Page:Democratic Ideals and Reality (1919).djvu/250

238 together; it is not until we come to the League of Nations that we advance to an ideal which has been thought out to a stage equivalent to that of the great trilogy of the French Revolution. Some degree of control by the League is admittedly necessary to secure the equality of nations before the law, and I believe that in the ideal of the balanced development of each nation we have the self-control which is implied in fraternity. Without balanced development nations are sure to acquire special hungers, whether neglectfully or criminally, which can only be satisfied at the expense of other nations. In other words, we can only permanently secure equality among the nations by control from within as well as from without. But this involves the statement that home politics must be conducted with an eye to their effect on foreign politics, a truism in the superficial sense, but carrying deeper implications than are commonly admitted.

It carries, I believe, this implication among others, that, since nations are local societies, their organisation must, if they are to last, be based dominantly on local communities within them, and not on nation-wide 'interests.' That is the old English idea of the House of Commons. The word commons is.