28 AN ECONOMIST'S PROTEST: 1915 IIT 
eT I 
Eh SA 
Then the publics of each of the two countries begin to think 
that the other is not only preparing, which is a fact, but also 
intending war. There never was anything which excelled 
bellicose dispositions in the capacity for making a living by 
taking in each other’s washing. 
The belief that war takes place chiefly because it is possible, that 
the bare possibility makes countries provide for it, and that the 
provision eventually brings it about, makes me entirely distrust 
all schemes which admit the possibility. So long as you have 
separate national military forces you will necessarily have pre- 
parations for war and war itself. Where you have not such 
forces, at the worst you can have civil war, which, owing to the 
insufficiency of its material equipment, is becoming a less and 
less serious matter in comparison with international war. The 
only way to stop international wars is to suppress all separate 
national military forces and consequently put an end to all 
strategic jealousies and fears. Mere limitation of forces is 
impracticable, and probably on the whole would be mischievous 
if it were practicable, as it would be likely to give rise to more 
suspicion and nervousness. A people will be quieter and more 
peaceable if they think they have done all they can to make 
themselves secure, than if they are bound by some compact 
not to do quite so much on consideration of some other party 
doing the same. 
But, you say, is it not absurd to suppose that states will 
entirely suppress their military forces ? 
Before we come to that question let me ask whether it is not 
absurd to suppose that after the war we shall proceed exactly 
as before it. 
) 
[The part of a letter to Professor Allyn Young which was sent by 
him to the New York Evening Post and was printed in that paper on 
May 14, 1915.] 
I am in hopes that we are nearing the end of international 
anarchy, as international animosities seem to me to be rapidly 
becoming more and more artificial : they are for the most part 
worked up by persons who are persuaded that something or 
other is necessary for the strategic safety of their country, and 
if we could once put strategy out of the question there would,