rsary to a tribunal which knows nothing of righteous judgment."

I am glad to say that I am familiar with many American magazines and
journals which are regularly published to advocate peace, and I have no
doubt that in every country similar movements are stirring, for the
nations are beginning to realize the disastrous effects of war. If I
am not mistaken, however, Americans are the most active in this matter.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, whose members belong
to nearly every nation, is a significant index of the spirit of the
times. Yet what an irony of fate that while people are so active in
perpetuating peace they cannot preserve it. Look at the recent wars in
Europe, first between Italy and Turkey, and afterward in the Balkans,
to say nothing of disturbances in China and other parts of the world.
It is just like warning a child not to take poison and then allowing
him to swallow it and die. Sensible men should consider this question
calmly and seriously. We all agree as to the wickedness of war and yet
we war with one another; we do not like war yet we cannot help war.
There is surely some hidden defect in the way we have been brought up.

Is not the slogan of nationality, to a great extent, the root of the
evil? Every schoolboy and schoolgirl is taught the duty of devotion,
or strong attachment, to his or her own country, and every statesman or
public man preaches the doctrine of loyalty to one's native land; while
the man who dares to render service to another country, the interests
of which are opposed to the interests of his own land, is denounced a
traitor. In such cases the individual is never allowed an opinion as
to the right or wrong of the dispute. He is expected to support his
own country and to cry at all times, "Our country, right or wrong." A
politician's best chance to secure votes is to gloss over the faults of
his own party or nation, to dilate on the wickedness of his neighbors
and to exhort his compatriots to be loyal to their national flag. Can
it be wondered at that men who are imbued with such doctrines become
selfish and narrow-minded and are easily involved in quarrels with
other nations?

Patriotism is, of course, the national life. Twenty-four centuries
ago, speaking in the Greek Colony of Naxos, Pythagoras described this
emotion in the following eloquent passage: "Listen, my children, to
what the State should be to the good citizen. It is more than father