oughout the world. My hope, of course, is that in their turn the
public servants of the people will take no action so fraught with
possible harm to the future of the people as to oblige farsighted and
patriotic men to protest against it."

One month later, in a long article in "The Outlook", Roosevelt
reiterated this view in these words:

".... We, all of us, without regard to party differences, must stand
ready loyally to support the Administration, asking nothing except that
the policy be one that in truth and in fact tells for the honor and
interest of our Nation and in truth and in fact is helpful to the cause
of a permanent and righteous world peace."

In the early months of the war, Roosevelt thus scrupulously endeavored
to uphold the President's hands, to utter no criticism that might
hamper him, and to carry out faithfully the President's adjuration to
neutrality. He recognized clearly, however, the price that we must pay
for neutrality, and he set it forth in the following passage from the
same article: "A deputation of Belgians has arrived in this country to
invoke our assistance in the time of their dreadful need. What action
our Government can or will take I know not. It has been announced that
no action can be taken that will interfere with our entire neutrality.
It is certainly eminently desirable that we should remain entirely
neutral, and nothing but urgent need would warrant breaking our
neutrality and taking sides one way or the other. Our first duty is to
hold ourselves ready to do whatever the changing circumstances demand
in order to protect our own interests in the present and in the future;
although, for my own part, I desire to add to this statement the proviso
that under no circumstances must we do anything dishonorable, especially
toward unoffending weaker nations. Neutrality may be of prime necessity
in order to preserve our own interests, to maintain peace in so much of
the world as is not affected by the war, and to conserve our influence
for helping toward the reestablishment of general peace when the time
comes; for if any outside Power is able at such time to be the medium
for bringing peace, it is more likely to be the United States than any
other. But we pay the penalty of this action on behalf of peace for
ourselves, and possibly for others in the future, by forfeiting our
right to do anything on behalf of peace for the Belgians in the present.
We can maintain our neutrality only by