Morley also recommended Hirst as editor of "The Economist", which he held from 1907 to 1916. In 1913–14 Hirst was a member of the international commission sent by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to investigate the conduct of the Balkan Wars of 1912–13. Hirst was with John Burns when Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914, and they both wept at the news. He was editor of the journal "Common Sense" from 1916 to 1921. "Common Sense" has been described as "the new house journal of disaffected Cobdenites". Hirst wrote that there was little to choose between the old Prime Minister Asquith and the new, Lloyd George; they both held power at the pleasure of protectionists. This "Old Gang of official Liberals" were impossible to rely upon because they had sacrificed liberalism in a "miserable hunt for offices and titles...in order to please their Protectionist colleagues and remain in office". Hirst agreed with Lord Lansdowne's proposal for a negotiated peace with Germany and drew up a government for this purpose. It did not include Asquithian Liberals but included old-fashioned Liberals such as Lord Loreburn and Richard Holt.