James A. Garfield Writes on the Current War

February 27, 1917
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, James A. Garfield.

I come tonight to say a few words in reference to the present condition of the affairs of our country, as I have been much interested in what has taken place in the past few weeks, and especially in the attitude of the President (Woodrow Wilson) with reference to Germany and its inhuman method of carrying on its system of underwater destruction of merchant ships.

I know that what I say may not amount to anything for several reasons: one is, that no one save yourself and a few of your friends will know what I say, and another, that a live dog is of more importance than a dead lion. But nevertheless, I feel that I should give expression to some of the thoughts that come to me in reference to these vital and critical conditions that now exist.

The President has been very much hampered by his desire to preserve peace, or rather to keep our country out of war, and so strongly has this desire possessed him that other things of greater and more vital importance to the welfare of the country have been ignored and made matters of secondary consideration with him and his advisers.

Peace is very desirable, and human lives are very dear to those who may have to answer the call to possibly sacrifice theirs, yet the honor and preservation of the nation are of much more importance than the former things, for peace is not necessarily a thing that can exist only in the absence of war, for it may exist in reality while war is progressing, to a greater degree than when war is actually in operation. I mean that even now there is very great want of peace in the individual lives of the people, even though the country, as a nation, is not at war.

And the life of the individual is not of so great importance as the life of the nation, for if the nation be destroyed, or subjected to the dominion of another country, the life of the individual may not be worth the living, as in the case of poor Belgium.

But, as I was saying, this desire on the part of the President to preserve peace has caused him to ignore the rights of both the nation and the individual as they have been threatened and injured by the actions of Germany, in its assaults upon the rights of the nation to continue its commercial pursuits and enjoy the freedom of the seas, that have always heretofore been preserved, and to establish which this nation, in days gone by, fought to establish and have recognized.

He will be disappointed in his expectations that some kind Providence will interfere and prevent the overt act that he holds to be necessary for justification on his part to enter into the conflict, as that overt act will not only take place, but has already done so, and the cause that he has been waiting for is now a thing of reality.

It is a great pity that he has delayed all this time, for if he had taken a firm and determined stand some months ago and let Germany know that America would maintain her rights, even by force of arms, if necessary, Germany would not now be the aggressive, belligerent that she is, and many vessels would not have been destroyed and many lives have been saved.

But this wavering policy caused the Germans rulers to believe that he did not desire war, and that he would refrain from entering actually into the war and, consequently, that he would let go by any act on their part that did not purpose to injure the rights of the U.S.; and this feeling on the part of Germany increased until it was led into doing things that it might otherwise not have done and having gotten into its present desperate state, it came to the conclusion that the only thing it could do now was to adopt the plan of blockade that now obtains and destroy everything that interferes with the carrying out that plan, and that the U.S. must submit to its demands or do whatever it might think best to protect its rights hoping, though, that it would avoid war by recognizing the blockade and keeping its vessels out of the zone of the same.

Now the time has arrived when Mr. Wilson can have no possible excuse for remaining neutral, and he will have to do what he should have done a long time ago. I can see that this delay will result in the destruction of many vessels and the sacrifice of many lives, but it is the only thing that can be done to save greater calamity.

So I hope that he will delay no longer, but declare war or call upon Congress to declare war, at once, and thus put the country in a position to effectively preserve and maintain its rights. And I make these predictions, that as soon as this shall be done, the beginning of the end will be established and that before the middle of summer, peace will come and the war will cease, though its effects will appear in more certain horror than they do now and will be felt for many years to come. I hope that he will act now, and if I could induce him to do so, I would without hesitation or doubt of the right of so doing.

I will not write more, so good night.

Your true friend,
Garfield

Lafayette Writes About His Impression of the On-Going European War

August 1, 1915
Received by James Padgett
Washington, D.C.

I am here, Lafayette.

I am the Frenchman who was a lover of liberty and a soldier of both your country and mine, and who was an aide to your great general and father of his country - I mean Washington. I came because I want to tell you that in the great war that is now going on I am interested and want to express my opinion as to its causes and its ending.

France was not desirous of this war and had made no preparations to struggle against the Germans and had no idea that the Germans would so soon seek to overrun her territory; as Germany professed the greatest friendship for her; but as you know, the German Emperor, without warning and without excuse hurled his legions into poor Belgium in his endeavor to reach the French capital and possess it before the French nation could make any effective resistance. The Kaiser was anxious to acquire more territory belonging to France for purposes of colonization and thought that the task would be an easy one.

He had no conception that he would have any difficulty in passing through Belgium, neither did he contemplate that England and Russia would join with France in opposing his onslaught. In fact, he thought that he would so quickly succeed in capturing Paris and obtaining what he desired that these other nations would not have time to take any part in the conflict.

But as you know, little Belgium checked his advance and held him at bay until England was enabled to take such action as embarrassed him to such an extent that he has never yet succeeded in gaining the object of his desires, and let me say, he never will. I will not further review this phase of the matter. In the end Germany will be defeated and her Kaiser will be killed and his family disappear from the face of the earth as a ruling family. Germany will become in a few years after the war a republic, but its territory will be much reduced.

Before the war ends, the allies will invade Germany, and Berlin will become invested by them and they will dictate their own terms of capitalism, and these terms will be such that Germany as a great nation will cease to exist and will take her place among the republics of the earth as a secondary state and devote herself to the industries which her natural resources and the capacity of her people will entitle her to. She will never become a great maritime nation but will be content to exist as a manufacturing and agricultural country. Her people will migrate in large numbers and become swallowed up in the other nations of the world, especially in the South American countries. France will again thrive and so will her allies, and little Belgium will be taken care of and become an important manufacturing country with a people much improved in their intellectual acquirements.

I say all this, not because I am a Frenchman, but because I can see that these results must flow from causes, which now exist and which will continue to exist until the results that I speak of come about. But the sad thing is that before these results come many a human will become a spirit and many a happy family will be broken up and poverty and distress cause much suffering. But such is war and such a war never was.

So my friend, I thought that I would write to you tonight and express my views. I will not take up more of your time. I live in the Sixth Sphere and have a home of much beauty and many friends in whom I find much happiness and entertainment.

I sometime see him (Washington) but not so often as formerly. He is living in a sphere higher than where I live and I don't often see him. Our attractions have not continued as you might suppose, and where this attraction does not exist, spirits do not often come in contact with one another.

I never thought of that view of the matter, and the next time I meet him I will make the inquiry. I know that he is a more beautiful spirit than I am and more beautiful than when he lived close to me in a lower sphere. I have never thought to ask the reason for his improvement but will do so as you suggest.

I sometimes see Napoleon and talk with him and more often since this war began. He is interested as I am but he does not seem to think that it will last very long, as he sees a reason why the allies will soon overrun the German empire and bring the war to a close.

I cannot write more.

Your friend,
Lafayette