Again, President Wilson's recent letter to the Kaiser, while confirming
neutrality in precise terms, went on to intimate that there must be a
"day of settlement" and that "where injustices have found a place
results are sure to follow, and all those who have been found at fault
will have to answer for them." If the "general settlement" does not
sufficiently determine this, there is the ultimate sanction of "the
opinion of mankind" which will "in such cases interfere." He would
apparently reserve judgment until the end of the war, but in no way
disclaims or surrenders American responsibility.
Mr. Roosevelt is not tied by official responsibility, and can speak with
less restraint and more freedom. In The Outlook he has substantially
accepted and indorsed all that is material in the Belgian case.
America should help in securing a peace which will not mean the
"crushing the liberty and life of just and inoffending peoples or
consecrate the rule of militarism," but which "will, by international
agreement, minimize the chances of the recurrence of such worldwide
disaster," and "will, in the interests of civilization, create
conditions which will make such action" as the violation of Belgian
treaty rights "impossible in the future.
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