2i8 THE THIRD POWER 



single surviving establishment in the field of each industry, 

 but they resulted in changing the methods of concentration 

 from the extermination of competitors to the peaceful absorp- 

 tion of the same. Thus the compacts, constituting the original 

 form of trusts, finally resulted in the benefits for the surviving 

 competitors, saving them from the horrors of a life-and-death 

 struggle and inevitable extermination. 



The stage of political development, through which the world 

 is passing, is absolutely identical with the stage of modern 

 economic development. The proposals of disarmament in the 

 field of international politics are identical with the suspension 

 of competition among a few large competitors in the industrial 

 field. As the sheer dread of a struggle between any of the 

 great military powers of to-day is sufficient to create a general 

 anxiety for some other means of settling international dis- 

 putes, similarly the sheer dread of a life-and-death struggle 

 among a few huge competitors in the industrial field, involv- 

 ing the loss of millions, is sufficient to inspire all those directly 

 concerned with an anxiety for a peaceful settlement. As the 

 disarmament or suspension of hostilities among the members 

 of the trust threatens more the existence of small competi- 

 tors, remaining outside of the trust, so the very existence of 

 the small states never hung by so slender a thread as in these 

 days of peace congresses and proposal for disarmament. The 

 fact that the sentiment against the war among the great pow- 

 ers is so strong renders war among them much more improb- 

 able than ever before. As the formation of an agreement, 

 whereby the competition was suspended among a few gigantic 

 producers in certain industries, was for the purpose of pre- 

 venting still further concentration, so in the field of interna- 

 tional politics general disarmament is intended to prevent still 

 further political concentration. As such still further indus- 

 trial concentration could not be prevented, but its methods 

 changed from the extermination of competitors to the peace- 

 ful absorption of the same, so in the field of international pol- 

 itics still further political concentration could not be prevented 

 by the movement in favor of general disarmament, but the 

 methods of such concentration changed from the process of 

 military conquest to the process of "benevolent assimilation," 



