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foreign policies." I do not wish to say that socialists as a partypersistently favored the militarism of Germany. I merely wish topoint up the very disturbing fact that people of all sorts and forquite different reasons could see some special virtue in this thing.In maintaining the institution of militarism the imperial governmentknew that it was running safely with an approved current ofthought and desire among the people. And, however men differedfor special group reasons in supporting militarism, at bottom thechief reason that paralyzed any strong opposition to it was economic.The institution begins with those who love military power, theexpression of national might, and those nationalist groups who yearnfor imperialist aggression. But it ends by finding its broadest supportin the influence it exerted upon the economic system.The plain truth is that militarism became Germany's greatestsingle industry. It played a role as prop of the economic system asgreat, if not greater than, let us say, the automobile industry inAmerica. Critics have directed their fire against Krupp and hisfellow munitions makers. But it would be a great mistake to supposethat it was Krupp and his colleagues who made militarismpossible. It was something more deeply rooted than the interests ofthe war profiteers. Others have complained of the insupportableburden of armaments. In England increased grants for soldierswere fought on the ground that enlarging the army resulted inwithdrawing more men from industry and the production of wealthin the labor market. Mr. Herbert Perris 5 has calculated that whilethe German Army cost 67 million pounds a year there was a fargreater social loss in drawing so many men from productivepursuits who could have earned 100 pounds each had they remainedin civil life, and that this loss must be added to the money cost ofthe army. All this is based on the theory that had these men remainedin civil life they would be at work raising crops and producinggoods. But, alas, they would have, at most times, merelyadded to the number of the unemployed. The English critics wereright in saying that the army took men out of the labor market. Butit was a market glutted with labor. It took the unusable surpluslabor. And the problem of government to find work for these men^Germany and the German Emperor, by Herbert Perris, Henry Holt, New York, 1912.IO2

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