THE NEW EUROPE
vanished programme of Pan-Slavism. We cannot believe that his readers are so prejudiced or so ignorant as to be frightened by this bogey of the "Jingo" era. Between ourselves and Professor Arnold the issue is clear, and there can be no compromise. Not content with the craven assertion that "we stand to-day as a defeated combination," having "failed to make good our claims by arms" and that we "now clearly see that we can never win the war with our armies," he goes on to declare that "Central Europe," with its corollary "Berlin-Bagdad," exists to-day, "and that it would be a crime to destroy it." In other words, he boldly adopts and approves the policy of triumphant Pangermanism and denounces that of his own Allies. For let there be no mistake about it. The destruction of Austria-Hungary and the liberation of its countless victims is one of the cardinal points in the policy of France, Russia and Italy, and though the British Government has hitherto restricted its declarations on foreign policy to somewhat vague generalities, there is no reason to suppose that it is blind to the wishes of its Allies, or to the dangers involved in Germany's final assertion of hegemony at Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Sofia, Constantinople and Bagdad. If Germany establishes herself from Hamburg to Basra, the fate of Belgium, and even of Alsace, will be a matter of complete indifference to her, except in so far as a victor naturally likes to extend his spoils to an unlimited degree; and if Professor Arnold has failed, after twenty-eight months of war to grasp this root-fact, we fear that neither will he be persuaded though one rose from the dead. His whole argument rests upon the grossest travesty of facts when he maintains that "the so-called subject races" (note the phrase "so-called") of Austria-Hungary "are lacking in the elements of ordered government, and that they have no characteristic political institutions, no industries, no unity." We shall not deal with this fundamental falsehood at the moment, for the excellent reason that every number, past and future, of the New Europe has contained, and will contain, abundant refutation of it.
R. W. S.-W.
A Sign of the Times.
We welcome the appearance of our new contemporary, British Supremacy, as we welcome any and every sign that the nation is awakening from the restless slumbers of party politics, insular prejudice and economic sloth. If British Supremacy develops and advocates a clear-cut policy of Imperial reconstruction, based upon a frank recognition of the extreme gravity of our situation and an unshakeable resolve to redeem it, it will be performing a real national service, and will be strengthening the hands of those of our leaders with whom the need for victory — for la victoire intégrale — swallows up every other issue and every other consideration.
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