inst France and Russia,
are freely mooted, with a view to the forcible partition of China, to
which we are to be a party, and of it a beneficiary. For it is already
avowed that the Philippines are but a "stopping-place" on the way to the
continent of Asia; and China, unlike Poland, is inhabited by an
"inferior race," in regard to whom, as large possible consumers of
surplus products, Providence has imposed on us obvious obligations,
material as well as benevolent and religious, which it would be unlike
ourselves to disregard. It is the mandate of duty, we are told,--the
nations of Europe obey it, and can we do less than they? "Isolation" it
is then argued is but another name for an attention to one's own
business which may well become excessive, and result in selfishness. It
is true that the nations of the Old World have not heretofore erred
conspicuously in this respect; and as the "Balance of Power" was the
word-juggle with which to conjure up wars and armaments in the
eighteenth century, so the "Division of Trade" may not impossibly prove
the similar conjuring word-juggle of the twentieth century.
Nevertheless, "isolation" is not compatible with the policy of a Great
Nation under a call to assert itself as a World Power. Then follows the
familiar argument in favor of costly military and naval establishments.
But, upon this head it is needless to restate our traditional
policy,--our jealousy as a people of militarism and large standing
armies, to be used, if occasion calls, as a reserve police. Our record
thereon is so plain that repetition grows tedious. The record of Europe,
and especially of Great Britain as distinguished from other European
powers, has been equally plain, and is no less indisputable. In this
respect, also, always under compulsion, we now admit our error. Costly
armies are necessary to the maintenance of order, Heaven's first law;
and World Powers cannot maintain peace, and themselves, without powerful
navies and frequent coaling stations.

Finally, even on such matters as the Protective System and the
encouragement of American Labor, as against the "Pauper Labor" of Europe
and of the inferior races, Great Britain has for half a century now
advocated the principle of unrestricted industry and free trade,--that
is the "Open Door" policy logically carried to its final results. We
have denied it, establishing what we in time grew to call the
distinctive American system. It is, however, now asserted th