Page:Mead - The Overthrow of the War System.pdf/117

 Shall Asia and America succumb to military madness?

The United States can foster the friendship of China and Japan, by dealing rationally with misunderstandings that may rise between America and the Orient. Certain misunderstandings exist now that if allowed to ferment, may lead to oriental militarism that would divert resources from human progress and might, as in Europe, end in war and bankruptcy. A militarized Orient would lead us to huge expenditure in defense against it. Thoughts of China militarized stagger the imagination, for, as the sole survivor of ancient nations, because the non-military one. China's population has not been depleted by war and is vastly greater than that of any other race. Imagine a nation of more than three hundred millions forced by Christian civilization to arm when for more than nineteen centuries it had despised war! Shall America be apathetic in face of the appalling possibilities of the military example of Christendom?

State rights versus treaty rights

The chief existing cause for Asiatic antagonism is the failure of the United States to provide adequate legislation for fulfilling her treaty