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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



ton, S. C. ; Savannah, Ga. ; Jacksonville 

 and Key West, Fla., are Red Cross sta- 

 tions of the first order, all directly or 

 remotely built up by mutual consent of 

 the warring elements, so that man, the 

 innocent bystander, can seek safety when 

 the front-line trenches become untenable 

 for visitors. 



the: s£a doomed to D£F£AT 



Such, briefly told, is the story of the 

 great effort of the sea to bring the land 

 under her dominion. 



It is a warfare that has its lights and 

 its shades, its tragedies and its joys. 

 Furthermore, it is a warfare with strik- 

 ing analogies to the great conflict of de- 

 mocracy against despotism, and just as 

 surely as the upheavals that raised the 

 Piedmont plains above the sea drove the 

 ocean back and set the American conti- 

 nent firm and strong, so will democ- 

 racy rise up in its power and successfully 

 vanquish its foe, however subtle, how- 

 ever persistent, however relentless that 

 foe may be. 



PRUSSIANISM * 

 By Robert Lansing, Secretary of State 



THE American people by a grad- 

 ual process of reasoning have 

 reached the firm conviction that 

 a German victory in the European strug- 

 gle would result in the greatest of perils 

 in this country and to those principles of 

 government which have been ours since 

 we became an independent nation. What- 

 ever may have been our past judgments, 

 we now realize the sinister character of 

 Prussianism which has been manifested 

 in this war. 



And yet, with this realization of the 

 truth, I find that many Americans, even 

 among those intellectually equipped, have 

 but vague ideas of the perverted mental 

 attitude which made Prussianism possi- 

 ble, and of the reason why a compromise 

 founded upon the Prussian conception 

 of international rights must not even be 

 considered. 



TH£ RELATION OP PRUSSIANISM TO P£AC£ 



To a man who thinks true in these 

 days when passion or hysteria distorts 

 opinions, Prussianism and the idea of an 

 enduring and just peace among nations 

 can never be brought into harmony. 

 They can no more mingle than can oil 

 and water. They are at the very an- 

 tipodes of human thought. We should, 

 then, comprehend the true meaning of 



* An address to Union College, June 10, 1918. 



Prussianism in order to understand the 

 great obstacle today to a return to peace 

 while Prussianism is still a power. 



In considering the elements of Prus- 

 sianism which made this war inevitable, 

 we should also consider the relation of 

 Prussianism to peace, the supreme desire 

 of mankind, and its relation to war with 

 all its suffering and destructiveness. The 

 wastes of western Europe, the ships and 

 corpses in the ocean's depths, the forest 

 of crosses marking the graves of slaugh- 

 tered men, the legions of torn and crip- 

 pled humanity, and the wretched throngs 

 of unhappy women and children are sad 

 witnesses to the horrors of war. On 

 these spectacles of brutality, misery, and 

 desolation all civilized peoples gaze with 

 anguish and bitterness. 



As there comes an increasing realiza- 

 tion of the needlessness of it all, indigna- 

 tion and anger burn in the hearts of 

 men. But in spite of the bitterness 

 aroused by these tragical scenes, they 

 hope for peace, they pray for peace, and 

 they look forward to that day when rest 

 will come to this tormented world which 

 has endured so much. 



Yet, even as they hope and pray and 

 search the future with yearning eyes, the 

 armies and navies of democracy fight on 

 with a grim determination which seems 

 to contradict the hope and purpose of 

 humanity. 



