The trouble is that our policy is apt to go in zigzags, because
different sections of our people exercise at different times unequal
pressure on our government. One class of our citizens clamors for
treaties impossible of fulfilment, and improper to fulfil; another class
has no objection to the passage of these treaties so long as there is no
concrete case to which they apply, but instantly oppose a veto on their
application when any concrete case does actually arise. One of our
cardinal doctrines is freedom of speech, which means freedom of speech
about foreigners as well as about ourselves; and, inasmuch as we
exercise this right with complete absence of restraint, we cannot expect
other nations to hold us harmless unless in the last resort we are
able to make our own words good by our deeds. One class of our citizens
indulges in gushing promises to do everything for foreigners, another
class offensively and improperly reviles them; and it is hard to say
which class more thoroughly misrepresents the sober, self-respecting
judgment of the American people as a whole. The only safe rule is to
promise little, and faithfully to keep every promise; to "speak softly
and carry a big stick.
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