lar position in which it may find itself at the time
when the occasion for _acting on the question arises_.

This shows that England herself reserved the right, whenever her
interests required her to do so, to act in violation of the treaty with
Belgium. That, at least, is my understanding of Gladstone's language.
England did not respect Danish neutrality a hundred years ago, when she
destroyed the Danish fleet at Copenhagen because her interests required,
and England does not now, through its Asiatic ally, and directly,
respect Chinese neutrality, claiming the right primarily to consult her
own interests. Should this right, asserted by our own Supreme Court, and
actually assumed by England and Japan, be denied to Germany? Finally, I
understand that The Hague Conference of 1907 drafted a convention which
reads:

The territory of neutral powers is inviolable. Belligerents
are forbidden to move troops or convoys of either munitions of
war or supplies across the territory of a neutral power. Great
Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy refused to sign
it and did not sign it. Russia was not represented.

MILITARISM. There is one more subject which many people in this country
have failed to understand, and that is the matter of militarism. German
militarism is supposed to be something dreadful, and many good people
believe that it would be a great advance toward eternal peace if that
militarism could be wiped out. Well, now, let us see.

If Germany did not require every one of her sons to spend a year, or at
most two years, in the army, and if she had not provided for all these
men sufficient arms and accoutrements for immediate use in case of war,
what would have happened when Russia entered her territory, or when
France came on a like errand?

Any one who lives among enemies is expected to be sufficiently prepared
to defend himself should they attack him, be he ever so peaceful.

At the time the United States of America was born there was no such
thing as Germany. Every country around it had a slice of it. Napoleon
took the larger western part of Germany as his property, England held
Hanover, the former Kingdom of Poland held Saxony, Austria held Silesia,
and so there was no Germany. The Teutonic races had no home in which
they could develop and live without interference by others. To prevent
such interference Germany of all nations needed an army; to prevent
similar interference a