DIFFICULTIES OF WORLD ORGANIZATION

THE

HE statement that "this war will end war" has been made so frequently and so vociferously that large numbers of people have accepted it among their articles of faith. If pressed to give a reason for their belief, they express confidence that when the treaty of peace is signed, "some sort of arrangement" will be made, which will prevent further warfare. Whether such an arrangement is possible or feasible, what difficulties must be faced and what problems solved in order to bring it about, are questions which the majority of persons have not considered; and when these matters are urged upon their attention, they reply that such technicalities are better left in the hands of statesmen.

If we have any faith in democracy, however, we must realize the necessity of directing general attention to these problems. The man on the street must understand some of the wider issues involved in the endeavor to form any kind of world state; he must face the difficulties and realize the necessity of compromise on points of minor importance; he must be able to distinguish between methods and principles and hold himself ready to sacrifice the non-essential in order to secure the essential. Without a large measure of general understanding there can be no security against the formation of a governmental system which, though apparently democratic, will actually uphold special interests at the expense of the masses; while, on the other hand, there can be no popular opinion sufficiently strong and intelligent to support a desirable system against the particularistic attacks which will inevitably be made. Political scientists can at present perform no more important work than that of instructing the public concerning the possibilities, problems, issues and difficulties of forming a world state. While many important works have been published on these subjects,' comparatively

1 Cf., J. A. Hobson, Towards International Government, and the collection of essays edited by C. R. Buxton, entitled, Towards a Lasting Settlement.

little has been accomplished in the way of a general campaign of popular education. This paper is designed as a contribution toward such a campaign. It will devote itself chiefly to the difficulties of forming a world state, not with any idea of discouraging faith in such an organization, which the writers firmly believe to be the only escape from another calamity even greater than that whose effects are agonizing the world, but in order to present for general consideration certain important questions which must be solved before the world state can be formed. Only the principal difficulties can be considered, or even stated, within the limits of this discussion. Of most of them no ex cathedra solution is possible, for we are confronted with situations which cannot be mastered by the application of our old systems of political theory. No ready-made answer can be given to most of the questions which will assuredly confront the world in its new and momentous undertaking. Yet these questions must be asked, that out of widespread discussion and careful thought, answers may be developed. The writers of this paper occasionally indicate their own opinions on certain matters, but their primary object is to state problems for general discussion.

The difficulties of world organization may be divided into four principal groups, which will be examined in the order in which they are mentioned: (1) the difficulty of agreeing upon a system of organization; (2) the difficulty of working out a detailed plan for a world government which will be reasonably certain of general acceptance; (3) the difficulty of actually securing the adoption of any proposed plan; (4) the difficulty of operating a world government successfully.

1. Difficulty of Agreeing Upon a System of Organization

So many plans have been proposed for the reorganization of the world and the prevention of war that it is not easy to choose among them. A permanent league composed of the British Empire, the United States, France and possibly Italy; a league to enforce peace; an association of powers bound by treaties; a group of nations pledged to act in concert to enforce an economic boycott or some other penalty upon an offending power

these and a multitude of other schemes have been set forth, and several of them have won strong and able support. Instructive as it would be to describe some of these proposals in detail, it is not possible to do so here, nor is it necessary, since any library will furnish an abundance of literature concerning the more important plans. The majority of them have a common weakness, which destroys all possibility of effectual functioning: they fail to provide any method of compelling recalcitrant parties to live up to their obligations.

If the present war has taught us anything, it should have made clear the futility of depending upon pledges and treaties to hold nations bound against what they consider their best interests. Nothing could be more foolish than to adopt a system of world organization which does not carry with it a sanction strong enough for all possible emergencies; yet many of the most widely popular plans provide no adequate means of compulsion. The early history of the United States is a most instructive example of the inadequacy of any union, short of genuine federation, with a central government which can apply force when other methods fail. A study of our Articles of Confederation and of our Constitution, with the historical backgrounds of each, and a perusal of that masterpiece of political wisdom, The Federalist, will demonstrate clearly that only a powerful central government can reconcile the many and varied claims of several powers and keep peace among them for any length of time.

This lesson of history has not been by any means universally learned, however; and much study and discussion will be needed before the full necessity of a strong world government is commonly understood. Until it is realized there can be no hope of agreement upon a system of organization, for popular favor will still be divided among a multitude of attractive but too often specious plans.

2. Difficulty of Providing an Acceptable Plan

Even after public opinion is educated to the point of demanding a strong central government for the new world organization, there will remain the difficulty of working out a scheme

which is at all likely to be accepted by a majority of the important powers. It is self-evident that some sort of written constitution or agreement will be needed, as no usage, tradition, historical background or common custom can be relied upon to guide the world state. The problems which will come before the body entrusted with the framing of this important document are more numerous and more difficult than any which have ever confronted a deliberative assembly. Probably the first article of the constitution will be the only one easy to write-that is, a statement of purpose. The aim of the world organization will be, of course, to secure permanent peace among nations by removing or controlling the causes of war; and a secondary object may be to "promote the general welfare." These aims are easy to state, but it is far from easy to devise suitable measures for securing them.

Specific form of government and membership are closely related problems of extreme perplexity which will demand early attention. As the former will depend to some extent upon the latter, it will be necessary to determine at the outset what nations shall become members of the new world state. Two considerations indicate the necessity of including all nations. First, if any powerful nations are omitted from the world organization, they will become its opponents, and will ultimately compel it to yield to them or to conquer them— in either case defeating its end. Second, Second, if any smaller nations or undeveloped countries are omitted, stronger nations will be tempted to prey upon them, thus leading to economic and political jealousies and intrigues, and ultimately to war. Hence the safety of small nations and the peace of the world demand the inclusion of all powers. No amount of dislike of our enemies, or of such reasoning as that "including Austria and Germany in the world state would be like making criminals members of the police force," can invalidate these considerations. Feelings must give way to facts.

It would be absurd to suppose that universality of membership involves absolute equality of duty and privilege, or that certain parts of Asia and Africa can stand in the same relation to the world state as Switzerland or Argentina. It will, there

fore, be necessary to devise a system of grades of membership. If membership is to be all-inclusive but of various grades, the world government will evidently take the form of a federated empire.

To reach this conclusion, however, is not by any means to solve the problems involved. If membership is to be of various grades, how many grades shall be established, and what privileges and responsibilities shall appertain to each? Shall there be provision for change of grade under changing conditions? Perhaps the most troublesome problem arising in this connection is that of defining a unit of membership for each grade. Shall membership be based on area, population, wealth, military resources or nationality as now existent? Shall the British Empire enter as a single unit, or shall it be divided into many units of various grades? What of San Marino, China, the Balkans, Poland, the United States? Obviously, historical grievances must be righted as nearly as possible; and readjustments must be made in every case where it is clear that one country or province has been wronged by another; but even where no such condition exists, changes will probably be necessary in order to arrive at an arrangement of units of membership which will be satisfactory, or even acceptable, to all parties. As a matter of fact, the size of units of the same grade would make very little difference under a strong world government, if it were once established; but it is probable that some division into approximately equal units would have to be made in order to form such a government at all, as few countries would be willing to take the risk that a large and powerful nation, undivided, might seize the reins of power and tyrannize over the others.

If this extremely knotty problem is solved with any measure of success, next in order will arise the question of the relations between members of the world state. Shall one member be allowed any degree of control over another of the same grade or of a lower grade? Shall the new government recognize "special interests" and "spheres of influence"? Shall colonies be made subject to the general government and to no other? To ask this last question raises a dilemma. For if it