and what we are planning for in seeking to make conquest of peace by
arms.

I believe that I speak for them when I say two things: First, that this
intolerable Thing of which the masters of Germany have shown us the ugly
face, this menace of combined intrigue and force which we now see so
clearly as the German power, a Thing without conscience or honor or
capacity for covenanted peace, must be crushed and, if it be not
utterly brought to an end, at least shut out from the friendly
intercourse of the nations; and, second, that when this Thing and its
power are indeed defeated and the time comes that we can discuss
peace,--when the German people have spokesmen whose word we can believe
and when those spokesmen are ready in the name of their people to accept
the common judgment of the nations as to what shall henceforth be the
bases of law and of covenant for the life of the world,--we shall be
willing and glad to pay the full price for peace, and pay it
ungrudgingly. We know what that price will be. It will be full,
impartial justice,--justice done at every point and to every nation that
the final settlement must affect, our enemies as well as our friends.

You catch, with me, the voices of humanity that are in the air. They
grow daily more audible, more articulate, more persuasive, and they come
from the hearts of men everywhere. They insist that the war shall not
end in vindictive action of any kind; that no nation or people shall be
robbed or punished because the irresponsible rulers of a single country
have themselves done deep and abominable wrong. It is this thought that
has been expressed in the formula "No annexations, no contributions, no
punitive indemnities." Just because this crude formula expresses the
instinctive judgment as to right of plain men everywhere it has been
made diligent use of by the masters of German intrigue to lead the
people of Russia astray--and the people of every other country their
agents could reach, in order that a premature peace might be brought
about before autocracy has been taught its final and convincing lesson,
and the people of the world put in control of their own destinies.

But the fact that a wrong use has been made of a just idea is no reason
why a right use should not be made of it. It ought to be brought under
the patronage of its real friends. Let it be said again that autocracy
must first be shown the utter futility of its claims to power or
leadership in the modern