Both are vitally interested in the maintenance of the balance of power in Europe. Both are vitally interested in seeing the military Great Powers of the world divided against themselves. If these should combine, or if one of them should obtain the supremacy in Europe, it might mean the end not only of Great Britain but also of the United States. When Washington wrote, “ 'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world,' the United States could stand alone. At that time a combination of military Powers possessed of powerful navies was inconceivable. Besides, formerly the United States could be attacked by no European nation except Great Britain, because all the other nations lacked ships. As the United States cannot safely meet single-handed a joint attack by the Great Powers, they must endeavour to meet a hostile combination by a counter-combination. If serious complications should arise out of the Mexican War, we must stand shoulder to shoulder with the United States, with or without a treaty of alliance. In defending the United States against a joint attack of the military Great Powers we defend ourselves. Policy should be not merely national but should be racial. Accidents have divided the two great branches of the Anglo-Saxon race, but necessity may again bring them together. Herein lies the hope of the future. We may not approve of Mr. Wilson's policy, but we must bear in mind that he has acted with the best intentions. America's troubles are our troubles. We cannot afford to see the United States defeated or humiliated. The present moment seems eminently favourable not only for offering to the United States our unconditional support in case of need, but for approaching them with a view to the conclusion of a carefully limited defensive alliance. Such an alliance would be the strongest guarantee for the maintenance of the world's peace. The Mexican War may have the happiest consequences upon Anglo-American relations, and it may eventually bring about an Anglo-American reunion. At the time these lines were written the political horizon of Europe seemed free from clouds. On the other hand, it appeared possible that the Mexican trouble might involve the United States in difficulties with some European military Power or Powers. It seemed more likely that Great Britain might have to come to the aid of the United States than the United States to the aid of Great Britain. Providence has willed it otherwise, and perhaps it is better so. If, as is devoutly to be hoped, the Anglo-American brotherhood in arms should lead to the establishment of a great brotherhood in peace of all the English-speaking peoples-to an Anglo-American reunion—a great step would have been taken in strengthening the cause of freedom and the peace of the world. The British Empire and the United States combined would not dominate the world. Anglo-Saxondom has no desire for such domination. Possessing only small standing armies, merely a police force, other States need not fear their aggression. On the other hand, the numbers of their citizens, the power of their industries which can be mobilised for war, and their great wealth, would make the combined Anglo-Saxon nations the most powerful factor in preserving the peace of the world, while their own peace would in all probability be secured by their reunion for an indefinite period. Nowhere in the world does the white population increase more rapidly than in the United States and in the British Dominions. To all who have the welfare of the Anglo-Saxon race at heart it must be clear that not the least benefit of the Great War would consist in the reunion of the two branches of the Anglo-Saxon race, in the recreation of the British Empire in its greatest glory. The hope to secure the peace of the world by arbitration treaties or by some great international organisation such as a federation or a great league of nations, may prove an illusion. All attempts to eliminate war by mutual agreement among States have failed since the time when the Greek States created their Amphyctionic Council. All endeavours to link together the satisfied and the landhungry nations and to combine them for the defence of the territorial status quo may prove futile. The peace of the world can most easily be maintained not by creating an artificial and unnatural partnership between nations of different and, perhaps, irreconcilable aims and interests, a partnership which will break down at the first opportunity, but by creating a permanent partnership between the freedom-loving and peace-loving Anglo-Saxon nations which in addition have the advantage of belonging to the same race, of speaking the same language, of having the same ideals, the same laws, and the same traditions. A British-American union devised for the protection of their possessions against foreign attack should be the most powerful instrument imaginable not only for protecting the future peace of the Anglo-Saxons but also for protecting the peace of the world. ANALYTICAL INDEX. NOTE.—The letter 'f' following a page number signifies 'and following . . . . A PAGE 4, 130 ff 247 ff 229 249 412 36 f 24 ff 23 f . 172 ff .201 ff .403 ff . 36 ff . 403 f . 286 f 304 ff 401 ff 416 ff, 423 f, 425 400 94 f 66 6, 56 ff 68 f, 70 f, 102 70 .101 ff 77 77 ff 60 ff 76 f 77 74 ff, 101 ff 72 ff 75 f 2 F . . 68 . 99 PAGE 60, 65 . 56 fi 95 ff 294 ff .119 ff .119 ff 114 f, 116 f . 112 . 124 f .130 ff . 113 f 113 . 115 f 109 .106 ff 143 ff 111 6 ff, 105 ff .125 ff .130 ff .120 ff .140 ff 120, 121, 124 6 f, 128 ff 112 f, 117 f 106 . 141 f 113 .118 ff .115 ff 112 .105 ff 201 ff 9 99 99 9 B . Babylonia and Assyria, Ancient prosperity of 95 ff . 332 f . 295 f 59, 61 3, 4, 48, 51, 52, 53 ,195 ff . 293 f 115 44 173, 175, 176, 177 . 198 f 317, 318, 319, 320 173 f, 188 . . 99 |
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