New-York tribune., 1913-06-28
INTERNATIONAL POLITICS.

international Politics from SadoWa 70
Kirk-Kilisst BY William Morton il ul
lerton. Svo, pp. XN' 5Z@. ChaIIes 9'iiO
ners S Sons.
Mr.. Fullerton, sometime correspond
ent Of THE London Times gives us
here a work on the present state OF
world politics whose very thorough
ness which is not altogether without
certain ponderosity, will, one fears
prevent it from being as widely read as
IL should he. To the serious student
however of past. present and future
as merely three moods Of one and
the same active verb" he presents a
mine Of information, and a wealth OF
suggestion that will clear and lengthen
vision. even when one disagrees with
the author. and often because he
disagrees. Mr. Fullerton, while begin
ming with the statement that no philos-
ophy Of history is possible, yet is oc-
cupied most of the way with the very
formulation Of such a philosophy from
the events of the past for the guidance
of the nations in the future. And the
nations which he chiefly has in view
are this county and Great Britain. with
the French republic as a possible and
desirable third in the new era that
will definitely open up with the COM
pletion Of the Panama Canal Already
Mr.. Fullerton descries from the
heights above Culebra Franco-Latin
cooperation in South America, Anglo
American cooperation in the islands
and on the high seas Of the Pacifc;
a solemn Franco-Anglo-American pact
for the peace of the world"
If Mr. Fullerton's book resembles
those Of all other English writers on
international relations Of to-day and
tomorrow in its advocacy Of an An
glo-American alliance, It also resem-
bles them in its conviction that Ger
many is a danger, not only to the Brit
ish Empire, but 10 all the world. the
Old. and the New as well. II is Bis
marcks legacy with which we are con-
fronted. with which we shall have TO
deal, according to him. The tension.
the uncertainty, the alarums that keep
Europe's nerves taut are all traceable,
so Mr.. Fullerton opines, 10 the Iron
Chancellor's two great "blunders." the
annexation of Schleswig- -Holstein and
Of Alsace-L Lorraine. The latter was in
reality Moltke's blunder, since he in
sisted for military reasons, but it may
well he charged 10 the long and sinls-
ter account piled up against Bismarck
ny English historians, since in the end
he gave in on a point Of whose poliu-
cal, as apart from its strategic. mean
ing and consequences he was fully
aware. From Sadowa TO Kirk-Kilisse
runs Mr. Fullertons study. But his
tory has already passed beyond that
battlefield, and seems ready 70 nullify,
and certainly TO qualify. our authors
statement that the Bulgarian victory
has barred Russias march to Constan-
tinopIe, stopped the German offensive
in the Balkans, and thrust Austria back
upon herself, thereby making her a
greater menace to Italy than ever be-
fore-all this, be II understood, on the
assumption that the Balkan Alliance
will succeed in maintaining its union
and the United States of Balkany"
become a reality The realization is
further away now than it was when
Mr.. Fullerton drew his wide conclu-
sions from history in the making.
This exhaustive work by as compe-
tent, as thoroughly equipped student
as can be found is. indeed, only an ad-
ditional proof OF the well known fact
that in the present complicated state
OF international relations no statesman
can look beyond the morrow and feel
safe. There are many ifs" here and
many unavoidable contradictions, be-
cause Mr.. Fullerton undertakes to do
that very thing. In our days, he in
sists, repeating a familiar statement,
treaties are not worth the paper they
are written on; yet he is fully convinced
that the Franco-AngloAm treaty
which he advocates would hold. De-
nouncing German policies, Bismarck S
and those Of his successors alike. he is
at the same time very much Of a prac-
tical politician himself where his own
proposals are concerned; and his atti-
tasde towards Mr.. Taft as the champion
OF arbitration is not only negligent,
but scornful. The treaty proposed by
our ex-Presldent in 1911 is decidedly
short-sighted politics" or words 10
that effect.
The field OF world politics is too wide
for bird 's-eye view such as Mr.. Full
lerton has undertaken here, but his
sectional maps of 1t, so TO speak, are
highly valuable. II lies within the
scheme Of his work that Russia and
India are rather neglected for the sake
Of the greater emphasis laid upon
Western Europe, the Americas and
the two great Asiatic powers, ia
pan ia cSSe China in posse. OF most
interest 10 us in this country is the
authors searching analysis of the
transformations that have taken place
in the consciousness, the ideals and