We are living in the midst of a general disorganization of the world. Only two nations have found their position strengthened by the War: Great Britain and the United States. "Sentiment rapidly yielded to self-interest." Scarcely was the Armistice signed when the United States demanded the winding-up of the Inter-Allied Petroleum Conference. The _Standard_ was eager to regain its liberty. In vain France drew attention to her unhappy position, both in Paris and in London, and asked for the continuance of the Inter-Allied Conference. Britain was not sorry to be able to dispute the oil supremacy of the United States and to reap the benefit of the preparations she had been slyly making for several years. The British Empire rests on a foundation of coal. A new fuel, oil, appears which has such advantages over the former that it displaces it everywhere. Unfortunately, Great Britain possesses so little of it that Dr. David White, of the American Geological Survey, does not even mention it in his estimate of the oil deposits of the world. If we take the whole British Empire, it contains scarcely 4 per cent. of the known resources of the globe. Great Britain, to maintain her world supremacy, resolved to win the control of oil as she had done that of coal. Besides, her coal will only last another century. It was the silent task of a few men. Their proceedings were unknown, even to the people interested, and they did not fear to bring conflict into the world to win new greatness for their country. Meanwhile the United States basked in a false security, trusting in their production, which gave them 70 per cent. of the world's oil. "Ten years ago France and Britain were in the same position as regards oil. Each had a few millions invested in distant enterprises; neither had control over an indispensable fuel. Suddenly it was discovered that a technical invention, the introduction of mazut into the furnaces of ships, was going to give the United States the power to make all other nations her tributaries. At once a few British business men, technical experts, and diplomatists joined forces. They decided to wrest from America the mastery of this new force. They laid their plans in silence and followed them for years with determination; they sank millions of money, carried on intrigue in every corner of the world; they _fomented revolutions_ and accumulated on their own shoulders responsibilities, risks, expenses. "Why? To gain money or honours? No! Sir Marcus Samuel and Lord Cowdray count their wealth in millions; Lord Curzon is at the height of his diplomatic career.... But in Britain, as in America, there is a tradition that a successful business man has obligations towards the society in which he has amassed his millions. He must make a personal contribution to its greatness....