“All the talk of which we hear so much about, the peril from the Slav or from the Teuton or from the Celt, is unworthy of serious attention.  It would be quite as reasonable to discuss seriously the red-headed peril or the six-footer peril.

“There is no peril to the world in the Slav, the Teuton, the Celt, or any other race, provided the people of that race have an opportunity to develop as social and economic units, and are not bottled up so that an explosion must come.

“It is my firm belief that nowhere in the world, from this time on, will any form of government be tolerated which does not set men free to develop in this fashion.”

I asked Dr. Butler to make some prognostication of what the United States of Europe, which he so confidently expects, will be.  He answered: 

Has Advanced Much.

“I can say only this:  The international organization of the world already has progressed much further than is ordinarily understood.  Ever since the Franco-Prussian war and the Geneva Arbitration, both landmarks in modern history, this has advanced inconspicuously, but by leaps and bounds.

“The postal service of the world has been internationalized in its control for years.  The several Postal Conventions have been evidences of an international organization of the highest order.

“Europe abounds in illustrations of the international administration of large things.  The very laws of war, which are at present the subject of so much and such bitter discussion, are the result of international organization.

“They were not adopted by a Congress, a Parliament, or a Reichstag.  They were agreed to by many and divergent peoples, who sent representatives to meet for their discussion and determination.”

One of the Examples.

“In the admiralty law we have a most striking example of uniformity of practice in all parts of the world.  If a ship is captured or harmed in the Far East and taken into Yokohama or Nagasaki, damages will be assessed and collected precisely as they would be in New York or Liverpool.

“The world is gradually developing a code for international legal procedure.  Special arbitral tribunals have tended to merge and grow into the international court at The Hague, and that, in turn, will develop until it becomes a real supreme judicial tribunal.

“Of course the analogy with the federated State fails at some points, but I believe the time will come when each nation will deposit in a world federation some portion of its sovereignty.

“When this occurs we shall be able to establish an international executive and an international police, both devised for the especial purpose of enforcing the decisions of the international court.

“Here, again, we offer a perfect object lesson.  Our Central Government is one of limited and defined powers.  Our history can show Europe how such limitations and definitions can be established and interpreted, and how they can be modified and amended when necessary to meet new conditions.