or impossible of prevention; there one man may kill another,
and by the wonderful process of law escape the extreme penalty of death;
there you meet the people who are most favorably disposed
toward the maintenance of peace, and who hold conferences and conventions with
that object in view almost every year; there an American multi-millionaire
devotes a great proportion of his time to the propaganda of peace,
and at his own expense has built in a foreign country a palatial building
to be used as a tribunal of peace.* Yet these people have waged war
on behalf of other nationalities who they thought were being unjustly treated
and when victorious they have not held on to the fruits of their victory
without paying a reasonable price.** There the inhabitants are, as a rule,
extremely patriotic, and in a recent foreign war many gave up
their businesses and professions and volunteered for service in the army;
one of her richest sons enlisted and equipped a whole regiment
at his own expense, and took command of it. In that country
all the citizens are heirs apparent to the throne, called the White House.
A man may become the chief ruler for a few years, but after leaving
the White House he reverts to private citizenship; if he is a lawyer
he may practise and appear before a judge, whom he appointed
while he was president. There a woman may become a lawyer
and plead a case before a court of justice on behalf of a male client;
there freedom of speech and criticism are allowed to the extreme limit,
and people are liable to be annoyed by slanders and libels
without much chance of obtaining satisfaction; there you will see
women wearing "Merry Widow" hats who are not widows but spinsters,
or married women whose husbands are very much alive,
and the hats in many cases are as large as three feet in diameter;***
there you may travel by rail most comfortably on palace cars,
and at night you may sleep on Pullman cars, to find in the morning
that a young lady has been sleeping in the berth above your bed.