to develop democracy on earth, but now she is coming to her own, and the days of kingly power and oppression are numbered. To appreciate this fact, and to remember the principle for which we struggle-to keep our patience in this generation, it is necessary that we see events in terms of centuries, and great movements in terms of the great ages and stages of evolution of man's civilization, in eras as God counts them, in their true perspective and as they are.

The desire for political freedom and democracy on the part of the people, is of course the other side of the struggle represented by the cause given immediately above, and cannot be considered wholly apart from it. Suffice it to say here that this struggle has been going on in modern times from the outbreak of the English revolution of 1642 to the present time, is now at its greatest height, and will continue for ages to come, though unaccompanied in its last stages, we fondly hope, by the maelstrom of war.

The last cause-to uphold the principles of international law and justice and the solemn obligations and treaties of nations-is, with the last above named, the greatest contribution of the United States of America to the world.

CHAPTER V

PRETEXTS AND EXCUSES FOR WAR-SOME ILLUSIONS

NATIONAL honor is sometimes made a pretext for war;

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it is also sometimes a real cause. The civilized world has never expected a nation to suffer the outrages of a foreign State, especially if they occur repeatedly. The United States has only followed a long-standing precedent in this respect. The American government and people showed a forbearance that was remarkable before entering the war against Germany. Critics of our government's course would do well to remember this fact. Several other nations would have refused to suffer what they have suffered, and would have gone to war, if they had been strong enough. The fate of Belgium, Montenegro, Serbia and Roumania has terrorized them into maintaining a technical peace. Nothing is more precious to a State than the respect for her personality, her honor, her sense of fair play. It is with nations as with individuals in this particular. If the United States, after her stand for the right of neutrals and for humanity, had done less than follow up her professions by war, she would have been considered the world over as vascillating and cowardly, as materialistic and selfish, and would have hindered rather than encouraged the cause of democracy throughout the world; the revolution in Russia would not have had her powerful aid, and democracy would be staggering o'er the whole earth. Belgium accepted Germany's challenge, rather than slavishly submit, because of the God-given right of all honorable people to govern themselves and maintain their national integrity and honor. Like all free peoples, she would rather die than submit to the

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vassalage of the inhuman strutting "lord of destiny”—she would preserve her honor before the world, though she might lose her existence, as the penalty. For this, Belgium has an immortal name in history, as has many an individual martyr, for like conduct.

Despite the above, and numerous other instances, however, national honor has often been a mere pretext of ambitious States and covetous princes and worldlings, for waging war against a weaker people.

During long centuries, up to the present, Europe has been rending herself, each group trying to make itself greater through the dependency of its neighbors,-all this under the pretext of succession to power, political equilibrium, and sometimes, "balance of power." This has kept alive among the nations the Machiavelian principle that might makes right. But, we must remember that of the many wars thus waged, the alleged causes were only pretexts, the real causes being deeper and more selfish. This point cannot be too strongly emphasized. Text books often lead us astray here, giving these excuses as the causes, rather than the motives back of them. On such pretexts Rome and Carthage contended for no less stakes than the "dominion and exploitation of the Mediterranean world." Later, Genoa and Venice, of the Italian city States, likewise fought for predominance in commerce and navigation; then Spain and Portugal, for their colonial empires; then England, Holland and France, following the countries of the Iberian Peninsula. The real motive, however, was chiefly commercial, as the nature of these contests testifies.

This was all done under the old-time conviction that, in order to have prosperity, a nation must gain a monopoly on trade and treasure, a monopoly of exchange and exploitation. Consequently, this era was followed up and completed by the conquests and wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It had its revival, again, in the wars of colonial expansion in the past century. If a State could not secure

a monopoly, it felt that it must at least "turn the balance of commercial power" in its favor. Even modern and present day warfare is somewhat of a commercial enterprise in this sense. This is an astounding fact, once we come to reflect upon it. The nations still are jealous rivals; they desire to monopolize certain trade zones, and they still do business with each other on the old suspicious competitive basis—an economical theory of capitalism that for internal industry in the various countries was exploded long ago. For instance: the railroads of this country went through (1), the stage of competition of small roads, with much duplication, extra cost, and poor service. They soon learned they were violating an economic principle that this did not pay. So, (2), the next step was consolidation, wherein a few large corporations came to own and control all the former small roads, leaving the business in the form of a few great systems. Next (3), came the period of cooperation, when pooling began. The rates and traffic in general were so manipulated for the benefit of the railroads as a result, that the States and the national government were constrained to take up the problem of the regulation of the railroads. But the point is, the railroads doing business with one another, or former rivals, came to the principle of cooperation as the best and most satisfactory and feasible plan. This record can be duplicated, for many other industries.

Today, as the war problem has developed, the efficiency of cooperation is manifest in every industry, and in all the industries of our whole national life, as they aid one another, for a common end. The world war has made cooperation and efficiency the two greatest words of the business world. The cooperation of the allies is bringing victory to them, while without it they were floundering in defeat. On no important undertaking along any line whatsoever, do they launch forth without the cooperation of all. International commerce should long ago have been put upon this same basis, should have been operated on the friendly and

cooperative plan, instead of the suspicious and restrictive competition that still prevails. The old competitive theory, with first the "navigation laws" (as those of Spain, England, France and Holland), now, the protective tariff restrictions -ignores the truth that the well-being of one State is not incompatible with that of its neighbors, but almost always, the opposite. It has an interest in their prosperity, and their well-being contributes to its own. As we all know the "navigation laws" helped to cause many wars between nations or peoples. The protective tariff, that companion instrument of the privileged classes, has likewise caused much trouble, especially internal, for all the great nations. Thus we see, it is privilege, selfishness and greed that are at the bottom and back of the usual pretended causes of war.

Accordingly all European States have actually been established and consolidated by force. If one condemns this selfish conquest (as the world is condemning it today) it can no longer be a question of restoring that which was unjustly gained, of a revision and general transfer of titles. This would result in a complete overthrow of the political chart, and would return without profit to the parceling out of nations and to the disorder and anarchy of the middle ages. The present condition (previous to 1914) in the main has been confirmed by a long possession, and has been consolidated by general consent of the powers of the world. As all nations, somewhere along their course, have proceeded in much the same manner, no one can criticise and condemn another unsparingly without reflecting discredit upon itself. This truth by no means argues, however, that there should be no territorial readjustments to right wrongs of the past, as a result of this present war. It is to help us to see, on the other hand, that many pretended arguments for freedom of peoples and restoration of former conditions, that are advanced by Germany, her allies and sympathizers, are besides the point, and not at all parallel cases to those conditions of subject and unfortunate peoples whom she and