Page:Justice in war time by Russell, Bertrand.djvu/11

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

PUBLISHER'S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

[Bertrand Russell's activities against war, and his theories on pacifism, as expressed in his book. Justice in War-Time, has resulted in a military order, issued September 1, 1916, by his own cousin, forbidding him to enter any restricted territory or fortified district.

Mr. Russell has published the following in his own defense:]

A PERSONAL STATEMENT

On Friday, September 1st, two men from Scotland Yard, acting on behalf of the War Office, served a War Office Order on me, forbidding me to enter any prohibited area without permission in writing from the competent Military Authority. (Prohibited areas include practically all places near the sea, including many whole counties.) On September 11th, in reply to representations, an official letter was sent to me by order of the Army Council, containing the following paragraph:

"I am further to state that the Council would be prepared to issue instructions for the withdrawal of the order if you, on your part, would give an undertaking not to continue a propaganda which, if successful, would, in their opinion, militate to some extent against the effective prosecution of the war."

My profession hitherto has been that of a lecturer on mathematical logic. The Government have forbidden me to fulfil an engagement to practise this profession at Harvard, and the Council of Trinity College have forbidden me to practise it in Cambridge. Under these circumstances it became necessary to me to lecture on some more popular subject, and I prepared a course on the Philosophical Principles of Politics, to be delivered in various provincial towns. As three of