Then we
became frightened and announced loudly that we ought to prepare;
that the world was on fire; that our national structure was in
danger of catching aflame; and that we must immediately make
ready. Then we turned an other somersault and abandoned all talk
of preparedness; and we never did anything more than talk."
* May 9,1916.
At last, at the beginning of 1917, the German truculence became
too great even for President Wilson to palliate. The Kaiser,
whose atrocious submarine policy had already failed, decided that
it could be made to succeed by increasing its horror. He proposed
to sink indiscriminately all ships, whether neutral or enemy; but
out of his Imperial generosity he would allow the Americans to
send one ship a week to Falmouth, England, provided it followed a
certain line marked out by him on the chart, flew a certain flag,
and was painted a color which he specified. As late as December
18, 1916, the President had put forth a message only less
startling than his "too-proud-to-fight" dictum, in which he
announced that the warring world must plan for a "peace without
victory" if it would hope to end the war at all.
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