Y ou have given ten million dollars to an international peace fund. The object is worthy. The donor's intentions are good. But a worthy object and a good intention cannot alone make a gift a real benefaction. Donations, no matter how large, to suppress evils, no matter how great, can accomplish nothing unless they should be used to remove the fundamental cause of the evils.
Aggressive warfare is always the result of what appears to be an economic necessity.
The last great war, that between Russia and Japan, will serve as an illustration. Those two nations fought over the possession of Korea. Russia wanted Korea because she feels the need of a seaport accessible all the year round, that she may be able to export and import merchandise freely without being bothered with any tariff restrictions other than those of her own making. If conditions of absolute free trade had prevailed, Russia would no more have felt the lack of an accessible seaport than does the State of Ohio. If Japan maintained no custom houses, the power that would try to rob her of her independence would have nothing to gain and very little to lose.