Those twenty will
unanimously proclaim a general strike, if you should refuse the
proposed armistice."
"In other words," Mr. Stenson observed drily, "they will scuttle
the ship themselves. Do you approve of these tactics?"
"I decline to answer that question," Julian said, "but I would
point out to you that when you acknowledged yourself defeated by
the miners of South Wales, you pointed the way to some such crisis
as this."
"That may be true," Mr. Stenson acknowledged. "I have only at
this moment, however, to deal with the present condition of
affairs. Do you seriously believe that, if I make the only answer
which at present seems to me possible, the Council of Labour, as
they call themselves, will adopt the measures they threaten?"
"I believe that they will," Julian declared gravely. "I believe
that the country looks upon any continuation of this war as a
continuation of unnecessary and ghastly slaughter. To appreciably
change the military situation would mean the sacrifice of millions
more lives, would mean the continuation of the war for another two
years. I believe that the people of Germany who count are of the
same opinion. I believe that the inevitable change of government
in Germany will show us a nation freed from this hideous lust for
conquest, a nation with whom, when she is purged of the poison of
these last years, we can exist fraternally and with mutual
benefit."
"You are a very sanguine man, Mr. Orden," Hannaway Wells remarked.
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