Once upon a time, every baron had his little army, every desirable dwelling its defences, and every gentleman when he walked abroad Dare' a sword or a pistol—perhaps both if he wished to impress a lady. But to-day, on not a few places on the earth, such personal displays of force seem an extravagance, not to say "bad. form." Should any me Gividuals, however, wish to indulge buch extravagance, the law either prohibits the idea outright or places The strictest limits upon its execution. Even in Shanghai, where peace is not #0 slumberous as in Shrewsbury, the Taw has something to say about revolvers and armour-plate motor-are abolitionists, repudiating as immoral the use of force altogether, whether In civic, national or international life—a position held by 2 mere handful of pacifists. Or we are duellists, still defending force as the proper means of pursuing, or defending, private, party and national fends. (In which event, Mosley. is, perfectly entitled to his own troops). Or else we are policemen, convinced that force has only one moral employ~ ment, viz, to compel obedience to the law and Festrain the defer.
Beyond all question, this is a weighty. contribution of urgent importance to all who. believe that tional duelling must be outlawed as_precisely as individual duelling has been. Perhaps if the book had been briefer its argument would mates that £32,000,000 have been spent annually on advertising in British magazines and newspapers,
000 in the production of various ronns of advertisement. In addition, many more millions are spent in industries directly associated with advertising enterprise, This book shows that the British advance has been admirable and, indeed, it has preserved its own individuality in the process.
The commercial side of this artistic entre can be best assessed by noticing the attention paid by all prominent advertisers to the artistic presentation of their announcements. The artistic Value of this development can be gouged from the fax, that in the ames of eontsutars to commercial bet are ten of recognized distinction im the art world. For instance, casual planees through this book produce tte names of Franke Bravgwy' Lao "Wood. Christopher "Clark, mond" Sultiven, red' Pesram, Ber In view of the not inconsiderable expense of national armaments, without mentioning' their somewhat Unpleasant possibilities should anyone oneeive the notion that another Little war wouldn't do us any harm, appears a sensible question to ask ow the elimination of private genals within the countries professing {Civilization was achieved "This question Lord Davies essays to answer. He rejects the view that it Just happened because" men these particular areas of the globe became more angelic. The bad man and the brigand sti exist in, these countries, though It is. to be. hoped progressive "morality involves a decline. in. the eriminat_ birth-rate But the decline is also. due, and In xno. small part, to. the. power. of authority to enforce the judgement of the community upon their behaviour The. elimination of personal arma follows upon. the conviction of the people. that force can only morally be Justied when it 1s the instrument of justice," Whose justice? "The Justice of the community, recognized as obligatory by a people' who desire orderly" existence' and" not anarchy, fand expressed through the lepaiature Backed by adequate power to enforce its" Judements. In" other words, soclely" has recognized that where he individual or faction is Taw Itself, arming "Itself with, Its own weapons. there enn be no. true com: Tonweaith, Fores, accordingly, has become recognized as Immoral except amen employed by the law to compel obedience to the will of the. come munity as. expressed through its Judiciary. "Hence, in all civilized countries the law has been equipped with overwhelming power which no Individuals. or combination. of individuals "can "defy. Laws, "which feannot be executed nce derided, and the Ideal of law teel fers injury Hence, judges are backed by police men. "It is implicitly. recognized. by the community that' the only. right employment of force "is a" police employment. "The only fust use of force le'to fortify justice."
Tord: Davies sees clearly that this doctrine is only valld where govern: ment by discussion and. consent. operative, "In non-democratic, cour tries, where. dictatorship. has been attained by force and is maintained by coercion, then "the sacred tight of rebetlion® remains. For the only possibility of change or reform Fevolution. Evolution by. peaceful farmument and majority opinion. in the nature of the case, is impossible The author, therefore, remands tone of the strongest justiestions of democracy that it has successfully solved' this crucial problem of the moral use. of force. For any who would destroy this solution. as "the gallopers nnd. threateners. in Ulster, for Instance, before the Was, Lard Davies cannot And terms of den une ciation sumetently. severe, Turning now to the problem of force in the life of nations, the author parquet that precisely a similar development. must occur it the ime plications of the League of Nations and. of the Pact of Paris, which Outlawed war as an instrument ational polley. are to be translated into conscientious realities. The Teague. without a. specific intention 40 enforce its considered sudkments 4s futile. But It cannot enforce. its verdicts unless itis equipped, every low court in a civilized cote try," with © adequate power. "The nations must recognize that the only moral use of armaments to-day would be their employment by the League to compel a covenant breaker (a) to seek justice through ts. tribunal and (b) to accept the verdict given "The idea," says J..A. Hobson, "that a large new extension of the scale of human ce-operation, the besinning fof an effective social Rife among nations, can be conducted on a higher moral "plane than the social life' within the most civilizee of mations, Bispensing with that element of coercion in "government. which Slate dare dispense with, cannot claim serious consideration."
There are three alternatives before us, argues Lord Davies. Either we!
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.