Chapter 5: The International Mind: Opening Address as Chairman of the Lake Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration, May 15, 1912

At the time of our gathering one year ago it was natural and almost inevitable that a note of congratulation and happy augury should be sounded. All the signs both at home and abroad seem propitious, and those who had labored so long and so earnestly to promote the cause of international justice and international peace could reasonably feel that substantial progress toward the goal of their hopes had made. Today we meet in a somewhat different atmosphere. Many of us find ourselves troubled by doubts and harassed by disappointment. Within sixty days after the Conference of 1911 had risen, two of the greatest, most powerful, and most enlightened nations known to history were widely believed to be on the verge of armed conflict about something which nobody was able to understand or to explain. The newspaper press of the world was filled with the most terrifying alarms. Charges and countercharges, suspicions and counter-suspicions, were heralded all round the globe and the hearts of the lovers of peace with justice sank within them. All at once modern civilization seemed bankrupt, and the western world suddenly appeared as if approaching a cataclysm. Nevertheless, the oft-predicted contest did not take place. Strong, brave, enlightened men were at the helm of state and they conducted their grave business with so much discretion, with so much tact, and with so much genuine statesmanship that the threatened danger was averted. Let us sincerely hope that it was averted forever.