ing to revolt, or, on the other hand had we had
plans for our aggrandisement at the expense of Germany, acts of war
would have followed within twenty-four hours of the massacre. We
should have been far more "jealous in honour." But we were otherwise
engaged. The headlines were full of the events {199} in Europe and the
horror of that tragedy in the Atlantic, but the gaze of America was
inward. We were interested day by day in the ambitions of peace.

Thus our hope of remaining at peace ourselves and of contributing to
the peace and economic reorganisation of the world depends not only
upon the conservation and development of our natural resources but also
upon a distribution of wealth and income which will widen the
consumption by the masses and will give to the whole population the
opportunity of a full, varied and purposeful life. All these things,
as well as the moral discipline which is so urgently needed, can be
secured only as we learn to apply a national policy to our own nation.
It is our own slackness, our own "state-blindness," our lack of a
complete democracy, which increases our chances of imperialism and war.
It is, on the other hand, our increasing willingness to take a national
view of internal affairs, our increasing desire to base American
prosperity upon American resources and to make life fuller and more
valuable, that acts as a deterrent to war and fits us for the difficult
task of contributing to a world peace.

Finally such a contribution to the peace of the world implies the
condition that our own foreign policy shall not be in conflict with the
international ideals which we are seeking to promote. If we ourselves
are interested in the parcelling out of backward countries, we shall
not be able to exert a restraining influence upon nations whose
necessities are greater than ours. By this is not meant that we are to
stay at home completely and enjoy no rights beyond our borders. Such
an effacement would mean a monastic seclusion for the United States.
But while in the world beyond there is a fair field for peaceful
competition, in which we also may take our part, our hope of promoting
economic internationalism depends upon our not playing {200} a lone
hand, upon our abstention from a selfish and short-sighted policy of
national aggression and upon our free co-operation with other nations
seeking the goal of international peace.

[1] According to estimates based on studies of estates pr