Transcriber’s Note:
The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
The Division of Economics and History of the CarnegieEndowment for International Peace is organized to ‘promotea thorough and scientific investigation of the causes andresults of war.’ In accordance with this purpose a conferenceof eminent statesmen, publicists, and economists was heldin Berne, Switzerland, in August 1911, at which a plan ofinvestigation was formed and an extensive list of topics wasprepared. The programme of that Conference is presentedin detail in an Appendix. It will be seen that an elaborateseries of investigations has been undertaken, and the resultingreports may in due time be expected in printed form.
Of works so prepared some will aim to reveal direct andindirect consequences of warfare, and thus to furnish a basisfor a judgement as to the reasonableness of the resort to it.If the evils are in reality larger and the benefits smaller thanin the common view they appear to be, such studies shouldfurnish convincing evidence of this fact and afford a basisfor an enlightened policy whenever there is danger of internationalconflicts.
Studies of the causes of warfare will reveal, in particular,those economic influences which in time of peace bring aboutclashing interests and mutual suspicion and hostility. Theywill, it is believed, show what policies, as adopted by differentnations, will reduce the conflicts of interest, inure to thecommon benefit, and afford a basis for international confidenceand good will. They will further reveal the naturaleconomic influences which of themselves bring about moreand more harmonious relations and tend to substitutegeneral benefits for the mutual injuries that follow unintelligentself-seeking. Economic internationalism needs to befortified by the mutual trust that just dealing creates; butvijust conduct itself may be favoured by economic conditions.These, in turn, may be created partly by a natural evolutionand partly by the conscious action of governments; andboth evolution and public action are among the importantsubjects of investigation.
An appeal to reason is in order when excited feelings renderarmed conflicts imminent; but it is quite as surely calledfor when no excitement exists and when