•nm 
 
 m 
 
 I 
 
 REPUBLIC 
 
 A Journal of Opinion 
 
 VOI^. XIV 
 NO. 17 7 
 
 PART TWO 
 
 MARCH 
 
 Sa. 1918 
 
 Labor War Ai 
 
 ims 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 Full text of the agreement 
 
 on war aims just aao'^tea 
 
 by the Inter "Alii ea 
 
 Laoor and Socialist 
 
 Conference in 
 
 London 
 
 m 
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'V 
 
 O R E W O R D 
 
 ^TlHE following statement of war aims or peace conditions which 
 J. was formulated by the Inter-Allied Labor Conference in Lon- 
 don is reprinted from the London Times of February 2 5 /A last. 
 It differs from similar statements which have preceded it in one im- 
 portant respect. All the factions in the pro-war labor and socialist 
 parties in the Western European democracies endorse it. They 
 had been unable to reach any such complete agreement at their 
 previous conferences and their new unanimity has given to their 
 programme a vastly increased weight. When the Stockholm 
 Conference was proposed last summer the socialist and labor 
 parties were embarrassed by internal divisions. Now they are 
 united, and if they are joined, as they hope to be, by the American 
 labor organizations, they should be powerful enough to secure from 
 their governments consent to the gathering of the proposed inter- 
 belligerent conference. Just as the labor and socialist parties of the 
 western Allies have succeeded, where their governments have 
 failed, in reaching a common statement of war aims, so the labor 
 and socialist parties of the whole world may reach a similar agree- 
 ment in spite of the chasm which still divides the belligerent govern- 
 ments. If they can, its effect is certain to be important and may be 
 decisive. As Mr. Arthur Henderson has recently declared: "Peace 
 will come when the working class movement has discovered by inter- 
 change of views the conditions of an honorable and democratic peace, 
 worthy of the unimaginable sacrifices the people have made, and has 
 pressed these terms upon the several governments with the resolute 
 declaration that peace must be made on these terms and no other." 
 
THE NEW REPUBLIC 
 
 Inter-Allied Labor War Aims 
 
 THE following is the full text of the " Memor- 
 andum on War Aims " adopted by the Inter- 
 Allied Labor and Socialist Conference in 
 London : 
 
 The War 
 
 L — The Inter-Allied Conference declares that 
 whatever may have been the causes of the outbreak 
 of war it is clear that the peoples of Europe, who 
 are necessarily the chief sufferers from its horrors, 
 had themselves no hand in it. Their common in- 
 terest is now so to conduct the terrible struggle in 
 which they find themselves engaged as to bring it, 
 as soon as may be possible, to an issue in a secure 
 and lasting peace for the world. 
 
 The Conference sees no reason to depart from 
 the following declaration unanimously agreed to at 
 the Conference of the Socialist and Labor Parties 
 of the Allied Nations on February 14, 1915 : 
 
 " This Conference cannot ignore the profound 
 general causes of the European conflict, itself a 
 monstrous product of -the antagonisms which tear 
 asunder capitalist society and of the policy of colo- 
 nial dependencies and aggressive imperialism, 
 against which International Socialism has never 
 ceased to fight, and in which every government has 
 its share of responsibility. 
 
 " The invasion of Belgium and France by the 
 German armies threatens the very existence of in- 
 dependent nationalities and strikes a blow at all 
 faith in treaties. In these circumstances a victory 
 for German imperialism would be the defeat and 
 the destruction of democracy and liberty in Europe. 
 The Socialists of Great Britain, Belgium, France 
 and Russia do not pursue the political and eco- 
 nomic crushing of Germany; they are not at war 
 with the peoples of Germany and Austria, but only 
 with the governments of those countries by which 
 they are oppressed. They demand that Belgium 
 shall be liberated and compensated. They desire 
 that the question of Poland shall be settled in ac- 
 cordance with the wishes of the Polish people, 
 either in the sense of autonomy in the midst of 
 another state, or in that of complete independence. 
 They wish that throughout all Europe, from Alsace- 
 Lorraine to the Balkans, those populations that 
 have been annexed by force shall receive the right 
 freely to dispose of themselves. 
 
 " While inflexibly resolved to fight until victory 
 is achieved to accomplish this task of liberation, the 
 Socialists are none the less resolved to resist any 
 attempt to transform this defensive war into a war 
 of conquest, which would only prepare fresh con- 
 
 flicts, create new grievances and subject various 
 peoples more than ever to the double plague of 
 armaments and war. 
 
 " Satisfied that they are remaining true to the 
 principles of the International, the members of the 
 Conference express the hope that the working 
 classes of all the different countries will before long 
 find themselves united again in their struggle 
 against militarism and capitalist imperialism. The 
 victory of the Allied Powers must be a victory for 
 popular liberty, for unity, independence and auto- 
 nomy of the nations in the peaceful federation oi 
 the United States of Europe and the world." 
 
 Making the World Safe for Democracy 
 
 II. — Whatever may have been the objects for 
 which the war was begun the fundamental purpose 
 of the Inter-Allied Conference in supporting the 
 continuance of the struggle is that the world may 
 henceforth be made safe for democracy. 
 
 Of all the conditions of peace none is so impor- 
 tant to the peoples of the world as that there should 
 be henceforth on earth no more war. 
 
 Whoever triumphs, the peoples will have lost 
 unless an international system is established which 
 will prevent war. What would it mean to declare 
 the right of peoples to self-determination if this 
 right were left at the mercy of new violations, and 
 was not protected by a super-national authority? 
 That authority can be no other than the League of 
 Nations, in which not only all the present belliget' 
 ents, but every other independent state, should he 
 pressed to join. 
 
 The constitution of such a League of Nations 
 implies the immediate establishment of an Inter- 
 national High Court, not only for the settlement of 
 all disputes between states that are of justiciable 
 nature, but also for prompt and effective mediation 
 between states in other issues that vitally interest 
 the power or honor of such states. It is also under 
 the control of the League of Nations that the con- 
 sultation of peoples for purposes of self-determina- 
 tion must be organized. This popular right can be 
 vindicated only by popular vote. The League of Na- 
 tions shall establish the procedure of international 
 jurisdiction, fix the methods which will maintain the 
 freedom and security of the election, restore the 
 political rights of individuals which violence and 
 conquest may have injured, repress any attempt to 
 use pressure or corruption, and prevent any sub- 
 sequent reprisals. It will be also necessary to form 
 an International Legislature, in which the represen- 
 tatives of every civilized state would have their al- 
 
 OT 
 
 371133 
 
THE NEW REPUBLIC 
 
 lotted share and energetically to push forward, step 
 by step, the development of international legislation 
 agreed to by, and definitely binding upon, the sev- 
 eral states. 
 
 By a solemn agreement all the states and peo- 
 ples consulted shall pledge themselves to submit 
 every issue between two or more of them for settle- 
 ment as aforesaid. Refusal to accept arbitration 
 or to submit to the settlement will imply deliberate 
 aggression, and all the nations will necessarily have 
 to make common cause, by using any and every 
 means at their disposal, either economical or mili- 
 tary, against any state or states refusing to sub- 
 mit to the arbitration award, or attempting to break 
 the world's covenant of peace. 
 
 But the sincere acceptance of the rules and de- 
 cisions of the super-national authority implies com- 
 plete democratization in all countries; the removal 
 of all the arbitrary powers who, until now, have as- 
 sumed the right of choosing between peace and 
 war; the maintenance or creation of legislatures 
 elected by and on behalf of the sovereign right of 
 the people; the suppression of secret diplomacy, to 
 be replaced by the conduct of foreign policy under 
 the control of popular legislatures, and the publica- 
 tion of all treaties, which must never be in contra- 
 vention of the stipulation of the League of Na- 
 tions, with the absolute responsibility of the gov- 
 ernment, and more particularly of the foreign min- 
 ister of each country to its legislature. 
 
 Only such a policy will enforce the frank aban- 
 donment of every form of imperialism. When based 
 on universal democracy, in a world in which effec- 
 tive international guarantees against aggression have 
 been secured, the League of Nations will achieve 
 the complete suppression of force as the means of 
 settling international differences. 
 
 The League of Nations, in order to prepare for 
 the concerted abolition of compulsory military serv- 
 ice in all countries, must first take steps for the pro- 
 hibition of fresh armaments on land and sea and for 
 the common limitation of the existing armaments 
 by which aU the peoples are burdened; as well as 
 the control of war manufactures and the enforce- 
 ment of such agreements as may be agreed to there- 
 upon. The states must undertake such manufac- 
 tures themselves, so as entirely to abolish profit- 
 making armament firms, whose pecuniary interest 
 lies always in the war scares and progressive com- 
 petition in the preparation for war. 
 
 The nations, being armed solely for self-defense 
 and for such action as the League of Nations may 
 ask them to take in defense of international right, 
 will be left free, under international control either 
 to create a voluntarily recruited force or to or- 
 ganize the nation for defense without professional 
 armies for long terms of military service. 
 
 To give effect to the above principles, the Inter- 
 Allied Conference declares that the rules upon 
 which the League of Nations will be founded must 
 be included in the treaty of peace, and will hence- 
 forth become the basis of the settlement of differ- 
 ences. In that spirit the Conference expresses its 
 agreement with the propositions put forward by 
 President Wilson in his last message : 
 
 ( 1 ) That each part of the final settlement must 
 be based upon the essential justice of that particular 
 case, and upon such adjustments as are most likely 
 to bring a peace that will be permanent. 
 
 (2) That peoples and provinces are not to be 
 bartered about from sovereignty to sovereignty as 
 if they were mere chattels and pawns in a game, 
 even the great game now forever discredited of 
 the balance of power; but that 
 
 (3) Every territorial settlement involved in this 
 war must be made in the interest and for the benefit 
 of the populations concerned, and not as a part of 
 any mere adjustments of compromise of claims 
 amongst rival states. 
 
 (4) That all well-defined national aspirations 
 shall be accorded the utmost satisfaction that can be 
 accorded them without introducing new or perpetu- 
 ating old elements of discord and antagonism that 
 would be likely in time to break the peace of 
 Europe, and, consequently, of the world. 
 
 Territorial Questions 
 
 III. — The Inter-Allied Conference considers that 
 the proclamation of principles of international law 
 accepted by all nations, and the substitution of a 
 regular procedure for the forceful acts by which 
 states calling themselves sovereign have hitherto 
 adjusted their differences — in short, the establish- 
 ment of a League of Nations — gives an entirely 
 new aspect to territorial problems. 
 
 The old diplomacy and the yearnings after domi- 
 nation by states, or even by peoples, which during 
 the whole of the nineteenth century have taken ad- 
 vantage of and corrupted the aspirations of nation- 
 alities, have brought Europe to a condition of 
 anarchy and disorder which have led Inevitably to 
 the present catastrophe. 
 
 The Conference declares it to be the duty of the 
 Labor and Socialist movement to suppress without 
 hesitation the imperialist designs in the various 
 states which have led one government after another 
 to seek, by the triumph of military force, to acquire 
 either new territories or economic advantage. 
 
 The establishment of a system of International 
 law and the guarantees afforded by a League of 
 Nations, ought to remove the last excuse for those 
 strategic protections which nations have hitherto 
 felt bound to require. 
 
 It is the supreme principle of the right of each 
 
 [41 
 
THE NEW REPUBLIC 
 
 people to determine its own destiny that must now 
 decide what steps should be taken by way of resti- 
 tution or reparation, and whatever territorial re- 
 adjustments may be found to be necessary at the 
 close of the present war. 
 
 The Conference accordingly emphasizes the im- 
 portance to the labor and Socialist movement of 
 a clear and exact definition of what is meant by the 
 right of each people to determine its own destiny. 
 Neither destiny of race nor identity of language can 
 be regarded as affording more than a presumption 
 in favor of federation or unification. During the 
 nineteenth century the theories of this kind have 
 so often served as a cloak for aggression that the 
 International cannot but seek to prevent any recur- 
 rence of such an evil. Any adjustments of bound- 
 aries that become necessary must be based exclu- 
 sively upon the desire of the people concerned. 
 
 It is true that it is impossible for the necessary 
 consultation of the desires of the people concerned 
 to be made in any fixed and invariable way for all 
 the cases in which it is required, and that the prob- 
 lems of nationality and territory are not the same 
 for the inhabitants of all countries. Nevertheless, 
 what is necessary in all cases is that the procedure 
 to be adopted should be decided, not by one of the 
 parties to the dispute, but by the super-national 
 authority. 
 
 Upon the basis of the general principles herein 
 formulated the Conference proposes the following 
 solutions of particular problems : 
 
 (a) Belgium 
 
 The Conference emphatically insists that a foremost 
 condition of peace must be the reparation by the German 
 government, under the direction of an International Com- 
 mission, of the wrong admittedly done to Belgium; pay- 
 ment by that government for all the damage that has 
 resulted from this wrong; and the restoration of Belgium 
 as an independent sovereign state, leaving to the decision 
 of the Belgian people the determination of their own future 
 policy in all respects. 
 
 (b) Alsace and Lorraine 
 
 The Conference declares that the problem of Alsace and 
 Lorraine is not one of territorial adjustment, but one of 
 right, and thus an international problem, the solution of 
 which is indispensable if peace is to be either just or lasting. 
 
 The Treaty of Frankfort at one and the same time 
 mutilated France and violated the right of the inhabitants 
 of Alsace and Lorraine to dispose of their own destinies, 
 a right which they have repeatedly claimed. 
 
 The new treaty of peace, in recognizing that Germany, 
 by her declaration of war of 191 4, has herself broken the 
 Treaty of Frankfort, will make null and void the gains of 
 a brutal conquest and of the violence committed against 
 the people. 
 
 France, having secured this recognition, can properly 
 agree to a fresh consultation of the population of Alsace 
 and Lorraine as to its own desires. 
 
 The treaty of peace will bear the signatures of every 
 
 nation in the world. It will be guaranteed by the League 
 of Nations. To this League of Nations France is prepared 
 to remit, with the freedom and sincerity of a popular vote, 
 of which the details can be subsequently settled, the organ- 
 ization of such a consultation as shall settle forever, as a 
 matter of right, the future destiny of Alsace and Lorraine, 
 and as shall finally remove from the common life of all 
 Europe a quarrel which has imposed so heavy a burden 
 upon it. 
 
 (c) The Balkans 
 
 The Conference lays down the principle that all the 
 violations and perversions of the rights of the people which 
 have taken place, or are still taking place, in the Balkans 
 must be made the subject of redress or reparation. 
 
 Serbia, Montenegro, Rumania, Albania and all the ter- 
 ritories occupied by military forces should be evacuated 
 by the hostile forces. Wherever any population of the 
 same race and tongue demands to be united this must be 
 done. Each such people must be accorded full liberty to 
 settle its own destiny, without regard to the imperialistic 
 pretensions of Austria, Hungary, Turkey or other state. 
 
 Accepting this principle, the Conference proposes that 
 the whole problem of the administrative reorganization of 
 the Balkan peoples should be dealt with by a special con- 
 ference of their representatives or in case of disagreement 
 by an authoritative international commission on the basis 
 of (a) the concession within each independent sovereignty 
 of local autonomy and security for the development of its 
 particular civilization of every racial minority; (b) the 
 universal guarantee of freedom or religion and political 
 equality for all races; (c) a Customs and Postal Union 
 embracing the whole of the Balkan states with free access 
 for each to its natural seaport; (d) the entry of all the 
 Balkan states into a federation for the concerted arrange- 
 ment by mutual agreement among themselves of all matters 
 of common interest. 
 
 (d) Italy 
 
 The conference declares its warmest sympathy with the 
 people of Italian blood and speech who have been left out- 
 side the boundaries that have, as a result of the diplomatic 
 agreements of the past, and for strategic reasons, been 
 assigned to the Kingdom of Italy, and supports their claim 
 to be united with those of their own race and tongue. It 
 realizes that arrangements may be necessary for securing 
 the legitimate interests of the people of Italy in the adjacent 
 seas, but it condemns the aims of conquest of Italian 
 Imperialism and believes that all legitimate needs can be 
 safeguarded, without precluding a like recognition of the 
 deeds of others or annexation of other people's territories. 
 
 Regarding the Italian population dispersed on the 
 eastern shores of the Adriatic, the relations between Italy 
 and the Yugo-Slav populations must be based on principles 
 of equity and conciliation, so as to prevent any cause of 
 future quarrel. 
 
 If there are found to be groups of Slavonian race within 
 the newly defined Kingdom of Italy or groups of Italian 
 race in Slavonian territory, mutual guarantees must be 
 given for the assurance of all of them, on one side or the 
 other, full liberty of local self-government and of the 
 natural development of their several activities. 
 
 (e) Poland and the Baltic Provinces 
 
 In accordance with the right of every people to determine 
 its own destinies, Poland must be reconstituted in unity 
 and independence with free access to the sea. 
 
 [S] 
 
THE NEW REPUBL;C 
 
 The Conference declares further, that any annexation by 
 Germany, whether open or disguised, of Livonia, Cour- 
 land or Lithuania would be a flagrant and wholly inadmis- 
 sible violation of international law. 
 
 (f) The Jews and Palestine 
 
 The Conference demands for the Jews in all countries 
 the same elementary rights of freedom of religioh, educa- 
 tion, residence and trade and equal citizenship that ought 
 to be extended to all the inhabitants of every nation. It 
 further expresses the opinion that Palestine should be set 
 free from the hard and oppressive government of the Turk, 
 in order that this country may form a Free State, under 
 international guarantee, to which such of the Jewish people 
 as desire to do so may return and may work out their own 
 salvation free from interference by those of alien race or 
 religion. 
 
 (g) The Problem of the Turkish Empire 
 
 The Conference condemns the handing back to the 
 systematically cruel domination of the Turkish govern- 
 ment any subject people. Thus, whatever may be pro- 
 posed with regard to Armenia, Mesopotamia and Arabia, 
 they cannot be restored to the tyranny of the Sultan and 
 his Pashas. The Conference condemns the imperialist 
 aims of governments and capitalists who would make of 
 these and other territories now dominated by the Turkish 
 hordes merely instruments either of exploitation or mili- 
 tarism. If the peoples of these territories do not feel 
 themselves able to settle their own destinies, the Con- 
 ference insists that, conformably with the policy of " no 
 annexations," they should be placed for administration in 
 the hands of a Commission acting under the Super-National 
 Authority or League of Nations. It is further suggested 
 that the peace of the world requires that the Dardanelles 
 should be permanently and effectively neutralized and 
 opened like all the main lines of marine communication, 
 under the control of the League of Nations, freely to all 
 nations, without hindrance or customs duties. 
 
 (h) Austria-Hungary 
 
 The Conference does not propose as a war aim dismem- 
 Herment of Austria-Hungary or its deprivation of economic 
 access to the sea. On the other hand, the Conference 
 cannot admit that the claims to independence made by the 
 Czecho-Slovaks and the Yugo-Slavs must be regarded 
 merely as questions for internal decision. National inde- 
 pendence ought to be accorded, according to rules to be 
 laid down by the League of Nations, to such peoples as 
 demand it, and these communities ought to have the oppor- 
 tunity of determining their own groupings and federations 
 according to their affinities and interests. If they think 
 fit they are free to substitute a free federation of Danubian 
 states for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 
 
 (i) The Colonies and Dependencies 
 
 The International has always condemned the colonial 
 policy of capitalist governments. Without ceasing to con- 
 demn it, the Inter-Allied Conference nevertheless recog- 
 nizes the existence of a state of things which it is obliged 
 to take into account. 
 
 The Conference considers that the treaty of peace ought 
 to secure to the natives in all colonies and dependencies 
 effective protection against the excesses of capitalist 
 colonialism. The Conference demands the concession of 
 administrative autonomy for all groups of people that attain 
 
 a certain degree of civilization, and for all the others a 
 progressive participation in local government. 
 
 The Conference is of opinion that the return of the 
 colonies to those who^possessed them before the war, or 
 the exchange or compensations which might be effected, 
 ought not to be an obstacle to the making of peace. 
 
 Those colonies that have been taken by conquest from 
 any belligerent must be made the subject of special con- 
 sideration at the Peace Conference, as to which the com- 
 munities in their neighborhood will be entitled to take 
 part. But the clause in the treaty of peace on this point 
 must secure economic equality in such territories for the 
 peoples of all nations, and thereby guarantee that none are 
 shut out from legitimate access to raw materials ; prevented 
 from disposing of their own products, or deprived of their 
 proper share of economic development. 
 
 As regards more especially the colonies of all the 
 belligerents in Tropical Africa, from sea to sea, including 
 the whole of the region north of the Zambesi and south 
 of the Sahara, the Conference condemns any imperialist 
 idea which would make these countries the booty of one 
 or several nations, exploit them for the profit of the capi- 
 talist or use them for the promotion of the militarist aims 
 of the governments. 
 
 With respect to these colonies the Conference declares 
 in favor of a system of control, established by international 
 agreement, under the League of Nations and maintained by 
 its guarantee, which, whilst respecting national sovereignty, 
 would be alike inspired by broad conceptions of economic 
 freedom and concerned to safeguard the rights of the 
 natives under the best conditions possible for them, and in 
 particular : 
 
 ( 1 ) It would take account in each locality of the wishes 
 of the people, expressed in the form which is possible for 
 them. 
 
 (2) The interests of the native tribes as regards the 
 ownership of the soil would be maintained. 
 
 (3) The whole of the revenues would be devoted to 
 the well-being and development of the colonies themselves. 
 
 Economic Relations 
 
 IV. The Inter-Allied Conference declares 
 against all the projects now being prepared by im- 
 perialists and capitalists, not in any one country 
 only, but in most countries, for an economic war, 
 after peace has been secured, either against one or 
 other foreign nation or against all foreign nations, 
 as such an economic war, if begun by any country, 
 would inevitably lead to reprisals, to which each 
 nation in turn might in self-defense be driven. The 
 main lines of marine communication should be open 
 without hindrance to vessels of all nations under the 
 protection of the League of Nations. The Confer- 
 ence reahzes that all attempts at economic aggres- 
 sion, whether by protective tariffs or capitalist trusts 
 or monopolies, inevitably result in the spoliation of 
 the working classes of the several countries for the 
 profit of the capitalists; and the working class see 
 in the alliance between the military imperialists 
 and the fiscal protectionists in any country what- 
 soever not only a serious danger to the prosperity 
 of the masses of the people, but also a grave menace 
 
 m 
 
THE NEW REPUBLIC 
 
 to peace. On the other hand, the right of each na- 
 tion to the defense of its own economic interests, 
 and in face of the world-shortage hereinafter men- 
 tioned, to the conservation for its own people of a 
 sufficiency of its own supplies of foodstuffs and raw 
 materials, cannot be denied. The Conference ac- 
 cordingly urges upon the labor and Socialist par- 
 ties of all countries the importance of insisting, in 
 the attitude of the gpvernment towards commercial 
 enterprise, along with the necessary control of sup- 
 plies for its own people, on the principle of the open 
 door, and without hostile discrimination against 
 foreign countries. But it urges equally the impor- 
 tance, not merely of conservation, but also of the 
 utmost possible development, by appropriate gov- 
 ernment action, of the resources of every country 
 for the benefit not only of its own people, but also 
 of the world, and the need for an international 
 agreement for the enforcement in all countries of 
 the legislation on factory conditions, a maximum 
 eight-hour day, the prevention of " sweating " and 
 unhealthy trades necessary to protect the workers 
 against exploitation and oppression, and the pro- 
 hibition of night work by women and children. 
 
 The Problems of Peace 
 
 V. To make the world safe for democracy in- 
 volves much more than the prevention of war, 
 either military or economic. It will be a device 
 of the capitalist interests to pretend that the treaty 
 of peace need concern itself only with the cessation 
 of the struggles of the armed forces and with any 
 necessary territorial readjustments. The Inter- 
 Allied Conference insists that in view of the prob- 
 able world-wide shortage, after the war, of export- 
 able foodstuffs and raw materials, and of merchant 
 shipping, it is imperative, in order to prevent the 
 most serious hardships, and even possible famine, 
 in one country or another, that systematic arrange- 
 ments should be made on an international basis for 
 the allocation and conveyance of the available ex- 
 portable surpluses of these commodities to the dif- 
 ferent countries, in proportion, not to their purchas- 
 ing powers, but to their several pressing needs ; and 
 that, within each country, the government must for 
 some time maintain its control of the most in- 
 dispensable commodities, in order to secure their 
 appropriation, not in a competitive market mainly 
 to the richer classes in proportion to their means, 
 but, systematically, to meet the most urgent needs 
 of the whole community on the principle of " no 
 cake for anyone until all have bread." 
 
 Moreover, it cannot but be anticipated that, in all 
 countries, the dislocation of industry attendant on 
 peace, the instant discharge of millions of munition 
 makers and workers in war trades, and the demo- 
 bilization of millions of soldiers — in face of the 
 
 scarcity of industrial capital, the shortage of raw 
 materials, and the insecurity of commercial enter- 
 prise — will, unless prompt and energetic action be 
 taken by the several governments, plunge a large 
 part of the wage-earning population into all the 
 miseries of unemployment more or less prolonged. 
 In view of the fact that widespread unemployment 
 in any country, like a famine, is an injury not to that 
 country alone, but impoverishes also the rest of the 
 world, the Conference holds that it is the duty of 
 every government to take immediate action, not 
 merely to relieve the unemployed, when unemploy- 
 ment has set in, but actually, so far as may be prac- 
 ticable, to prevent the occurrence of unemployment. 
 It therefore urges upon the labor parties of every 
 country the necessity of their pressing upon their 
 governments the preparation of plans for the execu- 
 tion of all the innumerable public works (such as 
 the making and repairing of roads, railways and 
 waterways, the erection of schools and public build- 
 ings, the provision of working-class dwellings and 
 the reclamation and afforestation of land) that will 
 be required in the near future, not for the sake of 
 finding measures of relief for the unemployed, but 
 with a view to these works being undertaken at 
 such a rate in each locality as will suffice, together 
 with the various capitalist enterprises that may be 
 in progress, to maintain at a fairly uniform level 
 year by year, and throughout each year, the aggre- 
 gate demand for labor; and thus prevent there being 
 any unemployed. It is now known that in this way 
 It is quite possible for any government to prevent, 
 if it chooses, the occurrence of any widespread or 
 prolonged involuntary unemployment; which if it is 
 now in any country allowed to occur, is as much the 
 result of government neglect as is any epidemic 
 disease. 
 
 Restoration of the Devastated Areas 
 and Reparation of Wrongdoing 
 
 VI. The Inter-Allied Conference holds that one 
 of the most imperative duties of all countries imme- 
 diately peace is declared will be the restoration, so 
 far as may be possible, of the homes, farms, fac- 
 tories, public buildings and means of communica- 
 tion whatever destroyed by war operations ; that the 
 restoration should not be limited to compensation 
 for public buildings, capitalist undertakings and ma- 
 terial property proved to be destroyed or damaged, 
 but should be extended to setting up the wage- 
 earners and peasants themselves in homes and em- 
 ployment; and that to insure the full and impartial 
 application of these principles the assessment and 
 distribution of the compensation, so far xs the 
 cost is contributed by any international fund, should 
 be made under the direction of an international 
 Commission. 
 
 [71 
 
THE NEW REPUBLIC 
 
 The Conference will not be satisfied unless there 
 is a full and free judicial investigation into the accu- 
 sations made on all sides that particular govern- 
 ments have ordered, and particular officers have ex- 
 ercised, acts of cruelty, oppression, violence and 
 theft against invididual victims, for which no justifi- 
 cation can be found In the ordinary usages of war. 
 It draws attention in particular to the loss of life 
 and property of merchant seamen and other non- 
 combatants (including women and children) result- 
 ing from this inhuman and ruthless conduct. It 
 should be part of the conditions of peace that there 
 should be forthwith set up a Court of Claims and 
 Accusations, which should investigate all such alle- 
 gations as may be brought before it, summon the 
 accused person or government to answer the com- 
 plaint, to pronounce judgment, and award compen- 
 sation or damages, payable by the individual or 
 government condemned, to the persons who had 
 suffered wrong, or to their dependents. The sev- 
 eral governments must be responsible, financially 
 and otherwise, for the presentation of the cases of 
 their respective nationals to such a Court of Claims 
 and Accusations, and for the payment of the com- 
 pensation awarded. 
 
 International Conference 
 
 VII. The Inter-Allied Conference Is of opinion 
 that an International Conference of Labor and So- 
 cialist organizations, held under proper conditions, 
 would at this stage render useful service to world 
 democracy by assisting to remove misunderstand- 
 ings, as well as the obstacles which stand In the way 
 of world peace. 
 
 Awaiting the resumption of the normal activities 
 of the International Socialist Bureau, we consider 
 that an International Conference, held during the 
 period of hostilities, should be organized by a com- 
 mittee whose impartiality cannot be questioned. 
 It should be held in a neutral country, under such 
 conditions as would Inspire confidence ; and the Con- 
 ference should be fully representative of all the 
 labor and Socialist movement in all the belligerent 
 countries accepting the conditions under which the 
 Conference is convoked. 
 
 As an essential condition to an International Con- 
 ference the Commission Is of opinion that the or- 
 ganizers of the Conference should satisfy them- 
 selves that all the organizations to be represented 
 put In precise form, by a public declaration, their 
 peace terms in conformity with the principles " no 
 annexations or punitive indemnities, and the right 
 of all peoples to self-determination," and that they 
 are working with all their power to obtain from 
 
 their governments the necessary guarantees to 
 apply those principles honestly and unreservedly 
 to all questions to be dealt with at any official peace 
 conference. 
 
 In view of the vital differences between the Allied 
 countries and the Central Powers, the Commission 
 is of opinion that it is highly advisable that the Con- 
 ference should be used to provide an opportunity 
 for the delegates from the respective countries now 
 In a state of war to make a full and frank statement 
 of their present position and future intentions, and 
 to endeavor by mutual agreement to arrange a pro- 
 gramme of action for a speedy and democratic 
 peace. 
 
 The Conference is of opinion that the working 
 classes, having made such sacrifices during the war, 
 are entitled to take part in securing a democratic 
 world peace, and that M. Albert Thomas (France) , 
 M. Emile Vandervelde (Belgium) and Mr. Arthur 
 Henderson (Great Britain) be appointed as a 
 commission to secure from all the governments a 
 promise that at least one representative of Labor 
 and Socialism will be Included in the official repre- 
 sentation at any government conference, and to or- 
 ganize a Labor and Socialist representation to sit 
 concurrently with the official conference; further, 
 that no country be entitled to more than four repre- 
 sentatives at such conference. 
 
 The Conference regrets the absence of represen- 
 tatives of American labor and Socialism from the 
 Inter-Allied Conference, and urges the importance 
 of securing their approval of the decisions reached. 
 With this object in view, the Conference agrees 
 that a deputation, consisting of one representative! 
 from France, Belgium, Italy and Great Britain, 
 together with Camille Huysmans (Secretary of the 
 International Socialist Bureau), proceed to the] 
 United States at once, In order to confer wit! rep- 
 resentatives of the American democracy on thej 
 whole situation of the war. 
 
 The Conference resolves to transmit to the So-I 
 elalists of the Central Empires and of the nations] 
 allied with them the memorandtmi in which the I 
 Conference has defined the conditions of peace, con- 1 
 formably with the principles of Socialist and inter- 1 
 national justice. The Conference is convinced that! 
 these conditions will commend themselves on reflec-| 
 tion to the mind of every Socialist, and the Confer- 
 ence asks for the answer of the Socialists of thej 
 Central Empires, in the hope that these will jolnj 
 without delay In a joint effort of the International,! 
 which has now become more than ever the best andl 
 the most certain Instrument of democracy and peace.] 
 [the end] 
 
 [8] 
 

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