THE SPIRIT OF MILITARISM. 237 



by military instruction, is a safe vote for the country/' And here 

 Germany is called upon to furnish an illustration of the cherished 

 object. It is seriously asserted that the military system there is 

 worth far more than it costs, for the reason that the young men 

 there, through the several years of military drill and discipline, are 

 made " efficient citizens for all the duties and emergencies of life/' 



It would seem strange indeed that in a country as young as 

 this, with its Revolutionary antecedents, the sophistry of such 

 arguments should not be apparent to every one at first sight, did 

 we not know that very few appreciate the fact that in all ages it 

 is disobedience rather than obedience to existing laws which has 

 made progress possible; that each age or generation, yes, each 

 new decade, has its own requirements ; as the poet says, " must 

 have new men to determine its liberty." If love for country 

 means the obedience to civil and political law which a military 

 discipline inculcates, then let us have less of it. One need not be 

 a student of history to see the results of that kind of loyalty. 

 Already now practical men may be heard every day discussing 

 absurd laws with their far-reaching results ; but they will add 

 that a law must be respected at any cost until it is repealed, and 

 as it does not come within their province to repeal it, the law 

 remains, a menace to the liberties and happiness of the people. 

 What must we expect, then, when every one shall have been 

 trained into a military that is, blind obedience ? 



And here it may be well to ask, What is law, that we should 

 cultivate this filial spirit toward it ? Let it be understood that 

 the common law, that by mutual consent established respect for 

 life and property, is not here under consideration. The industrial 

 type of society, where voluntary association is the rule, owes its 

 growth to the comparative absence of military discipline, and it 

 is just such a state of society where we find the respect for com- 

 mon law best developed. Statute law, then, is what we have to 

 consider. Is this the spontaneous expression of the will of the 

 people or of the best elements among us ? Hardly ever. Now, 

 whether it is the will of one or a few, enforced upon the rest 

 through intimidation or strength of arms, etc., or whether it is 

 the will of that always uncertain quantity, the majority, enforced 

 by hook or by crook upon the so-called minority, why should it 

 be held as something inviolable or something holy ? Even if we 

 were to take the most optimistic view of law, should regard it as 

 the expression of our own will, " the voice of the whole people," 

 we would by no means be in duty bound to cherish it as some- 

 thing inviolable. That we erred yesterday is no reason why we 

 should continue the error to-day. Or, to leave error out of the 

 question, if we at a former occasion acted according to the light 

 given us then, so, with the increased experience of to-day, let us 



