gone. The United States has
been compelled to make alliances (some, as when she co-operated with the
other Powers in China, of the most "entangling" kind), and still the old
phrase holds its spell on the popular mind.

The injunction was originally intended to prevent the young Republic
from being drawn into the wars with which Europe at the time was rent,
by taking sides with any one party against any other. It was levelled
not against alliances, but against entanglements. It was framed, and
wisely framed, to secure to the United States the peace and isolation
necessary to her development. The isolation is no longer either possible
or desirable, but peace remains both. The nation would in fact be living
more closely up to the spirit of the injunction by entering into an
alliance which would secure peace and make entanglements impossible,
than she is when she leaves herself and the world exposed to the
constant menace of war, merely for the sake of seeming to comply with
the letter of a maxim which is now meaningless. If Washington were alive
to-day, it does not seem to me possible to doubt that he would favour a
new English treaty, even though he might have more difficulty in
compelling Congress to accept his views than he had once before.

As the case stands, the United States may easily become involved in war
with any one of the Great Powers, no matter how pacific or benevolent
her intentions may be. There are at least three Powers with which a
trivial incident might precipitate a conflict at almost any time; while
the possibilities of friction which might develop into open hostilities
with some one of the lesser states are almost innumerable. It is beside
the question to say that the United States need have no fear of the
result: indeed that very fact contributes largely to the danger. It is
ever the man who can fight, and knows it, who gets into trouble. Every
American who has lived much in the farther West knows that he who would
keep clear of difficulties had best not carry a revolver. In its very
self-confidence--a self-confidence amply justified by its strength--the
American people is, measured by the standards of other nations, an
eminently bellicose people--much more bellicose than it supposes.

Great Britain's alliance with Japan has with reasonable certainty, so
far as danger of conflict between any two of the Great Powers is
concerned, secured the peace of Asia for some time to come. The
understanding be