Part 7 (1/2)
Sir George Arthur, writing in the _Fortnightly Review_, strongly condemns this ”cynical disavowal” of Lord Wolseley's proclamation. I have nothing to say in favour of the issue of that proclamation. I am very clearly of opinion that, as it was issued, it was wise that it should be cancelled. For, in truth, subsequent events showed that the forecast made by Lord Wolseley and by Gordon was erroneous, in that it credited the Mahdi with a power of offence which he was far from possessing. No serious difficulty arose in defending the frontier of Egypt from Dervish attack. The overthrow of the Mahdi's power, though eminently desirable, was very far from const.i.tuting an imperious necessity such as was commonly supposed to exist in 1885. In this instance, therefore, it appears to me that the diplomatists and politicians gauged the true nature of the situation somewhat more accurately than the soldiers.
More than this, I conceive that, in all civilised countries, the theory of government is that a question of peace or war is one to be decided by politicians. The functions of the soldier are supposed to be confined, in the first place, to advising on the purely military aspects of the issue involved; and, in the second place, to giving effect to any decisions at which the Government may arrive. The practice in this matter not infrequently differs somewhat from the theory. The soldier, who is generally p.r.o.ne to advocate vigorous action, is inclined to encroach on the sphere which should properly be reserved for the politician. The former is often masterful, and the latter may be dazzled by the glitter of arms, or too readily lured onwards by the persuasive voice of some strategist to acquire an almost endless succession of what, in technical language, are called ”keys” to some position, or--to employ a metaphor of which the late Lord Salisbury once made use in writing to me--”to try and annex the moon in order to prevent its being appropriated by the planet Mars.” When this happens, a risk is run that the soldier, who is himself unconsciously influenced by a very laudable desire to obtain personal distinction, may practically dictate the policy of the nation without taking a sufficiently comprehensive view of national interests. Considerations of this nature have more especially been, from time to time, advanced in connection with the numerous frontier wars which have occurred in India. That they contain a certain element of truth can scarcely be doubted.
For these reasons, it appears to me that the application of the principle advocated by Lord Wolseley requires much care and watchfulness. Probably, the wisest plan will be that each case should be decided on its own merits with reference to the special circ.u.mstances of the situation, which may sometimes demand the fusion, and sometimes the separation, of military and political functions.
I was talking, a short time ago, to a very intelligent, and also Anglophile, French friend of mine. He knew England well, but, until quite recently, had not visited the country for a few years. He told me that what struck him most was the profound change which had come over British opinion since the occasion of his last visit. We had been invaded, he said, by _le militarisme continental_. In common with the vast majority of my countrymen, I am earnestly desirous of seeing our military organisation and military establishments placed on a thoroughly sound footing, but I have no wish whatever to see any portion of our inst.i.tutions overwhelmed by a wave of _militarisme continental_. It is because I think that the views advocated by Lord Wolseley tend--although, I do not doubt, unconsciously to their distinguished author--in the direction of a somewhat too p.r.o.nounced _militarisme_, that I venture in some degree to differ from one for whom I have for many years entertained the highest admiration and the most cordial personal esteem.
[Footnote 51: _The Story of a Soldier's Life_. Field-Marshal Viscount Wolseley. Constable.]
[Footnote 52: After carefully reading the book, I am in doubt as to the specific occasions to which allusion is here made.]
[Footnote 53: This expression is used with reference to a warning to civilians that they should ”keep their hands off the regiment.” I do not know if any recent instances have occurred when civilians have wished to touch the essential portions of what is known as the ”regimental system,” but I have a very distinct recollection of the fact that this accusation was very freely, and very unjustly, brought against the army reformers in Lord Cardwell's time. Of these, Lord Wolseley was certainly the most distinguished. I think he will bear me out in the a.s.sertion that it was only by civilian support that, in the special instances to which I allude, the opposition was overcome.]
[Footnote 54: Much the same proceeding appears to have been adopted in the Red River expedition, which was conducted with such eminent success by Lord Wolseley in 1870. But there was a difference. Lord Wolseley, in describing that expedition, says: ”The Cabinet and parliamentary element in the War Office, that has marred so many a good military scheme, had, I may say, little or nothing to do with it from first to last. When will civilian Secretaries of State for War cease from troubling in war affairs?” In the case of the Soudan campaigns, on the other hand, Lord Kitchener and I had to rely--and our reliance was not misplaced--on the Cabinet and on the parliamentary elements of the Government, to prevent excessive interference from the London offices.]
[Footnote 55: I was present for a few weeks, as a spectator, with Grant's army at the siege of Petersburg in 1864, but the experience was too short to be of much value.]
[Footnote 56: _Art of War_, Jomini, p. 59.]
[Footnote 57: I think I am correct in saying that Sir Evelyn Wood was of a contrary opinion, but I have been unable to verify this statement by reference to any contemporaneous doc.u.ment.]
[Footnote 58: On the 21st of March 1884 Sir Alfred Lyall wrote to Mr.
Henry Reeve: ”The Mahdi's fortunes do not interest India. The talk in some of the papers about the necessity of smas.h.i.+ng him, in order to avert the risk of some general Mahomedan uprising, is futile and imaginative.”--_Memoirs of Henry Reeve_, vol. ii. p. 329.]
V
THE INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS OF FREE TRADE
PAPER READ AT THE INTERNATIONAL FREE TRADE CONGRESS AT ANTWERP, _August 9-21, 1910_[59]
I have been asked to state my opinion on the effect of Free Trade upon the political relations between States. The subject is a very wide one.
I am fully aware that the brief remarks which I am about to make fail to do justice to it.
A taunt very frequently levelled at modern Free Traders is that the antic.i.p.ations of their predecessors in respect to the influence which Free Trade would be likely to exercise on international relations have not been realised. A single extract from Mr. Cobden's writings will suffice to show the nature of those antic.i.p.ations. In 1842, he described Free Trade ”as the best human means for securing universal and permanent peace.”[60] Inasmuch as numerous wars have occurred since this opinion was expressed, it is often held that events have falsified Mr. Cobden's prediction.
In dealing with this argument, I have, in the first place, to remark that modern Free Traders are under no sort of obligation to be ”Cobdenite” to the extent of adopting or defending the whole of the teaching of the so-called Manchester School. It may readily be admitted that the programme of that school is, in many respects, inadequate to deal with modern problems.
In the second place, I wish to point out that Mr. Cobden and his a.s.sociates, whilst rightly holding that trade was to some extent the natural foe to war, appear to me to have pushed the consequences to be derived from that argument much too far. They allowed too little for other causes which tend to subvert peace, such as racial and religious differences, dynastic considerations, the wish to acquire national unity, which tends to the agglomeration of small States, and the ambition which excites the desire of hegemony.
In the third place, I have to observe that the world has not as yet had any adequate opportunity for judging of the accuracy or inaccuracy of Mr. Cobden's prediction, for only one great commercial nation has, up to the present time, adopted a policy of Free Trade. It was, indeed, here more than in any other direction that some of the early British Free Traders erred on the side of excessive optimism.[61] They thought, and rightly thought, that Free Trade would confer enormous benefits on their own country; and they held that the object-lesson thus afforded might very probably induce other nations speedily to follow the example of England. They forgot that the special conditions which existed at the time their n.o.ble aspirations were conceived were liable to change; that the extraordinary advantages which Free Trade for a time secured were largely due to the fact that seventy years ago England possessed a far larger supply of mechanical apt.i.tude than any other country; that her marked commercial supremacy, which was then practically undisputed, could not be fully maintained in the face of the advance likely to be made by other nations; that if those nations persisted in adhering to Protection, their progress--which has really been achieved, not by reason of, but in spite of Protection--would almost inevitably be mainly attributed to their fiscal policy to the exclusion of other contributory causes, such as education; and that thus a revived demand for protective measures would not improbably arise, even in England itself. These are, in fact, the results which have accrued. Without doubt, it was difficult to foresee them, but it is worthy of note that, in spite of all adverse and possibly ephemeral appearances, symptoms are not wanting which encourage the belief that the prescience of the early Free Traders may, in the end, be tardily vindicated. It is the irony of current politics that at a time when England is meditating a return to Protection--but is as yet, I am glad to say, very far from being persuaded that the adoption of such a policy would be wise--the most advanced thinkers in some Protectionist states are beginning to turn their eyes towards the possibility and desirability of casting aside those swaddling-clothes which were originally a.s.sumed in order to foster their budding industries. Many of the most competent German economists, whilst advocating Protection as a temporary measure, have for many years fully recognised that, when once a country has firmly established its industrial and commercial status in the markets of the world, it can best maintain and extend its acquired position by permitting the freest possible trade. Even Friedrich List, though an ardent Protectionist, ”always had before him universal Free Trade as the goal of his endeavours.”[62] Before long, Germany will have well-nigh completed the transition from agriculture to manufactures in which she has been engaged for the last thirty or forty years; and when that transition is fully accomplished, it may be predicted with some degree of confidence that a nation so highly educated, and endowed with so keen a perception of cause and effect, will begin to move in the direction of Free Trade.
Similarly, in the United States of America, the campaign which has recently been waged against the huge Trusts, which are the offspring of Protection, as well as the rising complaints of the dearness of living, are so many indications that arguments, which must eventually lead to the consideration--and probably to the ultimate adoption--if not of Free Trade, at all events of Freer Trade than now prevails, are gradually gaining ground. Much the same may be said of Canada. A Canadian gentleman, who can speak with authority on the subject, recently wrote:
The feeling in favour of Free Trade is growing fast in Western Canada, and I believe I am right in adding the United States.
We have our strong and rapidly growing farmers' organisations, such as the United Farmers of Alberta, and of each Western province, so that farmers are now making themselves heard and felt in politics, and farmers realise that they are being exploited for the benefit of the manufacturer. Excellent articles appear almost weekly in the _Grain Growers' Guide_, published in Winnipeg, showing the curse of Protection.
A Canadian Free Trade Union, affiliated with the International Free Trade League, has just been formed in Winnipeg, and many prominent business and professional men are connected with it.