The Evidence in the Case A Discussion of the Moral Responsibility for the War of 1914, as Disclosed by the Diplomatic Records of England, Germany, Russia   By: James M. Beck (1861-1936)

A Discussion of the Moral Responsibility for the War of 1914, as Disclosed by the Diplomatic Records of England, Germany, Russia, France, Austria, Italy and Belgium.

BY

JAMES M. BECK, LL.D. Late Assistant Attorney General of the U. S. Author of "The War and Humanity."

With an Introduction by HON. JOSEPH H. CHOATE Late U. S. Ambassador to Great Britain

" Did these bones cost no more the breeding but to play at loggats with 'em? Mine ache to think on 't. " HAMLET Act V., Sc. 1.

Revised Edition, with Additional Material

NEW YORK GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS

Published by Arrangement with G. P. Putnam's Sons

COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY JAMES M. BECK

COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY JAMES M. BECK

( For Revised Edition )

Thirteenth Impression

BY JAMES M. BECK The Evidence in the Case. The War and Humanity.

This edition is issued under arrangement with the publishers, G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS, NEW YORK AND LONDON

TO ALBERT, OF BELGIUM

"EVERY INCH A KING"

Justum, et tenacem propositi virum Non civium ardor prava jubentium, Non vultus instantis tyranni, Mente quatit solida, neque Auster

Dux inquieti turbidus Adriæ, Nec fulminantis magna manus Jovis. Si fractus illabatur orbis, Impavidum ferient ruinæ.

HORACE.

=Publishers' Note=

The volume The Evidence in the Case is based upon an article by the Hon. James M. Beck, which came into print in the "New York Times" of October 25th. The article in question made so deep an impression with thinking citizens on both sides of the Atlantic that it has been translated into a number of European languages, and some 400,000 copies have been sold in England alone.

In making this acknowledgment, which is due for the courtesy of "The Times" in permitting an article prepared for its columns to be utilized as the basis for the book, it is in order for the publishers to explain to the readers that the material in the article has itself been rewritten and amplified, while the book contains, in addition to this original paper, a number of further chapters comprising together more than six times the material of the first article.

The present book is an independent work, and is deserving of consideration on the part of all citizens who are interested in securing authoritative information on the issues of the great European contest.

New York, December 12, 1914

INTRODUCTION

BY THE HON. JOSEPH H. CHOATE, FORMER AMERICAN AMBASSADOR TO GREAT BRITAIN[1]

[Footnote 1: Reprinted, by permission, from the N. Y. Times .]

For five months now all people who read at all have been reading about the horrible war that is devastating Europe and shedding the best blood of the people of five great nations. In fact, they have had no time to read anything else, and everything that is published about it is seized upon with great avidity. No wonder, then, that Mr. James M. Beck's book, The Evidence in the Case , published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, which has grown out of the article by him contributed to the New York Times Sunday Magazine, has been warmly welcomed both here and in England as a valuable addition to the literature of the day.

An able and clear headed lawyer and advocate, he presents the matter in the unique form of a legal argument, based upon an analysis of the diplomatic records submitted by England, Germany, Russia, France, and Belgium, as "A Case in the Supreme Court of Civilization," and the conclusions to be deduced as to the moral responsibility for the war.