THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.
(To ml EDITOR Or THE " Spzernoa."1 Sne,—There is this difficulty in even seeming to be opposed to the possibly (and indeed probably) fruitful, and certainly philan- thropic, notion of a League of Nations, that our reserves and doubts are misunderstood by enthusiasts whose enthusiasm we approve and share. But the rulers of Germany are not enthu- siasts or idealists, or rather their hereditary and traditional enthusiasms are for the glories and profits of succeseSul war, for ideals which we have come to regard as obsolete and barbarous. Perhaps our American Allies would best understand this state of things by thinking of Germany as a huger and more powerful Mexico. The Kaiser still rules over a still impenitent Germany, and his heir (disappointed and annoyed, no doubt, but probably quite unconverted) is still the Crown Prince. They envy us our
Navy, our Colonies, our many advantages in business and com- merce, and regard these, rightly or wrongly, as the result of bygone successful wars. America herself, they will say, won inde- pendence and unity by wars of which she is justly proud. As for the lessons of this present war, they will argue that but for the unexpected and unintended share in it of first Great Britain, and then the United States, their own schemes for victory would Probably have been successful. All this is annoying and very dis- appointing to them, but it is not, from a dynastic poinf of view, a proof that aggressive war ("a free and joyous war," in their on-n phrase) is a crjme and a blunder. That we, the free nations, fairly contented and happy, should desire a League of Nations, and should deprecate the maintenance of armies for other than police purposes and the control of the more "backward" races of men, is of course natural enough, even if optimistic or " demo- cratic " ideas, as we call them, were not part of our blood and being. The real problem is to convert the German millions to our optimistic idealism, and it is perhaps for our indomitable and glorious French Allies (who have, they will cheerfully admit, • been through the process) to say that nothing but an " annie terrible" can produce the national change of heart which ren- ders a great nation unwilling to be the pawns of the dynastic and belligerent schemes of Bourbons, Bonapartes, or Hohenzollerns. A League of Nations will come of itself when all "civilized" nations share the ideas of the United States and Great Britain, and (let us hasten to add) modernized Japan. Even then, there will be the rest of the world to reckon with. On the whole, then, could we not take our amiable and philanthropic ideals for granted for the present, and simply "get on with the war" ? Our philan- thropists mean well, as did the excellent Gonzalo. But the boat- swain, you remember, was in the right of the matter, and now that we are beginning to weather the Tempest, the soldiers' quite good-natured and cheerful cry must needs be: " Cheerly, good hearts! Out of our way, I say."—I am, Sir, 8:c., J. D. A.
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