had thirteen States, and thirteen only, but there was
other territory here, and the attractive force of the successful union
of the thirteen States brought the other territory in as it was
organized.

"Thus we started right. Europe had begun before men had become so wise,
and, having begun wrong, has found herself, through the centuries,
unable to correct old errors."

A Federation of Europe.

"Certainly I hope that out of the great crime of this vast war some good
will come. The greatest good which could come would be a general
European federation. I do not believe that this will come at once; but
the world will be infinitely the better if it comes at length--if the
natural law of mutual attraction for mutual advantage draws these
nations now at war into a union which shall make such wars impossible in
future, as wars between our States, here, are impossible.

"But before this can come peace must come, and before peace can come one
or the other of the nations now at war must at least ask for an
armistice.

"If I were in the place of that great General, Lord Kitchener, and
should receive the news that such a request had been made by the
commander of the opposing forces, I should say: 'No armistice!
Surrender!'

"But, then, if the surrender should be made, I should say, in effect:

"'Gentlemen, we have made up our minds that these terrible explosions
must mark the end of war between our civilized nations. Our sacrifices
in this war have been too great to permit us to be satisfied with less
than this.

"'If we now cannot feel assured of such a federation of nations as will
result in the settlement of all future disputes by peaceful arbitration
at The Hague, then we shall keep on fighting till the day comes when we
can achieve that end.

"'Upon the other side of the Atlantic,' I should continue if I were Lord
Kitchener and should be confronted by such a situation, 'we see in the
United States of America an example which must satisfy us that world
peace now can be maintained.

"'There,' I should go on, 'thirteen States were banded into union in
1776. Their total population was less than the present population of
their largest city and their area has spread until it links two oceans
and offers homes in forty-eight States to one hundred millions, and the
population still increases rapidly. An experiment of world significance
was tried, and is a success, for the aggregated nation has grown and now
is growing i