336 GRAND STRATEGY OF EVOLUTION 



of her own concept of world life by the elaborate way 

 in which she has dissected and exposed her own 

 mental attitude toward life, and by the unflinching 

 manner in which she has executed the preposterous de- 

 mands of her own logic. 



She would not be convinced by the mere "reductio 

 ad absurdum" which was the manifest outcome of her 

 moral system. She must have it actually demon- 

 strated on her own person, by her own disasters. This 

 moral corruption, like a running sore, poisoned her 

 whole intellectual system, nullified her physical pow- 

 ers, and led them to inevitable disaster. The fetor 

 of her dissolution already pervades the house of man, 

 and moves man, as death always does, to fear and fore- 

 boding. 



But the world will be the better for this practical 

 lesson, for it can now more clearly see the inevitable 

 results of this policy. For Germany, with scientific 

 precision, has demonstrated to the world, using in the 

 experiment all her incomparable resources of power, 

 physical, intellectual, and administrative, that selfish- 

 ness, for nations as for individuals, is self-destructive. 



It must be conceded that in her internal adminis- 

 tration, Germany made good use of cooperative prin- 

 ciples and succeeded in creating a powerful empire. 

 But she lamentably failed in her larger purpose, be- 

 cause the scope of her cooperation was narrow and 

 self-limited. She lacked the missionary spirit which 

 must animate all social units, if they are to live and 

 grow; a spirit which aims to create social power in or- 

 der to use it in cooperation with other people and 

 other nations for mutual welfare and world-service 



It is commendable to put one's house in order for 



