To those who look beneath the surface, the present universal war drives home more than one anthropological
truth in striking fashion; and of these verities none is more profound than that relating to
the essential immutability of mankind and its instincts.

Four years ago a large part of the civilised world laboured under certain biological
fallacies which may, in a sense, be held responsible for the extent and duration of the present
conflict. These fallacies, which were the foundation of pacifism and other pernicious forms
of social and political radicalism, dealt with the capability of man to evolve mentally beyond
his former state of subservience to primitive instinct and pugnacity, and to conduct his affairs
and international or inter-racial relations on a basis of reason and good-will. That belief
in such capability is unscientific and childishly naive, is beside the question. The fact remains,
that the most civilised part of the world, including our own Anglo-Saxondom, did entertain enough
of these notions to relax military vigilance, lay stress on points of honour, place trust in
treaties, and permit a powerful and unscrupulous nation to indulge unchecked and unsuspected
in nearly fifty years of preparation for world-wide robbery and slaughter. We are reaping the
result of our simplicity.

The past is over. Our former follies we can but regret, and expiate as best
we may by a crusade to the death against the Trans-Rhenane monster which we allowed to grow
and flourish beneath our very eyes. But the future holds more of responsibility, and we must
prepare to guard against any renascence of the benevolent delusions that four years of blood
have barely been able to dispel. In a word, we must learn to discard forever the sentimental
standpoint, and to view our species through the cold eyes of science alone. We must recognise
the essential underlying savagery in the animal called man, and return to older and sounder
principles of national life and defence. We must realise that man’s nature will remain
the same so long as he remains man; that civilisation is but a slight coverlet beneath which
the dominant beast sleeps lightly and ever ready to awake. To preserve civilisation, we must
deal scientifically with the brute element, using only genuine biological principles. In considering
ourselves, we think too much of ethics and sociology—too little of plain natural history.
We should perceive that man’s period of historical existence, a period so short that his
physical constitution has not been altered in the slightest degree, is insufficient to allow
of any considerable mental change. The instincts that governed the Egyptians and the Assyrians
of old, govern us as well; and as the ancients thought, grasped, struggled, and deceived, so
shall we moderns continue to think, grasp, struggle, and deceive in our inmost hearts. Change
is only superficial and apparent.

Man’s respect for the imponderables varies according to his mental constitution
and environment. Through certain modes of thought and training it can be elevated tremendously,
yet there is always a limit. The man or nation of high culture may acknowledge to great lengths
the restraints imposed by conventions and honour, but beyond a certain point primitive will
or desire cannot be curbed. Denied anything ardently desired, the individual or state will argue
and parley just so long—then, if the impelling motive be sufficiently great, will cast
aside every rule and break down every acquired inhibition, plunging viciously after the object
wished; all the more fantastically savage because of previous repression.
The sole ultimate
factor in human decisions is physical force. This we must learn, however repugnant the idea
may seem, if we are to protect ourselves and our institutions. Reliance on anything else is
fallacious and ruinous. Dangerous beyond description are the voices sometimes heard today, decrying
the continuance of armament after the close of the present hostilities.

The specific application of the scientific truth regarding man’s native
instincts will be found in the adoption of a post-bellum international programme. Obviously,
we must take into account the primordial sub-structure and arrange for the upholding of culture
by methods which will stand the acid test of stress and conflicting ambitions. In disillusioned
diplomacy, ample armament, and universal training alone will be found the solution of the world’s
difficulties. It will not be a perfect solution, because humanity is not perfect. It will not
abolish war, because war is the expression of a natural human tendency. But it will at least
produce an approximate stability of social and political conditions, and prevent the menace
of the entire world by the greed of any one of its constituent parts.