There is another plane of thought into which some have entered. It holds up a vision of a society redeemed by true democracy. It believes in a time w… - Robert M. La Follette

I have become more and more impressed with the deep underlying singleness of the issue. It is not the tariff or conservation or the currency. It is not the trusts. The supreme issue, involving all the others, is the encroachment of the powerful few upon the rights of the many.

Back of every big army and navy appropriation bill is the organized power of private interest, pressing for more battleships, more armor plate, more powder, more rifles, more machine guns, a large standing army, a bigger navy. Over and over again, we have heard the special interests making their hypocritical appeals on the ground of patriotism, urging that thorough preparation for war is always a sure guarantee of peace. It has but one purpose, and that is to sacrifice human life for private gain.

The universal conviction of those who yet believe in the rights of the people is that the first step toward the prevention of war and the establishment of peace, permanent peace, is to give the people who must bear the brunt of war's awful burden more to say about it.