As for China, there is reason to believe that Japan’s protectorate over it, or absorption of it, will be beneficial to the people of that country in many ways. The Chinese have shown no capacity for organization or self-government. They have shown no capacity to develop the magnificent resources of their vast territory. Under Japanese efficiency China will be developed, and Japan, occupied in this task of development, will have no time to meddle with American affairs or to seek to push any colonizing enterprise on the American continents. The passing of Asia under the virtual suzerainty of an Asiatic power that has displayed a capacity for civilization and modern progress may be one of the compensations of the great world war. As for American trade in the aggregate, it should be helped rather than injured by the awakening of the sleeping Celestial giant to the touch of Progress.
ENGLAND AND THE DISINHERITED
The present war may prove a blessing in disguise to England if it leads to social reorganization on a more rational and effective basis. The weakness of England, as developed during the past year, has been in lack of unity and organization. There has been not only too much political, but too much class division. The remark has frequently been made, “Why doesn’t England wake up?” There has not been the same effective coöperation among all classes that has been apparent in Germany and in France. The English government has been in times past careless or neglectful in allowing the developement of slums and of a “submerged tenth,” while what are called the upper classes have been too intent on the pursuit of pleasure to give due heed to the privation and suffering of those occupying a lower social scale. This is measurably true of society in all countries, but it is notorious that the “upper classes” in England have been zealously devoted to sports, week-end holidays, social functions and the pursuit of gain, while the operative classes have antagonized them in labor organizations, and the lower working classes have been neglected and thrown upon the poor rates. This has bred social divisions which even the pressure of war finds difficult to heal. If this war is fought through to success by the working people of England, as it must be if England is successful, because the working people furnish the bulk of the army and navy and the toilers in the factories, they will undoubtedly demand a rearrangement of social forces which will give them a more equitable participation in the prosperity of the country. German efficiency teaches the world that no nation can permit the growth within its boundaries of a proletariat that feels itself disinherited.
ACTION VERSUS WORDS
There are many who think that the proper reply to the sinking of the Lusitania and the taking of American lives without warning would have been the calling of Congress in extra session and the appropriation of a billion dollars or more for increasing the American army and navy and coast defenses. They argue that this would not have been a measure of war, but on the contrary a measure of peace, as it would have shown that this country meant to protect its citizens and that no nation would ever venture to attack us if they saw that we meant to be prepared. The military authorities say that it will take us several years to place ourselves in a condition to fight any one of the first-class European powers with any prospect of success. Orville Wright says that we need two thousand æroplanes which might be built in a year, and Mr. Lake says we need at least a hundred and fifty submarines, which might be built within two years, and a goodly proportion of them in one year. If we need to prepare for defense, and the preparation takes so long, the sooner we begin the better. As actions speak louder than words, President Wilson’s action in calling Congress together would have conveyed a distinct impression of our resolution to protect our nationals and our national interests, as well against Great Britain as against Germany, which no “note” can convey, especially when the force of the note is undermined by a cabinet officer with the secret assurance to the ambassador of a foreign power that the note was merely for home consumption! Fortunately, however, for the credit of President Wilson’s administration, his cabinet is now purged of such secret folly and treachery.
THE DUTY OF THE HOUR
The view taken by the more sober and serious advocates of stronger armament by the United States is expressed by the publication, The Army and Navy Journal, in a recent issue, under the caption, “The Duty of the Hour.” It says:
“Is there no possibility of bringing home to official diligence an apprehension of the fact that preparation for defence, so far from involving us in war, is the best defense against war, as is shown by little Switzerland holding calmly on its path of peace in the midst of warring nations? All the powers respect the neutrality of Switzerland because they know that she is prepared to fight for her independence to the last man, and that she is at all times ready for immediate action in defense of her mountain fastnesses, so that she is a power to be reckoned with.”
Switzerland is a poor country and does not greatly tempt any of the belligerent nations by her wealth. The Swiss are tough fighters, their country, by reason of its mountainous situation, is a very defensible one, and its subjugation would undoubtedly cost any power more than the conquest would be worth. The case is very different with the United States. This is the richest country in the world, actually and potentially. Any power which could occupy its coast cities would be able to levy indemnities which would richly pay them for the financial cost of any war. Human nature being what it is, such wealth is a constant temptation to any predatory power. The ocean does not protect us as it formerly did, but on the contrary affords a convenient highway for invasion. Such wealth as ours needs protection in the present status of world-morality. There is no thought of aggression on the part of our people. The United States will never arm for aggression. But it should be strong enough to keep its goods in peace and to save its population from the horrors of invasion.