191 73 ^^yacta est Alea^ 



must be "unarmed and unafraid." "Personal free- 

 dom is the first casualty in any war," and as Rous- 

 seau once observed, it is easier to gain freedom than 

 to recover it when lost. 



All war is in itself a confession of failure, and at the yar-^mi 

 end its avowed purpose may be as far from attain- '^'''■'^'"'^^ 

 ment as at the beginning. Nevertheless, there were 

 some other aspects of the matter not to be overlooked. 

 True peace cannot be gained by lying down before 

 aggression. Had Belgium surrendered, she would 

 have forfeited her independence. The spectacle of 

 Germany, even though bankrupt, as the overlord of 

 a prostrate Europe would be intolerable, and we 

 could not permit the defeat of Great Britain in a 

 struggle in which her part, despite sordid side- 

 currents, was essentially altruistic so far as the 

 people were concerned. It is true, no doubt, that 

 of the original warring nations only Belgium en- 

 tered the conflict with clean hands, but Germany 

 began it. 



On April 8, on my way to California, I sent the ^h-^taie- 

 foUowing statement to the San Francisco Bulletin: 



Our country is now at war and the only way out is forward. I 

 would not change one word I have spoken against war. But 

 that is no longer the issue. We must now stand together in the 

 hope that our entrance into Europe may in some way advance 

 the cause of Democracy and hasten the coming of lasting peace. 



Upon my arrival home the Stanford Chaparral 

 honored me with a cartoon representing a tombstone 

 bearing the inscription "Emeritus," with a cooing 

 dove above it. The efforts of three years had indeed 

 ended in failure, perhaps inevitably so. But any 

 other course would for me have been cowardly. 



c 735 :i 



mint 



