LAND AND WATER 
October 2, 19 15 
IDEALISM AFTER WAR 
We liavc heard mucii talk about a " war to end war," 
and there have been a few tlieorists who ha\'e attempted to 
forecast the conditions of perpetual peace. Few of us can 
feel sanguine about so desirable an end, but all are now reaUsing 
that when the Prussian sj'stem has been crushed and Europe 
is re-settled, it will be of paramount importance to seek to 
remove the conditions which make for war, and create con- 
ditions which make for peace. Mr. Hobson, idealist as he 
is, is very far from being a vain Utopian. His is one of those 
strong, active, fertile minds singularly equipped for such a 
problem as this. He knows the dangers and the follies of 
sentimental pacifism. He is an expert student of institutions, 
and equally a student of Ufe. An e.xact thinker and a sane 
observer, he has just that elasticity supremely necessary 
for one who would appreciate the vast changes wrought by 
the war. He sees the old diplomacy bankrupt, mere pacifism 
discredited, treaties that have become waste-paper. By 
what method, after this war, can the perpetual menace 
be removed or mitigated ? This he discusses in Towards 
Inlcniational Government, a book lately publislied by Messrs. 
Allen and Unwin (2s. 6d.). 
There are two schools of idealists who are to-day address- 
ing theinseK'cs to this problem. The one thinks that the 
solution can be found by dividing up Europe according to 
the principle of nationality. If national and racial aspirations 
are satisfied, it is contended, one of the chief causes of war 
will have been removed. The other school — and to this 
Mr. Hobson belongs — beUeves tliat we must start at the 
other end ; that we must break away from the limits of 
nationalism, and work towards an international government 
and an international habit of thought. 
Old Diplomacy 
Now all that Mr. Hobson has to say pre-supposes that 
we and other civihsed nations must free international politics 
from that tj^e of diplomatist who has endangered Europe 
for a hundred years. 
At present international relations are determined by a controlling 
personnel whose id£aSt.interests, sentiments, and modes of dealing are 
utterly unfitted to express the needs or will of the nations which they 
mis-represent, or to work towards the establishment of permanently 
peaceful relations between nations. . . . 
Diplomacy is conducted in an atmosphere of estrangement, 
suspicion, or positive antagonism, and proceeds by intrigue, deceit,, 
bluff or bargaining to seek a settlement which it may fail to reach 
and which, if it is reached, expresses either an unsatisfying and 
unconvincing compromise or the triumph of one party, the failure of 
the other. 
From the old type of diplomatist Mr. Hobson urges that 
we have nothing to expect. We must set up institutions 
which depend on men representing the great popular interests 
and sentiments of their nations. He attempts to build on 
the basis of machinery which already exists. That of the 
Hague, he insists, has only proved impotent because it was 
insufficient, because there was no power behind it. He sug- 
gests that all the nations, or as many as possible, should agree 
to submit all arbitrable questions to an international Court 
of Arbitration, sitting permanently ; and that they should 
agree to abide by its award. 
Worthless Devices 
But such devices for settling disputes are worthless 
unless there is some"' power for enforcing the verdict. This 
is the crujc of the whole question. Mr. Hobson does not shrink 
from a bold leap of creative statesmanship in setting up 
a Permanent International Council composed of representatives 
from all the nations belonging to the League of Peace, a Council 
which should have executive and even legislative powers. 
This, in fact, though the author would shrink from the term, 
is nothing else than a world Parliament. It is true it does not 
trench upon the sovereign rights of separate nations, but 
it evidently reserves to itself the power to declare where 
sovereign rights end. It has no army of its own, but it can 
call upon the separate states to lend armies for its police 
work. It will have no power, presumably, of levying taxes, 
but it can proclaim an economic boycott, and insist on the 
principle of local autonomy. 
These questions are too numerous, and too large, to be 
discussed within the limits of our space. Mr. Hobson knows 
that he is making big proposals. He knows that the traditional 
diplomat would laugh them to scorn. But will the peoples, 
after this war, permit their representatives to reject all such 
proposals ? " The immensity of the need," he suggests, 
will evoke the necessar\- will and tlie faith and courage to 
essay the large experiment." Students at any rate will be 
grateful to Mr. Hobson for the exactitude with which he 
has elaborated his proposals, and the general reader will 
find his book fruitful arvd stimulating. 
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448 
