Brigadier General John J. Pershing disagreed in 1913 with the notion that war had become obsolete, that evolving humanity would shed this vestige of primitivism. Believers in a pacific future pointed to progress made in the two Hague conferences (1899, 1907). Conferees had provided for a permanent court of arbitration. They had adopted rules to reduce suffering caused by war. Planning for a third Hague meeting, scheduled for summer 1915, evidenced steady pace toward a better world. Scholarly writers, meanwhile, notably Britain's Norman Angell in 1909 (The Great Illusion), deduced that war had become so unprofitable that it could not again occur on a large scale. The English Marxist historian, H. N. Brailsford, said in March 1914: “The dangers which forced our ancestors into European coalitions and Continental wars have gone never to return.” The working class too contributed to the peace momentum when (1907, 1910) the Second International enacted measures to prevent the bourgeoisie from making wars. Against this hopefulness, Pershing told journalists: “Universal peace is as far away as the Millennium … With different languages, different interests, different traits of character, different instincts and customs, different religions, Universal Peace in the world, even among the leading powers, is impossible.” Pershing had earlier in 1913 directed a blistering operation against Moro fighters in the Philippines. His command in June on Jolo island killed more than 500 Moros at Bud Bagsak.