w w v w, iir- v A Why War ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES ON WAR AND PEACE BY NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER President of Columbia University President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters President of the Carnegie Endowmentfor International Peace Membre de Flnstitut de France CHARLES SCRIBNERS SONS NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNERS SONS LTD LONDON 1940 TO THE YOUTH OF AMERICA WHOSE PRIVILEGE AND DUTY IT WILL BE TO TAKE THE LEAD IN BRINGING ABOUT A WORLD-WIDE ORGANIZATION OF NATIONS FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT AND PROTECTION OF PROSPERITY AND PEACE CONTENTS PAGE NTRODUCnON XI I. WHY WAR I II. TOWARD A FEDERAL WORLD 9 IIL LOOKING FORWARD 1938 33 IV THE HIGHER AIM OF HUMAN ACHIEVE MENT 39 V. THE ABDICATION OF DEMOCRACY . . 47 VL THE UNITED STATES MUST LEAD, . . 55 VII. LA SOCIETE DES NATIONS 69 VIIL DEMOCRACY IN DANGER 75 IX. WAIT AND SEE 99 X. THE FAMILY OF NATIONS, 1938 . . . 119 XL NEW YEAR MESSAGE, 1939 145 XII EDUCATION FOR PEACE 149 XIIL WHERE Is TO BE THE NEXT CAPITAL OF THE WESTERN WORLD ., . 157 XIV. WORLD CONDITIONS WE ARE FACING . 165 XV. THE FOUR FREEDOMS 181 XVI. THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES SHOULD LEAD IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A WORLD SOCIETY OF NATIONS, . . . 185 ix x CONTENTS PAGE XVII. PEACE AND DEMOCRACY 193 XVIII. THE EVERLASTING CONFLICT 199 XIX, INTERNATIONAL Co - OPERATION THE ONLY PATH TO PEACE 205 XX. THE UNITED STATES AND HISTORY . . 211 XXL EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRACY 217 XXII. REPEAL THE MISCALLED NEUTRALITY ACT 225 XXIII. THE WORLD UPON WHICH YOUTH MUST LOOK 229 XXIV. EDUCATION AND THIS CHANGING WORLD 237 XXV. THE PROBLEM BEFORE ENGLAND AND AMERICA 245 XXVI. THE PROBLEM OF WAR TALKS TO STU DENTS ., .. 255 XXVIL THE FAMILY OF NATIONS, 1939 271 XXVIIL BENEATH THE SURFACE, , .., 293 XXIX. NEWYEAR MESSAGE, 1940 . . 301 XXX. THE REAL ISSUE 307 INDEX 315 INTRODUCTION These essays and addresses are appeals to public opin ion which have been made during the years 1938 and 1939 on either side of the Atlantic. Their object is two fold first, to convince the leaders of public opinion that the only sure way to prevent war is for the nations of the world to unite to remove the causes of warj and, second, that, violent hostilities having broken out on three continents, the minds of men must now be turned to such post-war settlement of those differences which have brought about hostilities as will pave the way to an orderly and peaceful world. These two aims and courses of action have been emphasized in differing language and from various points of view, but they have dominated and guided each and every one of these appeals Persistent emphasis on a purely emotional attitude toward war and peace is one of the gravest obstacles to work for the establishment of peace Those who take this attitude appear to think that nothing more is neces sary, The mere holding of mass meetings, the passing of resolutions denouncing war and the making of public demonstrations against war, highly emotional in char acter, serve no practical purpose whatsoever. Nowhere In the world could a public demonstration in favor of war as such be organized by anybody. Yet wars exist. When war, whether declared or undeclared, is begun, xii INTRODUCTION it is because of the fact that populations almost unani mously in favor of peace have not yet been able so to control their governments as to force those govern ments to meet international differences without armed conflict. The peoples of the world are opposed to war.The pressing problem is that they shall so control their several governments as to require these governments to take united action to remove the causes of war...