Hammurabi with the Bible, giving his opinion on every problem of philosophy, speaking of everything, saying nothing.”  M. Clemenceau summed up the Kaiser as “another Nero; but Rome in flames is not sufficient for him—­he demands the destruction of the universe.”

The Socialist, Upton Sinclair, speaking at the time, blamed Russia as well as Germany and Austria.  He also inclined to the view that the assassination at Sarajevo was instigated by Austria.  He said: 

“I assert that never before in human history has there been a war with less pretense of justification.  It is the supreme crime of the ages; a blow at the very throat of civilization.  The three nations which began it, Austria, Russia and Germany, are governed, the first by a doddering imbecile, the second by a weak-minded melancholic, and the third by an epileptic degenerate, drunk upon the vision of himself as the war lord of Europe.  Behind each of These men is a little clique of blood-thirsty aristocrats.  They fall into a quarrel among themselves.  The pretext is that Serbia instigated the murder of the heir apparent to the Austrian throne.  There is good reason far believing that as a matter of fact this murder was instigated by the war party in Austria, because the heir apparent had democratic and anti-military tendencies.  First they murder him and then they use his death as a pretext for plunging the whole of civilization into a murderous strife.”

Herman Ridder, editor of the Staats-Zeitung of New York contributed a German-American view.  Mr. Ridder saw the handwriting on the wall and he very soundly deprecated war and pictured its horrors.  But he could not forget that he was appealing to a large class that held the German viewpoint.  He therefore found it necessary to soften his phrase with some hyphenated sophistry.  He dared not say that Germany was the culprit and would be the principal sufferer.  His article was: 

“Sooner or later the nations engaged in war will find themselves spent and weary.  There will be victory for some, defeat for others, and profit for none.  There can hardly be any lasting laurels for any of the contending parties.  To change the map of Europe is not worth the price of a single human life.  Patriotism should never rise above humanity.

     “The history of war is merely a succession of blunders.  Each treaty
     of peace sows the seed of future strife.

     “War offends our intelligence and outrages our sympathies.  We can
     but stand aside and murmur ’The pity of it all.  The pity of it
     all.’