No man is so
unfortunate as the man who is put on a throne lifted up beyond the
reach of plain truth telling. It is doubtful if so many blunders were
ever made by statesmen and diplomats as were made at the beginning of
this war. Just think of one Government being wrong in all these
particulars at the same time! Lincoln said, "You can't fool all of the
people all of the time." Yes, that may be true in a republic, but you
certainly can fool all the diplomats and Generals and do it all the
time--during July and August, in any event. Call the roll of the
diplomatic blunders, and the list is long. First, England will be
neutral and Ireland will keep her from going to war; second, Italy will
be our ally; third, Belgium will be neutral and allow us to trespass
upon her property and her homes; fourth, France is unprepared and Paris
will fall within three weeks; fifth, an alliance with Turkey, despite
her polygamy and butcheries in Armenia and the civilized world's hatred
for her cruelties, will help us; sixth, Japan will hold Russia in check;
seventh, the Czar will be attacked by Bulgaria, Italy, and China. It
seems incredible that any ruler and group of diplomats could be so
entirely wrong, all the time, on every question, for a whole Summer! Was
there no man as diplomat who had the wisdom to see that an attack upon
England would end the disputes in Ireland? And bind together Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India into a new United States of
Great Britain? Was there no statesman with enough prevision of the
future, and with courage to tell the people in Wilhelmstrasse that the
certain result would be the United States of Balkany, to stand
henceforth as a barrier between Germany and the Bosphorus? Was there no
one to remind Berlin that Italy had just completed a war with Turkey and
that any treaty with Turkey meant inevitably the breaking of friendship
with Italy? Alas! for the man who is elevated to a throne, in whose
presence men burn incense, pour forth flattery that he may breathe its
perfume, sing songs of praise that he may slumber!
In concluding our survey of the nations and the stake of each country
in the war, there is one reflection that must be obvious to all thinking
men.
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