Page:The War and the Future (Masefield, 1918).djvu/65

Rh he may do so, but war is not a normal condition, it is an accident which may not occur, and the direction of the State by soldiers is apt to create a privileged class, who will enslave the remainder of the citizens for their own ends, which may be base and probably will be cruel, and which may and very likely will bring about that state of war which they are created to prevent" So that, in the civilian state, the army is made small, and interferences with personal liberty are bitterly resented and swiftly opposed. The occupation of the civilian state is generally commerce. Its relaxation or amusement is generally the adornment of the individual life, with the arts and sciences which enrich life and make it pleasant. The general feeling is, that men were not meant to be the slaves of other men nor of human systems; but to develop themselves in as loose, easy and pleasant an organization as a nation can be without collapsing.

Those are the two theories and ways of life, both have been tried and both will work, and both have left great marks in history.

But in working, both are open to grave defects. No nation is perfect, and no system of living will suit all the people all the time; and