punishment be meted out to neutral and foe alike? Will reason rule or
revenge dictate a costly reprisal in this war after the war?

These are the questions that rise out of the dust and din of the
colossal upheaval which is rending half of the world. Directly or
indirectly they touch the whole American people, regardless of rank or
wealth. The tide of war has rolled us far upon the shores of world
affairs. We have prospered in the kinship of the nations. Will the ebb
of peace leave us high and dry amid a mighty isolation?

I went to England and France to study this problem at first hand. I
interviewed Cabinet Ministers; I talked with lawmakers, soldiers,
captains of capital, masters of industry, and plain, everyday business
men. Often the talk was disturbed by shriek of shell or bomb of midnight
Zeppelin marauder.

Through all the travail of debt and death that rends the allied peoples
runs the clear current of determination to retrieve the immense loss.
War is waste; some one must pay--we among the rest. Already the guns are
being trained for the inevitable commercial battle, which, willingly or
unwillingly, will bring us under fire. Let us examine the plan of
campaign.

But before going into the concrete details that mean so much to our
future and our fortune, it is important to understand some very
essential conditions.

First and foremost is the uncertainty of the war itself. All
prophecy--at best a dangerous thing--is purest speculation. No one can
tell how long the duel will last; how badly the loser will be beaten;