The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1917-08-25
A Modern Thinker
on an Ancient Truth
The Medieval Conception of the State
a Remedy for War Provoking
Nationalism.

Nationalism.
In the magazine section of the New
York Evening Post for Saturday, July
%, Washington GLADDEN., widely and
favorably known as an author, brings
a series of reflections upon new
book of George Louis Beers, entitled
"The English Speaking Peoples, Their
Future Relations and. Joint Interna-
tional Obligations" The quotations he
brings from this work are in them
selves so we'll worth quoting and cor
roborate so fully what had been said
so we'll and so clearly in St. Angus
tines Civitas Del that we cannot but
choose several of the best to bring
home truth of especial interest just
today.
DR.. GLADDEN. tells us that "The first
fact to be noted is that the condition
which has prevailed for several CEN
turtles in Europe is that of information
| al anarchy. This is not to be charged
to any one nation or group of nations;
| it is the direct product of working
theories universally held in recent
times :. - "In the words of living
publicist, the modern view is that the
political world is composed of distinct
communities, entirely independent, ter
ritorially omnipotent, and to some ex-
| tent morally responsible And Mr..
Beers explains still further what DR..
GLADDEN. maintains when he says: "The
governments of the national states,
England, France, Spain, whose CONSOLE
dation marks the dawn of the mod
ern era, successfully claimed for these
bodies absolute freedom from all ex-
ternal control" This absolutism in
it's pernicious form is attributed to
| what DR.. GLADDEN. calls "A series of
remarkable thinkers - Machiavelli,
Luther, Bodin and Hobbies" who as
the same author says, "deductively de-
veloped an abstract theory of unlim-
tied state sovereignty, both in inter-
nal and external affairs. Mankind in
stead of being regarded as one all
embracing community, was divided in
to distinct and separate political units,
connected by no legal bonds. Even
! the existence of moral ties was not
unfrequently denied. This theory Of
unlimited state sovereignty still holds
sway. In the political world of today
the concrete realities are the sover-
eign states, each one of which is con-
ceived by its government to be more
or less law unto ITSELF"
What the results are of these per-
verified views disseminated by the men
referred to Mr.. Beers tells us when
he says: almost at the very out
set it was recognized that the Renais-
sance theory of state sovereignty led
logically to the continuous warfare
which was then devastating Europe,
and that some limit must be set to the
self-regulating actions of the sovereign
state, if civilization was a perdure."
But that this limit has not as yet
been set is evident when we are told
by DR.. GLADDEN. that There has never
until now been any indication that
any Of the great powers were ready
to surrender their prerogatives of SOW
l u
ment by which war could be averted.''
Mr.. Beers tells us likewise that "The
war is direct outcome of the pre-.
vailing international anarchy, and of
the selfish nationalism that is intim.
ately connected with this lack of or.
ganization." For, as he also states,
80 long as the community of states
remains unorganized the will to war
of one of it's members will always be
able to thwart the pacific purposes Of
the majority"
ut has not always been &c." DR..
GLADDEN. tells us. Away back in me.
dieval times they managed things bet
ter At least they wanted to, and
tried to. Mankind as they figured it,
was a single, comprehensive organism
you might call it state or you might
call it church-they drew no line be-
tween the two any more than the Mas
sachusetts Pilgrims did," "And there
is no doubt that these medieval folks
had the idea that the unity of man.
kind was not merely phrase-that
it represented a fact which they
ought always to keep in sight and
which must be the home of all their
political thinking"
How fortunate indeed for the pres.
ent world would be q reversion to this
medieval manner of political thinking
Mr.. Beers and DR.. GLADDEN. wildly
bring home to us the realization that
the old is not all for the scrap heap,
/ r1ik oil ~