"Again, from the Christian standpoint, we arrive at the
same conclusion. Christian morality is based, indeed, on
the law of love. 'Love God above all things, and thy
neighbour as thyself.' This law can claim no significance
for the relations of one country to another, since its
application to politics would lead to a conflict of
duties. The love which a man showed to another country as
such would imply a want of love for his own countrymen.
Such a system of politics must inevitably lead men
astray. Christian morality is personal and social, and in
its nature cannot be political. Its object is to promote
morality of the individual, in order to strengthen him to
work unselfishly in the interests of the community. It
tells us to love our individual enemies, but does not
remove the conception of enmity."
Having thus established the general thesis that a nation should not
hesitate to declare war where a material advantage may be the
reward, he sets out very clearly what are some of the causes for war
which Germany can see before her. The following passages throw a
light upon them:--
"Strong, healthy, and flourishing nations increase in
numbers. From a given moment they require a continual
expansion of their frontiers, they require new territory
for the accommodation of their surplus population. Since
almost every part of the globe is inhabited, new
territory must, as a rule, be obtained at the cost of its
possessors--that is to say, by conquest, which thus
becomes a law of necessity."
Again:--
"Lastly, in all times the right of conquest by war has
been admitted. It may be that a growing people cannot win
colonies from uncivilised races, and yet the State wishes
to retain the surplus population which the mother country
can no longer feed. Then the only course left is to
acquire the necessary territory by war. Thus the instinct
of self-preservation leads inevitably to war, and the
conquest of foreign soil. It is not the possessor, but
the victor, who then has the right."
And he concludes:--
"Arbitration treaties must be peculiarly detrimental to
an aspiring people, which has not yet reached its
political and national zenith, and is bent on expanding
its power in order to play its part honourably in the
civilised world."
And adds:--
"It must be borne in mind that a peaceful decision by an
arbitration court can never replace in its effects and
consequences a warlike decision, even as regards the
State in whose favour it is pronounced."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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