The Red Cross at the end of the war in making elaborate and international arrangements to run a pleasant and complimentary ambulance to the relief of disease in society that society was deliberately creating every day, instead of taking advantage at the end of the war of the trust all classes had in it, and taking advantage of the attention of forty nations, of society's best and noblest need, to keep society from causing the disease, chose to be superficial, faced away from its vision, fell behind the people, absconded from the leadership of the world. The aches and pains of society with which since the war, the Red Cross so politely and elegantly deals, which with white kid gloves and without hurting our feelings it spends our money to relieve are all caused by the things we daily do to each other to make the money. The vision of the common people in America recognizes this and recognized it instantly at the end of the war. The hearts of the men and women of America to-day, are at once too bitter, too deep and too hopeful not to instantly lose interest in a Red Cross which asks them to help run it as a beautiful superficial ambulance to the evils people are doing to one another instead of as a machine to help them not to do them. V MISSOURI The best service America can render other nations to-day is be herself--fulfill and make the most of herself. Senator Reed of Missouri would probably agree with me in this. Where I differ with Senator Reed is in what America should propose to do to make the most of herself. Senator Reed of Missouri judging from reports of his speeches in the Senate wants America in the present distraction of nations to stop thinking of the others, wizen up and be safe. It seems to me that if America were to cut herself off from the rest of the world in its hour of need and just shrivel up into thinking of herself she would fail to fulfill herself and be like herself. She would just be like Senator Reed of Missouri. Nothing could be less safe for America just now than to be like Senator Reed of Missouri. Senator Reed puts forward a patriotism which is sincere but reckless. In the Senate of fifty states, Reed says "I'm from Missouri." In the congress of nations, Reed says "America ueber Alles." "The world for America." "America for Missouri." "Missouri for Me!" For America just at the present moment in the world it has got to belong to, to turn away and stop being interested in the whole world and in everybody in it and in what everybody is going to do and be kept from doing--is like a man's shutting himself up in his own stateroom and being interested in his own port hole in a ship that is going down. It seems more sensible for America--even from the point of view of looking out for herself--not to go down with Senator Reed and moon around in his stateroom with him, but to be deeply interested in the whole ship, and in the engines, the wheelhouse and the pumps.