66 TEE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY ■ 



was not unwilling to accept the challenge. And this challenge that 

 Eussia welcomed and France accepted not unwillingly, was responded 

 to at once by Great Britain, cordially and greedily. For many years 

 Germany had been insidiously encroaching upon Britain's supremacy in 

 commerce — making and selling more available goods, and more and 

 more displacing her rival in the markets of the world. To cripple or to 

 destroy German commercial rivalry was desirable. 



Of this desire, however strong it may have been, not a hint is to be 

 found in any official paper or utterance. On the contrary, the so-called 

 "white papers" and those of pther colors, disclose an endeavor, even 

 most strenuous effort, to avert war, and that only the high ethical 

 ground of upholding the validity and obligation of treaties, and espe- 

 cially the integrity of the guaranteed neutrality of Belgium, precipitated 

 war. These endeavors and efforts prove either the pacific incentives of 

 individuals of the British foreign office, or the marvels of adroitness of 

 publicists in power seeking to clothe a pretext in a garb of immaculate 

 plausibility, probably both. 



One of the wise fables of ^sop relates that a hound, reproached that 

 his quarry, the hare, had outstripped him, replied that it was "one 

 thing to be running for your dinner, and another for your life." The 

 idea embodied in this fable may have had some place in bringing on the 

 present war; it certainly has the very first place when questions are 

 raised concerning the return of peace and the conditions of peace. 



As to affixing " scientifically " (that is with knowledge) the respon- 

 sibility for the terrible conditions prevailing, the factors are far too 

 numerous and complex. The claim of the Allies of having had war 

 thrust upon them is well taken; it was thrust upon them. The claim 

 of Germany that she was forced to assume the " offensive-defensive " — 

 that she fights for self preservation — is also well taken. On the surface, 

 the seeds of war were sown when M. Berchtold, in the name of Austro- 

 Hungarian dignity, exasperated beyond endurance by murder-plots in 

 Servia, culminating in the assassination of Prince Ferdinand in Bosnia, 

 in the attempt to exact a righteous reparation, overstepped a legitimate 

 right of sovereignty. However guilty — or however much a conniver at 

 guilt — Servia's moral right to resist an assault upon her independence 

 can not be questioned. She went far enough in way of concession. 



Several problems now present themselves which perhaps the future 

 may sdlve, chief among which is found this : Would Austria have taken 

 so strong a ground without definite assurance of support from the 

 north ? Whatever solution to this may finally be uncovered, and to other 

 problems of like order, the certainty of responsibility goes further back, 

 being found in a gross departure from the righteousness that should 

 exalt a nation. By this is meant that the holding of Bosnia and the 

 Slavic peoples wherever they dwelt under Austrian rule was wrong— 



