igiy^ Alternatives to War 



The second proposition contemplated an organiza- a League 

 tion which should first offer mediation, and then, if of Neutrals 

 unsuccessful, should attempt to clear the sea of illegal 

 or piratical interference. This plan was afterward 

 carefully worked out and better stated by Professor 

 Carlton Hayes of Columbia, still later amplified and 

 given publicity by Paul Kellogg in The Survey. It 

 would very likely have led ultimately to war, but it 

 was defensible and dignified. If no feasible alterna- 

 tive appeared, however, we urged that Congress 

 make a clear statement of America's aims in entering 

 the war. 



Our pamphlet, as well as an additional one by Hull 

 giving a historic resume of Joint High Commissions, 

 was at once widely distributed. Sympathizers had 

 meanwhile decided to hold a great mass meeting in uaiison 

 Madison Square Garden on the evening of the 24th. V^r^ 

 I had no hand in the preliminary arrangements and mletili 

 though consenting to be one of the speakers, was not 

 convinced of the wisdom of such a gathering. The 

 motives which bring people together on these occa- 

 sions are naturally very much mixed, and some over- 

 zealous person is sure to say the wrong thing, an 

 episode which catches the eye of the press. As a 

 matter of fact, exactly this happened in the case 

 of one speaker who had been most roughly treated 

 in a war meeting in the same hall the night before. 



On the other hand, I had been told that only by 

 collections at a mass meeting could funds be secured 

 for expenses already incurred. This was apparently 

 true, notwithstanding the fact that certain friends 

 gave generously, my own expenses (as I learned after 

 my arrival) having been guaranteed in advance by 

 one of the ladies. Statements current in part of the 



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