assviming the great gains 

 that have arisen from war, this is no 

 justification of war; it only states a fact, 

 it only provides a measure of the con- 

 dition of society at any epoch. It is 

 probable that war will still exert a 

 mighty even if a lessening influence; and 

 it may still be necessary to resort to 

 arms to win for a people its natural 

 op])ortunity; but this again only indi- 

 cates the wretched state of development 

 in which we live; and so long as this 

 condition exists, every state must be 

 ready for defense. Undoubtedly, also, 

 a certain amount of military training 

 is very useful, but we have striking 

 CN'idcnce before us that a militar\' estab- 

 lishment is also very dangerous. There 

 should be other ways, in a democracy, 

 to secure something of this needful 

 training. 



The final conquest of a man is of 

 himself, and he shall then be greater 

 than when he takes a city. The final 

 conquest of a society is of itself, and it 

 shall then be greater than when it con- 

 quers its neighboring society. 



Man now begins to measure himself 

 against nature also, and he is beginning 

 to see that herein shall lie his greatest 

 conquests beyond himself; in fact, by 

 this means shall he conquer himself — 



