be more definitely defined; more and more disputes will be settled by arbitration in the court of the world. Such a state will receive the undivided support of the commercial interests of the world, for commerce thrives best in times of peace. Since this is an industrial and commercial age, the business interests ought and will support a movement to bring about and preserve peace. The practical or mechanical obstacles to the establishment of a world state are fewer now than ever before; in fact, one might almost say they do not exist any longer. By means of past inventions and discoveries the world is more closely united, more thoroughly bound together, than ever before. Steam railways, steamships, the telegraph, telephone and wireless telegraphy and scores of other inventions have annihilated distance. The formation of a world union is easier than ever before.
6. Obstacles to the Success of the Movement.—Unfortunately such a movement as we are considering will have a number of serious obstacles to meet and overcome. Perhaps the most potent hindrance to the speedy establishment of a world state will be the existence of strong national feelings, the antipathy of the nations of Europe and the local patriotism on the American continent. It will be a long time before race hatred and national enmity will be allayed; it will probably be centuries before 'jingoism' and local patriotism will be supplanted by reason and a cosmopolitan spirit. But in connection with this obstacle, one ought to note that a great amount of this cosmopolitan spirit does exist now and will continue to grow. Happily this spirit or feeling is not to be found solely among the upper and educated classes, but among the working classes also, and especially among the working classes of Europe. With them, however, the feeling is not necessarily an end in view, but a concomitant of their great struggle. The workingmen of Europe, organized under the banners of labor organizations and socialism, declare that their fight against capitalism is an international struggle, that the capitalistic regime is omnipresent and everywhere opposed to labor.
Another obstacle to the establishment of a world state is the hostile attitude of the monarchical governments o"f Europe. Most of them are more or less jealous of their sovereignty and hate to have it curtailed in any way; they scorn being forced to arbitrate their disputes instead of fighting them out. This is not a mere assertion and can best be illustrated by the attitude of Germany. At the Hague Peace Conference in 1899, the German delegates declared that arbitration was incompatible with the divine right of kings to rule. The Emperor William has openly manifested his opposition to a permanent court of arbitration. When it was proposed that the German-Venezuelan question be submitted to the Hague Court, William II. proposed that the matter be left to President Roosevelt as arbitrator. But Roosevelt de-
