Preparedness never has prevented war and it never will. Germany had that slogan. Look at her! History shows that preparedness has always led to war. It can lead nowhere else. We build; our rivals build――cruisers, airplanes, gas factories, submarines, armies. We build more; they build more. A race in armaments starts, and this always ends in war. General Frederick B. Maurice of the British army says: “I used to believe that if you want peace, you must prepare for war; but I have come to see that, if you prepare for war thoroughly and efficiently, you will get war.” ANOTHER WORLD WAR WOULD FINISH US Militarist theories predicate winning one’s wars. No nation won the last war. France is less secure than in 1914; England is less prosperous. All the “victor” nations are staggering under taxes and armaments; and there are the multitudinous dead. Herbert Hoover at Los Angeles on Armistice Day declared that another great war would be the “cemetery of civilization.” Winston Churchill describes it as the “general doom.” His article entitled “Shall We Commit Suicide?” should be widely read. A war of airplanes, poison gas, and hate――a baby killers’ war――the women conscripted and exterminated with the men――a city wiped out at a time――America’s cities almost as vulnerable as Europe’s, now that airships and submarines carry planes――such a war would surely be the twilight of the white civilization. We should perish as other civilizations in the brief span of human history have perished before us. Consequently, while war is threatening from every quarter, preparedness for war offers no hope to any nation――not even the hope of victory. Increasing preparedness can only hasten the “general doom.” Our sole hope of survival lies in preparing adequately and intelligently for peace. HISTORY HAS SHOWN A SUCCESSFUL WAY OUT The way out of the perilous chaos into which godless and stupid policies have brought the world is a way that has proved uniformly successful. It has been tried so far in cities, states, and nations. It worked in the Maine township where I grew up, and it works equally well on a national scale in every civilized land on which the sun shines. It is now universally practised――except between nations. MACHINERY PLUS PUBLIC OPINION We call it, roughly speaking, the substitution of law for war. To express it more accurately, our present task is to build machinery adequate to settle all disputes that might cause war, and to build behind that machinery a sound world opinion capable of bearing very heavy strains. Machinery unsupported by public opinion is dead. On the other hand, public opinion without machinery through which to function is helpless. These are the two main tasks. At the same time, armaments must be reduced by international conferences, war must be outlawed, and goodwill must be cultivated. The development of goodwill should be begun in the schools.