Pacifist Chester Fosdick, who lobbies in Congress against the exportation of arms, despises Judson Brand, a munitions manufacturer who sells weapons to the country offering the most money. Because of these philosophical differences, Judson calls off the engagement between his daughter Eleanor and Chester. Meanwhile, Baron von Halstyn and Reinhold Burghoff, envoys from two equally unscrupulous warring nations, make bids for Judson's product. Then, just as Judson is about to sign a contract with von Halstyn, he learns that his son Marshall, while touring the war zone, has been killed by a shell made at the Brand factory. Judson immediately cancels the deal with Von Halstyn and allows Eleanor and Chester to marry, because he now understands the wisdom of the pacifist's philosophy. Judson then declares that he will devote the rest of his life to the Red Cross.
Alternate title was "The Final Argument."