-on the whole rather small; and above all, these thoughtful
people do not belong to the economically powerful class who determine
the policy of Governments.

"The old ideologic conception of the English free trade doctrine, that
the free exchange of goods between the nations leads to the abolition
of war, to the brotherhood of humanity, that conception which found
its most original expression in Dr. Bowring's exclamation 'Free trade
is Jesus Christ,' still haunts some people's minds. With the greatest
number of the liberal advocates of disarmament, their point of view
originates simply in the consideration that the strong naval and
military armaments demand more and more, not only from England's
purse, but from her human material, while, on the other hand, England
possesses all that she can expect, and has, on that account, not much
more to gain. All over the earth's surface she has the most valuable
colonies, and is, since the alliances with Japan and France, in a
perfectly secure position, which awakens in her the wish to
consolidate her position and to economise her finances for the
upholding of her supremacy. It is that satisfied state of mind which
makes the fortunate winner of the game say, 'Let us leave off; I am
tired of playing now.' English capitalists feel themselves in a safe
position. Nothing can easily go wrong at present. The thing is,
therefore, to secure what they have got and to diminish the heavy
burdens. This desire is comprehensible--only the other Powers will
probably not respect it.

"The working-class party is very much in sympathy with the disarmament
idea in itself. For this party is the most consistent opponent of
militarism, and demands in its programme not only the formation of a
citizen army in place of the standing army, but also that questions of
peace and war should be determined by the people themselves, and that
all international differences should be settled by arbitration. But no
amount of sympathy can get over the fact that in the present
capitalist world there is very little chance of a general disarmament
of the Powers. The conception that war is only a product of human
unreason is on the same level as the idea that revolutions are only
mental aberrations of the masses. War is rooted in the opposing
interests of the nations, as are revolutions in the opposing interests
of the classes."[528]

FOOTNOTES:

[510] Macdonald, _Socialism_, p. 120.

[511] Marx and Engels, _Manifest