ational prejudice or racial
bias. With her many millions of inhabitants of German origin, her
disposition could not be anti-German in the ordinary course of
affairs--and indeed never was so before the war.

With her millions of Jews and her liberal tendencies she cannot be
pro-Russian. With her historical development in the course of which
her only serious wars have been fought against Great Britain (which
country, moreover, during certain critical periods in the Civil War
between North and South, evidenced inclination to favour the South and
thus aroused long continuing resentment in the Northern States), and
for many other reasons, her disposition cannot be that of an English
partisan--and was not so before the war.

The predominant sentiment of the American people in the Boer War was
anti-English; in the Balkan War their sympathies were pro-Turkish; in
the Italian-Turkish War, anti-Italian; in the Russo-Japanese War,
pro-Japanese, although it was fully realized that from the point of
view of America's material and national interests, the strengthening
of Japan was hardly desirable.

It may sound to you very improbable, yet it is none the less true that
America, of all the great nations, is probably the one least swayed by
eagerness to attain material advantage for herself through her
international policies. I do not claim that this arises necessarily
from any particular virtue in her people. It may be rather the result
of her geographical and economic situation.

America returned to China the indemnity growing out of the Boxer
Rebellion. To Spain, conquered and helpless, she paid, entirely of her
own free-will, $20,000,000 for the Philippines. She refused to annex
Cuba. In spite of strong provocation she abstained from taking
Mexico.

Although not a land as yet of the highest degree of culture, America
is a land of high and genuine humanitarianism and of a certain naive
idealism.

I hear your ironic rejoinder, "and out of pure humanitarianism, you
supply arms to our enemies, and _thus prolong the war_."

The answer lies in the accentuation of the last four words, which can
only mean that, but for the American supply of arms, the Allies, from
lack of ammunition, would speedily be defeated, _i. e._ America is to
co-operate in preserving for that country which has most extensively
and actively prepared for war, the full and lasting advantage of that
preparation.

That would put a premium on war preparations--