The Days of a Man 1913 



Dumas said: 



France leads in peace propaganda. The problem seemed too 

 easy from 1900 to 1905; then came a reaction which grew 

 stronger with the Agadir affair. Every money lender, armament 

 builder, and army officer claims to work for peace, peace by 

 force of arms. The peace movement must not count on popu- 

 larity. Only the man who is ready to be burned is fit to be 

 canonized. Half-hearted friends are often more dangerous than 

 enemies. But some of our French associates insist that other 

 nations cannot understand the fear of German armies felt by 

 France, Belgium, and Holland. In Paris we are only three hours 

 from an enemy frontier. Paris must be made safe. It is not a 

 question of economics but of honor and security. What can 

 you say about "trusting" Germany to a Frenchman who lived 

 through the siege of Paris? l 



Warden Warden, an intimate friend of Norman Angell, 

 proved an effective member of the group. During the 

 war he came for a time to the United States, and 

 here published an admirable little book entitled 

 "Common Sense Patriotism," an appeal from the 

 follies of victory, indemnity, and annexation to a 

 rational international view of world interests. He had 

 previously made strenuous efforts through official 

 friends in Switzerland to bring about some form of 

 mediation, a hopeful line summarily cut short by the 

 ill-starred diver campaign. 



On my way back to Wesen I gave an afternoon to 

 Basel, a city then much swollen by immigration from 

 both Baden and Alsace. According to one of the 

 citizens, the Alsatians came because they would not 



1 It is hardly necessary to add that later events more than justified Dumas' 

 uneasiness, shared by a great many of his compatriots. 



C 516 : 



