Mr. Henry Ford, who at this writing may already be suffering from seasickness on his trip to Europe, which he is undertaking in order to bring about peace, is a good automobile manufacturer, but knows very little about the conditions that bring about an end of a war. Peace can be made only when both warring parties want it, and no negotiator can make a nation desire peace unless it feels the need of peace. England knows this well enough. There, they remember very well all the incidents and events of the Napoleonic wars. Napoleon was never willing to make peace as long as he had not crushed and completely annihilated his enemy and had not gotten what he wanted to get. In 1796, after England had made a number of mistakes, the French took the Netherlands and established the Batavian Republic. The English sent in an expeditionary force, a greater one than Winston Churchill sent to Antwerp last year, but it failed. Their prime minister, Pitt, was desirous of peace, and sent Lord Malmesburry to France to negotiate it. In vain. France would not give up the occupied territory 2because it was of importance to her, just as it is of importance to Germany today. (At that time, Belgium was a part of Holland.) The war continued, and England went from bad to worse. There was a mutiny in her navy, Ireland threatened a revolution, her debts grew immensely, and one continental country after another submitted to Napoleon, leaving England to fight him alone. Malmesbury was again sent to France to negotiate peace. There were protracted negotiations, and Napoleon, after having gained enough time to get ready for new ventures, declared himself ready for peace--upon an unacceptable condition--that England should return the Province of Cape of Good Hope to Holland. Of course,Malmesbury could not agree to that and went home. There were five more years of fighting, and England's determination was growing every day. Pitt's cabinet resigned, and Addington formed a government. England's luck started improving both on the sea, where Nelson won a great victory, and on land. New peace negotiations were started and finally concluded at Amiens. But that peace lasted only five years; then both parties realized that there could be no lasting peace until one or the other of them was crushed. The war broke out anew, and ended with the imprisonment of the great warrior on the Island of St. Helena, where he was at a safe distance and 3unable to become again what he had been, a menace to the world.

Similar conditions prevail now. Should a general exhaustion of the armies of both sides make peace necessary, it would be only a temporary one, and war would break out again. The world would not be very grateful to Mr. Ford for a peace of that kind.