but he succeeded in bringing the war to a successful conclusion, and
Silesia is part of Prussia to-day. The strong arm conquest is the only
reason.

So is it with Germany's possession of Schleswig-Holstein, with Austria
in Herzegovina and Bosnia, France in Algiers, Italy in Tripoli: they are
all instances of claim-jumping, reprehensible in varying degrees.

I suppose no thoughtful Englishman would attempt to justify, on high
moral grounds, the building up of the British empire: for instance, the
possession of Egypt and India by Britain. How does India happen to be a
part of the British realm? Every one knows the answer. The East India
Company was simply the most adventurous and enterprising trading company
then in the world. It grew rich trading with the Orient, established
the supremacy of the British merchant marine, got into difficulties with
French rivals and native rulers, fought brilliantly for its rights, as
it had every reason to do, conquered territory and consolidated its
possessions, ruling chiefly through native princes. It became so
powerful that it did not seem wise to the British government to permit a
private corporation to exercise such ever-growing political authority.
It was regulated, and in the end abolished, by act of Parliament; its
possessions were taken over by the Crown; the conquests were extended
and completed, and India today is a gem in the crown of the British
empire.

What justifies Britain, as far as she has justification, is the
remarkable wisdom and generosity with which she has extended, not
onlylaw and order and protection to life and property, but freedom and
autonomous self-government, to her colonies and subject populations,
with certain tragic exceptions, about as fast as this could safely be