Chapter XVII: Conclusion: What Shall the End Be?

Is it possible to prescribe a remedy for war? We know that law, unsupported by force, cannot be substituted for war. We know that war will obey no law other than that of necessity, and, consequently, that the settling of national differences at an international court of conciliatory arbitration is not workable. We know that no nation will abide by the dictates of any such court when those dictates are opposed to its interests, unless that court has the power to enforce its decrees.

We know, then, that an international court of arbitration can dispense only such justice as may be consistent with the interests and necessities of the nations possessing the power to dominate that court; therefore, we know that the greatest measure of justice and the greatest security for peace that may be expected are only what may be pledged by the union of a majority of the great nations in a pool of their national interests and necessities, to maintain such international order as shall be consistent with the terms of the pool. All other nations outside of the pool will then be compelled to observe the law of the pooling nations, because the necessity of keeping peace with these dominant Powers will be greater than any other necessity.

The justice that the weaker nations may expect will depend upon the degree in which their individual interests are the mutual concern of the larger interests.

Armies and navies will then become veritable international police forces, and the necessity for large competitive armaments will be very greatly lessened.

There will then be greater security for peace, although this striving world is not likely soon to be a safe and quiet nesting place for the dove of peace; because at any time, when the necessities of the pooling nations shall put too great a strain on the compact, then the pool will break and war ensue. The great aim of the peoples of the nations should not be for a Utopian peace based on merely sentimental grounds, but for a peace secured by so practicable an _entente_ and pact between the great Powers as shall, entirely aside from sentiment, work for the best welfare of the world.

Russian, Teuton, Frenchman, Anglo-Saxon, when you shall have returned your blood-wet swords to their scabbards, then join hands over-seas with us Americans, who are kin to all the blood you have spilled, and let us take serious counsel of one another.

But, Americans, though we may turn our face toward the morning that should come, such posturing cannot, any more than the cock's-crow, bring the morning; and until the great international compact be made, we shall be able to find safety only by adequate preparation to stand alone against the dread eventuality of war.

INDEX

Abbott, Dr. Lyman, opinions of war, 52-53.
Aërial bomb: few advantages, many disadvantages of, 205-11.
Aërial Warfare, Chapter VIII, 203.
Aëronautical Society, first annual banquet of, 16.
Aëroplane, served to stimulate development of balloon, 204;
imperfections of first, 204;
advantages over Zeppelin, 214;
less expensive than Zeppelin, 214;
French and German, ordered by U. S., 216-17;
foreign countries possessing, 218-19;
indispensable for location of masked batteries, 219.
Air-craft, chief use of, 213;
the eyes of both army and navy, 219;
a necessity in present-day warfare, 219-20;
lack of, in America, 220-21.
_Alabama_, the, 193.
Alexander the Great, 90.
Alva, Duke of, undertook to kill entire population of Netherlands, 239.
American and British manufacturing works, 76.
Arbitration, international, 32, 33, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42, 46, 306.
Armaments, a safeguard against war, 6, 7, 8, 9.
a small burden in proportion to burden of luxuries, 226;
benefits of, 228;
added employment of labor in construction of, decreases individual
taxation, 231.
Armor-plate, introduction of, 181;
increase in thickness of, 184;
inferior to the gun, 184;
sufficiency of, dependent upon insufficiency of gun to which it is
opposed, 186;
improvements in, 189.
Army, our, strength of, in numbers, 100, 117, 118;
lack of artillery and training in, 102;
ignorance of people as to proper equipment of, 103, 115;
lack of system in, 120;
shortage of officers of, 122, 123;
personnel of our regular, 126;
total enlisted strength of, 126, 127;
mobile strength of, 127;
injustice done officers of, 146;
a standing, one of the strongest fortifications, 294.
Attila, 79.
Automatic magazine-rifle, its effectiveness over old methods of
warfare, 86, 87.

Balaklava, the noble Six Hundred at, 102.
Balloon, developed with aëroplane, 204;
modern, 205;
dirigible, has one advantage over aëroplane, 210.
Battle-cruiser, modern, absence of any in U. S., 188;
adopted by foreign countries, 188.
Beatty, Admiral, reports on North Sea fight, 195.
Belgian women, abject condition of, 244, 245.
Bernhardi, extracts from his "How Germany Makes War," 89.
Bessemer steel process introduced by Carnegie, 252.
Bethlehem Steel Company, manufacture of guns and armor-plate, 9, 10,
76.
Billings, Josh, on ignorance, 23.
Bismarck, 163.
Blatchford, Robert, writer for _The Daily Mail_, quoted, 164-67;
mentioned, 167.
Bliss, E. W., Torpedo Works, 77.
Bloch, M. de, author of "The Future of War," against possibility of
war, 2;
discussed, 93, 95.
_Bluecher_, the, 187.
Bombshells, 185;
dropped from airship not very effective, 209.
"Britannia Rules the Waves," 97.
Buckner, Colonel E. G., vice-president of du Pont Powder Company, 257.
Buffington, General A. R., 200, 201.

Cæsar, massacres by, 40;
mentioned, 90, 162.
Can Law Be Substituted for War? Chapter II, 22.
Canal, Panama, 157, 173.
Canning, George, attempts to join England in her open-door policy, 58.
Cannon designed by Mr. Maxim to illustrate advantages of projectiles
of great size, 198;
description of, 198, 199.
Carlyle, quotations from, 49.
Carnegie, Andrew, 68, 290;
his ideas on military defenselessness, 69;
quotation from, 70-71;
his views discussed, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 78, 80;
greatest American armorer, 252.
Chaffee, Lieut.-Gen. Adna R., quotation from, 68.
Charity, evils of, 283, 284, 285, 289;
J. Ellis Barker on, 286;
cat story illustrating evils of mistaken, 286-88;
thrives in time of peace, forgotten in times of war, 291.
Chittenden, Hiram M., his arraignment of war, 267-68.
_Christian Herald, The_, 46.
Colt Patent Firearms, 76.
Congress, dependent upon will of people, 132-33;
has power to dominate Army and Navy, 141;
not qualified to pass judgment on Army and Navy, 144;
neglects to take necessary precautions against war,145;
decides strength of Navy,164;
and the General Board, 168.
Conscription, values of, 136;
enforced in Germany, 136.
Cradock and von Spee, naval battle between, 195.
Cramb, Professor J. A., quotation from, 41.
Cramp Shipbuilding Works, 77.
Cromwell, 90, 163.
Crozier, General William, statement of, 121-22.
Cyrus the Great, 280.

Dangerous Criminal Class, A? Chapter XI, 247.
Dangerous Preachments, Chapter I, 1.
De Bange obturator, an American invention, 217.
Dirigibles, foreign countries possessing, 218-19.
Disarmament, repeatedly a failure, 12, 13.
Diseases, germs of, sown by old pioneers, 278.
Dreadnought, evolved by England, 158;
superiority of, recognized by Germany, France, Japan, 158;
not appreciated by American Congress, 158;
cost of, 225.
Du Pont Company, The, 9, 10, 77.
Du Pont, Francis G., eliminated danger in manufacture of
gun-cotton, 257, 258.

Economic Club of Boston, 18.
Ego-Fanatic Good Intentions and Their Relation to National Defense,