f militarism. Great armaments
were created because of the danger from Prussian militarism; and great
armaments will still be necessary unless "this intolerable thing" is
crushed or "shut out from the friendly intercourse of the nations." When
it is crushed, some adequate steps must be taken by each state to reduce
its armaments, on condition that all other states do the same. But many
problems will face the world's statesmen in preparing a plan for
guaranteed disarmament. How large a force will each nation need to
maintain its "domestic safety"? How shall we be sure that Germany will
not break her promise, as she has so often done in this war? How shall
we be sure that Germany, or perhaps some other state, will not again
secretly prepare for a war while others remain unprepared?

5. _A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all
colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that
in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the
populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims
of the government whose title is to be determined._

In the opening chapters of this book we have seen how colonial rivalry
was one of the causes of the World War. The President urges that the
settlement after the war shall be "free, open-minded, and absolutely
impartial." He introduces here the democratic principle that the
interests of the populations in the colonies shall have equal weight
with the just claims of the European states. Such a principle probably
will mean that few if any of Germany's colonies can be returned to her,
because her colonial management has been neglectful of the interests of
the subject peoples.

6. _The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all
questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest
cooeperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an
unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent
determination of her own political development and national policy and
assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under
institutions of her own choosing, and, more than a welcome, assistance
also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The
treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come
will be the acid test of their good will, of their comprehension of her
needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their
intellig