Labour Party is indicative of a bolder effort to impress National, Inter-Dominion, and International life with a new spirit. This is all to the good provided it is accompanied by a clearer conception of personal and collective responsibility and the recognition of the fact that in things essential there must be unity, and in things doubtful liberty. It must more than ever be appreciated that democracy is more than a form of government, it is a spirit. As Mazzini said, it is an attempt at the practical realisation of the prayer "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done as in Heaven so on earth." Moved by a common love unto a common activity in a common cause for a common humanity, we must lift ourselves above the narrow and divisive influences which render futile so much effort. We must welcome the active co-operation of all who stand for justice and seek the largest liberty and the greatest good. The edifice to be erected on the foundation of the will of a free people must be solid and substantial. The democratic forces must begin at once, and, whatever may be their difficulties, continue their task of reconstructing the world in a spirit of unity, co-operation and fraternity, if they would realise an abiding suc

cess.

CHAPTER IV

WORLD SECURITY

PRESIDENT WILSON'S famous declaration that the supreme inspiration of the military efforts of the Allies against the Central Powers is the desire to make the world safe for democracy will remain for all time one of the classic utterances of real statesmanship. It crystallises in a brief sentence the spiritual yearnings and idealist sentiments of all free peoples. The war itself has exercised a purifying influence on the souls of men and women, has stirred them to the depths of their being, and quickened and intensified their powers of insight and discrimination. The outlook of the individual has been broadened and his sense of real values has become keener and more accurate. He is no longer satisfied by a general recognition of his right to earn the means of existence; he now demands to be guaranteed the right to live in peace and security. He wishes neither to oppress nor to be oppressed. The war, by the frightful ravages and cruel sacrifices

which it has entailed, has shown him, perhaps more clearly and brutally than anything else could do, how nearly his own life and domestic happiness are linked up with the national life and welfare of his country. He has learned by keen suffering and bitter experience that the immoral and unscrupulous policy of one nation may plunge the whole world into the lowest depths of misery and desolation. He has realised from the example of Germany that a citizen may be called upon personally to expiate the crimes and follies of his Government. And as a direct consequence of this new and fuller comprehension of his liability as a citizen, he has determined to take a more practical and effectual part in the direction and control of national and international affairs.

In the past, British Governments decided when the nation should make war and afterwards determined the terms that should bring about its settlement. To-day, it is the British people who are at war and the people must decide the terms of peace. Despite the prolonged period of hostilities and military disappointments, they remain steadfast in their determination to defeat the ambitious schemes of aggressive German militarism, and they will not relax their efforts until their war aims are capable of achievement. Speaking of our War ideals, Mr.

Asquith said, in his Dublin speech, on September 25th, 1915:

Forty-four years ago, at the time of the war of 1870, Mr. Gladstone used these words. He said: "The greatest triumph of our time will be the enthronement of the idea of public right as the governing idea of European politics. . . ." The idea of public right-what does it mean when translated into concrete terms? It means first and foremost the clearing of the ground by the definite repudiation of militarism as the governing factor in the relation of States and of the future moulding of the European world. It means, next, that room must be found and kept for the independent existence and the free development of the smaller nationalities each with a corporate consciousness of its own. Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, the Scandinavian countries, Greece, and the Balkan States, they must be recognised as having as good a title as their powerful neighbours-more powerful in strength and wealth-to a place in the sun. And it means finally, or it ought to mean, perhaps by a slow and gradual process, the substitution for force, for the clash of competing ambitions, for groupings and alliances and a precarious equipoise, of a real European partnership based on the recognition of equal rights and established and enforced by a common will.

These are the ideals for which the people of this and the other Allied countries are fighting. It is not against the German people as individuals that their wrath and hostility are directed, but against Germany's policy of aggression and oppression. They do not desire to exterminate the German peo

ple, but they are determined to exterminate the policy of military, political, and economic domination which has been and still is a standing menace to the security and freedom of humanity. The power they are fighting against is the set of false ideals which are "the ruthless master of the German people." It is the ambition to world domination, the worship of militarism, and the belief in brute force as a proper instrument of policy. But security will not be obtained by this soulless policy merely changing its nationality from German to British or French or that of any other of the Allies. The idol of rampant and aggressive militarism must be shattered beyond repair, and the faith of all nations in its power and efficacy must be utterly destroyed. Such a policy by whatever nation it might be pursued would inevitably lead to a similar world catastrophe. The British soldiers and the British people are not fighting for British domination or French domination or domination by any of the Allies. The idea of world domination was not "made in Germany"; it is as old as world-history itself. Germany is merely the latest nation to be deluded by these impossible dreams, which in the past have ended in defeat, ruin, and disillusionment. The end will be in no wise different for Germany.

It should be quite apparent, therefore, that world