Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 8.djvu/304

 2Q2 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

bulk. "Fitness" and "bigness" are not synonymous terms, and the decision of the battlefield is not always the judgment of history. If in individual existences notable achievements are conditioned to a degree upon physical vigor, an analogy cannot without modification be applied to the life of nations. True, the nation numerically weak and of limited material resources will seldom be found in the van of conquerors oftener in the wake of colonists ; its military prowess will cause little trepida- tion around the camp-fires of an armed world ; in the field of industrial and commercial rivalry it is not likely to take the lead, and the enterprises of its citizens may appear modest indeed measured with the gauge of a Morgan or a Rockefeller. But in the appraisal of life's values there are other standards than those expressed in terms of square miles and billion-dollar trusts. There is no inherent reason why a small people might not excel in the pursuits of peace, and within its narrow bound- aries not only enjoy a healthy national life and economic prosperity, but also attain to the topmost rung on the ladder of culture. Territorial restrictions present no barrier to the thoughts of the thinker or the songs of the singer ; numerical limitations do not restrain the hand that wields the chisel or the operating knife. Its line of defense will follow the furrow of plow and keel ; and over against cannon and conquests and colonies over the sea every citizen a soldier and every sword the king's it will set the silent battles of library and laboratory, the peaceful victories of pen and brush every man in his workshop and every tool his own.

My neighbor's wall afire is my affair. A wrong perpetrated against any member of the sisterhood of nations, the weakest not excepted, is the concern of all, the strongest included. No validity can be attached to the argument that this is but a special plea for the adjustment of troubles of a purely local nature, of little interest and less import to the outside world. To the extent that any nation has contributed to the sum-total of human progress in the realms of mind and matter, to that extent it has made all mankind its debtor, and any transgression against its integrity or its particular national culture becomes a crime against