; containing within itself a unified life and a simple folk
philosophy.

From such plain beginnings empires have developed. The peasants, tending
their fertile gardens along the borders of the Nile; the vine dressers
of Italy, the husbandmen and craftsmen of France and the yeomen of Merry
England had no desire to subjugate the world. If tradition speaks truth,
they were slow to take upon themselves anything more than the defense of
their own hearthstones. It was not until the traders sailed across the
seas; not until stories were brought to them of the vast spoil to be
had, without work, in other lands, that the peasants and craftsmen
consented to undertake the task of conquest, subjugation and empire
building.

The plain people do not feel the will to power. They know only the
necessities of self-defense. It is in the ambitions of the leisure
classes that the demands of conquest have their origin. It is among them
that men dream of world empire.[50]

The plain people of the United States have no will to power at the
present time. They are only asking to be let alone, in order that they
may go their several ways in peace. They are babes in the world of
international politics. For generations they have been separated by a
great gulf of indifference from the remainder of the human race, and
they crave the continuance of this isolation because it gives them a
chance to engage, unmolested, in the ordinary pursuits of life.

The American people are not imperialists. They are proud of their
country, jealous of her honor, willing to make sacrifices for their dear
ones. They are to-day where the plain folk of Egypt, Rome, France and
England were before the will to power gripped the ruling classes of
those countries.

Far different is the position of the American plutocracy. As a ruling
class the plutocracy feels the necessity of preserving and enlarging its
privileges. Recently called into a position of leadership, untrained and
in a sense unprepared, it nevertheless understands that its claim to
consideration depends upon its ability to do what the ruling classes of
Egypt, Rome, France and England have done--to build an empire.

Almost unconsciously, out of the necessities of the period, has come the
structure of the American Empire. In essence it is an empire, although
the plain people do not know it, and even the members of the plutocracy
are in many instances unaware of its true character. Yet here, in a land
dedicat