The Struggle For Peace

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our last resort and not our first. In spite of the shocks to
which we have been subjected, we still hold to the truth of
that maxim. We still intend to employ ourselves, and to
urge others to employ, the methods of reason and diplomacy
rather than those of menace and of force.
" Speaking here with all the knowledge that only the
Government of the day can possess, and with a full sense of
the responsibility which in such times as these must rest on
the shoulders of those who administer the affairs of this great
country, I affirm my conviction that the course we have
decided to pursue is the best, and, indeed, the only one which
is likely to lead us to our goal."