The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol. 1, January 9, 1915: What Americans Say to EuropeVarious
Philosophy
The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol. 1, January 9, 1915: What Americans Say to Europe
Various
World War, 1914-1918
But I am going too far into the future and I must return to the sad and
deplorable present. I only wanted to show how England's alliance with
this present-day Russia and its despotic, autocratic, and inhuman
Government may, if the Allies shall be victorious, prove possibly in the
nearer future, but certainly in the long run, England's Nemesis.
Before closing I want to correct the impression you appear to have
received that I have meant to suggest a conference of private persons
for the purpose of agreeing upon an appeal by them to the nations of
Europe to desist from fighting and consider terms of settlement. I know
this would be entirely impracticable and useless, but what I meant to
convey to you was my conviction that if you and men like you, of whom I
confess there are but too few, were to make the endeavor to rouse public
opinion in the United States to a point where it should insistently
demand that this terrific carnage of blood and destruction cease, it
would not be long before these warring Governments would take notice of
such sentiments on the part of the American people; and what should be
done at once is the stoppage of the furnishing of munitions of war to
any of the belligerents, as is unfortunately done to so great an extent
at present from this country.
We freely and abundantly give to the Red Cross and the many other relief
societies, but we do this, even if indirectly, out of the very profits
we derive from the war material we sell to the belligerents, and with
which the wounds the Red Cross and other relief societies endeavor to
assuage are inflicted. Yours most faithfully,
JACOB H. SCHIFF.
Dr. Eliot to Mr. Schiff.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 8, 1914.
Dear Mr. Schiff:
Your letter of Dec. 5 tells me what the difference is between you and me
in respect to the outcome of the war--I am much more hopeful or sanguine
of the world's getting good out of it than you are. Since you do not
hope to get any good to speak of out of it, you want to stop it as soon
as possible. You look forward to future war from time to time between
the nations of Europe and to the maintenance of competitive armaments.
You think that the lust of dominion must continue to be felt and
gratified, now by one nation and now by another; that Great Britain can
gratify it now, but that she will be overpowered by Russia by and by.
I am unwilling to accept these conditions for Europe, or for the world,
without urging the freer nations to make extraordinary efforts to reach
a better solution of the European international problem which, unsolved,
has led down to this horrible pit of general war.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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