24 WORLD-POWER AND EVOLUTION 



the part played by that country and also by all the other belliger- 

 ents in the Great War corresponds closely with what we should 

 expect from the health and climate on the basis of our previous 

 studies. We shall also find that the expansion of the great nations 

 of the world is to a large extent determined by climatic conditions. 

 We talk, indeed, about trade, but back of trade, as we shall see 

 in our study of the United States, lies the question of health. 

 Health, however, depends chiefly upon air, food, and water; and 

 all three of these depend upon climate. Every nation that has 

 been stimulated by an energizing climate has apparently spread 

 its power over neighboring regions either by land or by sea. 

 Germany cannot be an exception. Unless we destroy her, she is 

 bound to act in accordance with the biological principles which 

 have guided the action of every race upon the face of the earth. 

 We do not propose to destroy her, even if we were able. What 

 we do propose is somehow to defeat her and shame her until she 

 recognizes that the only salvation both for herself and the world 

 lies in allowing her biological propensities to be directed by 

 higher motives. That is today the world's greatest problem. 



It is our problem quite as much as Germany's. Our strength 

 is due largely to the fact that both we and our remote ancestors 

 have dwelt in an environment favorable to mental activity. In 

 the future the struggle between nations will inevitably continue, 

 but will change its form. As war becomes rarer, as commerce 

 becomes more thoroughly international, the great contest of the 

 nations will be to see which can produce the type of people that 

 is strongest not only physically, or even mentally, but also 

 morally. The science of health must see that the bodily strength 

 and mental activity that belong to a good inheritance do not 

 degenerate because of unfavorable surroundings. Darwin declared 

 that the trouble with mankind is not so much lack of inherent 

 ability as lack of the zeal and energy to make the best use of the 

 powers that we actually possess. We have the talents, but they 

 are buried in a napkin. The way to bring them out into the light 



