1 6 The Philosophy of Force 



just because of their many wars, rose to the zenith of 

 civiHzation. Great states Hke Germany and Italy 

 are welded into nationalities only through blood 

 and iron. 



Storm purifies the air and destroys the frail trees, 

 leaving the sturdy oak standing. War is a test of a 

 nation's political, physical, and intellectual worth. 

 The State in which there is much that is rotten may 

 vegetate for a while in peace, but in war its weaknesses 

 are revealed. 



Germany's preparations for war have not resulted 

 in economic disaster, but in unexampled economic 

 expansion, unquestionably because of our demon- 

 strated superiority over France. It is better to spend 

 money on armaments and battleships than luxury, 

 motor mania, and other sensual living. 



In America ex-President Roosevelt is the most 

 distinguished exponent of this philosophy of 

 force. In The Strenuous Life, written after his 

 miUtary experiences in the Spanish -American War 

 had greatly modified his social theories, we find 

 many echoes of this philosophy, of which the fol- 

 lowing will serve as an illustration : 



In this world the nation that has trained itself to a 

 career of un warlike and isolated ease is bound, in the 

 end, to go down before other nations which have not 

 lost the manly and adventurous qualities.^ 



These quotations could be multiplied by hun- 

 dreds from the literature of aU nations, but all of 

 ^P. 6. 



