Memoirs of Bertha von Suttner: The Records of an Eventful Life (Vol. 1 of 2)Suttner, Bertha von
History
Memoirs of Bertha von Suttner: The Records of an Eventful Life (Vol. 1 of 2)
Suttner, Bertha von
Peace; Suttner, Bertha von, 1843-1914; Women -- Austria -- Biography
The name of the founder and president of the Association was Hodgson
Pratt. The Duke of Westminster, the Earl of Ripon, the Bishop of Durham,
and others were among its directors. Its headquarters were in London.
Hodgson Pratt, a man of lofty ethical and philanthropical principles,
had, within a few years, journeyed over the Continent for the purpose of
calling into existence branches of his society. Since then there were in
Stuttgart a “Württembergischer Verein,” Fr. von Hellwald, president; in
Berlin a provisional committee, Professor Virchow, president; in Milan a
“Unione lombarda per la pace,” Professor Vigano, president (after him,
Teodoro Moneta); in Rome an “Associazione per l’arbitrio e la pace,”
Ruggero Bonghi, Minister of Instruction, president. Others in Sweden,
Norway, and Denmark.
The appeal which the London society had adopted as the basis of its
propaganda, a copy of which Dr. Löwenthal handed me, contained the
following introduction:
Lately a member of the English ministry declared that England’s
greatest interest is peace. Could not the same thing be said of every
civilized country?
The international political conditions in the civilized world when
contemplated arouse no less astonishment than reflection.
On the one hand men of every rank and of all shades of opinion desire
progress, the common advantage and happiness of mankind; and the
object of all the endeavors of the men of science, the enlightened
writers and thinkers, culminates in the accomplishment of this
progress and well-being.
On the other hand, in opposition to these endeavors, the fruits of
industry and diligence are constantly sacrificed in behalf of military
objects, and this sacrifice serves to delay and hinder all progress.
Has the time not arrived, at the close of the Nineteenth Century, for
all men to consult together and get into agreement to put an end to
this folly, this terrible plague which can be avoided only through a
common understanding and endeavor?
But how arrive at this result? Through the irresistible power of
widely directed and energetically organized public opinion.
The means for attaining this propaganda and this organization is to be
found in the formation of a great league, with branches in all
European cities.
The appeal goes on to explain what the league was to aim at and what
were to be its methods.
On my return I found awaiting me the proof sheets of my book _Das
Maschinenzeitalter_ (“The Age of Machinery”). I added in the chapter
entitled “Zukunftsausblicke” (“Glimpses into the Future”) an account of
the London League. Just as I had previously known nothing about it, I
took it for granted that my readers also were unacquainted with this
phenomenon of the times. For in that thing called “Publicity,” the
endeavors of a few hundred men—even of a few thousand—disappear like so
many drops of carmine in an arm of the sea.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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