MILITARY SYSTEMS. 479 



and dead, cannot be raised in efficiency without lowering 

 the ratio it bears to those sustaining structures which give it 

 efficiency. 



The other cooperating cause which simultaneously conies 

 into play, is directly due to the compounding and re-compound 

 ing of societies. The larger nations become, and the greater the 

 distances over which their military actions range, the more 

 expensive do those actions grow. It is with an army as with 

 a limb, the effort put forth is costly in proportion to the 

 remoteness of the acting parts from the base of operations. 

 Though it is true that a body of victorious invaders may raise 

 some, or the whole, of its supplies from the conquered society, 

 yet before it has effected conquest it cannot do this, but is 

 dependent for maintenance on its own society, of which it 

 then forms an integral part: where it ceases to form an 

 integral part and wanders far away, living on spoils, like 

 Tatar hordes in past ages, we are no longer dealing with 

 social organization and its laws, but with social destruction. 

 Limiting ourselves to societies which, permanently localized, 

 preserve their individualities, it is clear that the larger the 

 integrations formed, the greater is the social strain conse 

 quent on the distances at which fighting has to be done ; and 

 the greater the amount of industrial population required to 

 bear the strain. Doubtless, improved means of communica 

 tion may all at once alter the ratio ; but this does not conflict 

 with the proposition when qualified by saying other things 

 equal. 



In three ways, therefore, does settled life, and the develop 

 ment of civilization, so increase the economic resistance to 

 militant action, as to cause decrease of the ratio borne by 

 the militant part to the non-militant part. 



518. With those changes in the incidence of military 

 obligation which tend to separate &quot;the body of soldiers 

 from the body of workers, and with those other changes 

 which tend to diminish its relative size, there go changes 



