So long as peace and goodwill do not prevail among individual men it is absurd to expect them to prevail among a collection of beasts of prey such as we have in the nations of the world. Yet it is obviously desirable that the human population of the globe should advance as one man. There is one thing, and one thing only, which can unite humanity into one closely-knit organism, and that is an external enemy.
If Mr. H. G. Wells’s War of the Worlds were to come true, and an expeditionary force of Martians were to land on the earth with a view to its annexation, then the human race might instantly unite to repel the invader. It would be an inspiring sight to see Japanese and Turks, Abyssinians and Zulus, Eskimos and Swiss, Brazilians and Mexicans and Doughboys, Tahitians and Britishers and Russians, Irish and Egyptians, Persians and Chinese, all vying with each other in devotion and bravery, fighting for their native planet against a ruthless and merciless invader.
Without such a danger from without, the close federation of the nations of the world is almost unthinkable. Take the case of Ireland. There we have two nationalities in one island, as opposed to each other as any two nations in the same continent. In the North, a hardy, stern, rough and unbending type of Scottish origin, who despises the “natives” of Ireland as an inferior race, and makes good by converting a large slice of the “distressful country” into a garden of prosperity. In the South, a graceful and indolent peasant race, with all the mingled diffidence and bravado of a conquered people largely pervaded by the blood of its conquerors, and imbued with the idea of martyrdom for the twin ideas of religion and nationality (in this case, as it happens, quite incompatible). How can anyone expect peace under such conditions? The situation is the very stuff that ruthless wars are made of. The Ulsterman will not “go under” a Dublin parliament run by what he considers to be ignorant cornerboys. The Munsterman looks upon the “blaack Praatestant” of the North as dirt, which Ireland must disgorge before she can rise to the height of her destiny. England, with her good-natured religious and ethnical tolerance, is despised by both parties, though the Ulsterman clings passionately to the empire, which he provides with the largest ships afloat.
That sort of thing makes international tribunals and Leagues of Nations look ridiculous. Here are two populations in a small island, ready to rend each other limb from limb on the slightest excuse because the country is not large enough to hold both.
On the other hand, it is an undoubted fact that international trade, finance, and intercourse has increased enormously with improved means of transport. The Postal Union is a fine achievement towards the unification of the whole human family. Its successful working shows that enterprises covering the entire civilized population of the globe can now be undertaken and carried through. It so happens that the two greatest States of the world, the British Empire and the United States of America, are also the States whose home countries are freest from national intolerance and race prejudice, both consisting of a mixture of many nationalities. It is to them, as well as France, that we must look for the greatest advances towards the ideal of a world federation. Germany before the War cherished dreams of World Supremacy, but lacked the schooling which might have led to success.
The two great Empires—British and Japanese—and the two great Republics—France and U.S.A.—will, if they can agree, form a good nucleus for a federation of the world. The world, in its present state, requires leadership, and if the leaders are a representative and benevolent oligarchy, it is about the best we can hope for.
Given a reasonable degree of stability, guaranteed by a combination of the best instruments of government yet devised, we may expect a very rapid progress. What direction will this progress take, and what will be the fruits of it?
Do not listen to those futile people who say there is no progress, and that there is “nothing new under the sun”! So far from maintaining that what is has been and ever shall be I should assert that nothing that is has ever been before, that there are new things evolved every day, and that every child born is a unique personality, unprecedented in the annals of creation.
And not only are things new, but the new things are, on the general average, a bit more advanced than the last. Advanced towards what? Towards perfection, towards greater happiness, a fuller and more enduring life.