New-York tribune., 1914-10-04

their collective power. why should IL
be wicked for citizens as individuals
to do so? Does their moral rcsponsi-
blity cease when and because they &C.
together?
Most legal systems hold that there
are acts which one man may lawfully
do which become unlawful Il done hy
q number of men con spring together
But now it would seem that what
would be crime iu persons as lndiNld-
uals is high policy for those persons
united in state Has the state, then
no morality, no espOnsiblhty!
is there 10 such thing as a com
mon humanity? Are there no duties
owed 20 it? j. there none of that de
cent respect 70 the opinions Of man
kind which the trainers OF the Decla-
ration Of independence recognized
No sense that even the greatest states
are amenable to the sentiment Of the
civilized world?
Let Us see how these doctrines ar
feet smaller and weaker states which
have hitherto lived in comparative
security. Beside great powers they
will pe absolutely at the mercy OF the
stronger. Even if protected by treat
les guaranteeing their neutrality and
for treaty obligations are worthless
"when they do not correspond to facts.
That Is, when the strong power hnda
that they stand in its way, It's inter
ests are paramount
Wipes Out Small States.
II a state hold valuable minerals,
as Sweden has iron and Belgium coal
and Rumania oil; or if it has abundance
of water power, like Norway, sweden
and Switzerland; or If II holds the
mouth of q navigabic river the upper
course of which belongs to another ma
tion. a great state may conquer an"
annex that small state as soon as IL
finds that il needs the minerals on
the water power or the river mouth.
1t tas the power, and power gives
right. The interests, sentiments. pa
triotism and love Of independence OF
the small people go for nothing.
Civilization has turned back upon n
self. Culture IS to expand itself b.
barbaric force. Governments derive
+ their authority not from the consent
of the governed but from the weapons
Of the ConquerOr. Law and morahIy
between nations have vanished.
Uerodotus tells us that the Scyth-
ians worshipped as their God nakec
sword. That is the deity TO be IN
stalled in the place once held by the
God Of Christianity, the God of right
eousness and mercy.
States, mostly despotic states, have
sometimes applied parts OF this sys
tenn Of doctrines, but none has pro
claimed il. The Romans, conGueror'
Of the world, were not IA scrupulou!
people; but even they stopped shor
of these principles. Certainly they
never set them up as an ideal. NeitheI
did those magnificent Teutonlc En-
perors of the Middle Ages, whose tame
General Won Bernhard Is fond Of re
calling. They did not enter Italy a.
conquerors, claiming her by the rlgh
OF the strongest. They came on th'
faith Of legal title, which. howeve
fantastic il may seem 10 US to-day, thu
Italians themselves, and, indeed, tn,
whole Of Latin Christendom, admitted
Not in Prussisn School.
Dante, the greatest and most patriot
ic Of Italians, welcomed Emperor Hen
ry VII into Italy and wrote a temou.
book tc prove his claims. vlndiCatini
them on the ground that he. a. the nei
Of Rome. stood for law and right anC
peace. The Eoblcst title which thes'
EmperOrs chose TO bear was that o
ImperatOr PacliiCus.
In the Middle Ages, when men wcr'
always fighting, they appreciated th
blessings of war much less than doe
General Won Bernhard, and the
valued peace. not war, as the means I,
civilization and culture. They had no
learned in the school of won Ireltschh
that peace means decadeuce and wa
is the true civilizing influence.
The doctrines above stated are, as
have tried 10 point out, we'll calculated
10 alarm small states which prize thei
liL-rty and their individuality, ant
have been thriving under the safeguar
of treaties. Bu- there are other con
sideratons affecting those states whicl
ought to appeal to men in all cOuntrle
to strong nations as well as weak ma
tionS.
The small states, whose absorption
is now threatened, have been pOten
and useful, perhaps most potent an,
useful, factors in the advance of civil
zation. 1t is in them and by them tina
most Of what is most precious in re
ljgion, in philosophy, in literature, u
science and IN art has been produced
What Small States Have Done.
Inc ilrSt Hfeat lHoubHto li@t DiSUS u
man into true relation with God cam
from the tiny people inhablting coun
try smaller than Denmark. The re
ligions of mighty Babylon and popu
Ions Egypt have vanished. The religion
az Israel remains in its earlier as wei
Is in that later form which has over
spread the world. The Greeks were
small people, not united in one srea
state. but scattered over coasts ant
among hills, IN petty city communities