1915;] -A Paradoxical Undertaking 



In order that their sacrifice may not have been in vain, 

 humanity owes it to the milHons of men led Hke cattle to the 

 slaughterhouse, that a supreme effort be made to stop this 

 wicked waste of life. 



The people of the belligerent countries did not want the 

 war. The people did not make it. The people want peace. 

 The world looks to us, to America, to lead in ideals. The 

 greatest mission ever before a nation is ours. . . . 



At Starkvllle, Mississippi, seat of the State Agri- More than 

 cultural College, I received a telegram earnestly ^^°^T^ 

 inviting my wife and me to come at once to New York 

 to sail with the Expedition, which I was assured 

 would lead to a "Committee of Continuous Media- 

 tion" to be chosen from among those on the ship. 

 Later messages were even more urgent. But I could 

 not accept the invitation, as I had no faith in the suc- 

 cess of a movement so organized. To begin with, the 

 slogans lent a touch of opera-houffe, and the proposed 

 method of selection of a Mediation Committee mmst, 

 in my judgment, defeat its own ends. For I felt that 

 such a body to be effective would have to be com- 

 posed of experts in International Law and European 

 History chosen with utmost care. Miss Addams, who 

 viewed with apprehension the bizarre phases rapidly 

 assumed by the "Crusade," was in any case detained 

 on account of ill health. 



The scheme involved two contradictory ideas — Publicity 

 world-wide publicity on the one hand and construe- "^l'^^^ 

 tive mediation on the other. Something could be 

 said for either line of action, but not for the two 

 together. A demonstration demanded the widest 

 publicity — mediation was possible only in quiet and 

 without advertisement. 



The Oscar II, however, carried many able and 



n 683 :] 



