Darwinism and Neomercantilism 257 



point the rivalry between nations rather than the 

 harmony of their interests, and uses, or stands pre- 

 pared to use, the weapons of that earlier period. . . . 

 These weapons were various, including protective 

 tariffs, prohibition and bounties on exports and 

 imports as the occasion might demand, commercial 

 treaties, the arts of diplomacy, and finally war.^ 



Militarism is directly related to protectionism 

 in several ways. A nation which carries on fre- 

 quent wars with other nations must seek to be 

 self-sufficing and to produce itself all the commodi- 

 ties needful for carrying on its national life. This 

 is the chief argument used against reducing the 

 duties on agricultural products in Germany, an 

 essentially industrial nation, where the duties 

 on foodstiiffs add greatly to the cost of living and 

 hold back the economic development of the nation. 

 On the other hand the increasing cost of modern 

 armaments exerts a constant pressure towards 

 indirect taxation and tends to maintain customs 

 duties which will yield a high revenue where 

 these already exist, or to compel their establish- 

 ment by free trade countries. The protectionist 

 measures taken by England to meet the increased 

 financial burden due to the war illustrate this 

 process. Thus the entire economic life is strained 

 and warped on account of the philosophy of force. 

 Henry George has clearly stated the relation of 

 force to international trade as follows: 



^ Some Economic Aspects of War, 1914, Washington Govern- 

 ment Printing OflSce, p. 7. 



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