And if Germany loses this war, the congress of the settlement will meet in a very different atmosphere from that in which its predecessor assembled at Vienna.

It will be a conference of powers victorious over Reaction not Revolution, and pledged to the support of a liberal programme.

And yet if such a conference became a permanent feature of European life, if, in other words, a new attempt were made to set up an international tribunal, it might easily become as dangerous to the liberties of the people as ever was the Holy Alliance.

The dynastic principle it is to be hoped, will never again threaten the world's peace or progress; but there are other vested interests besides the dynastic one.
During the nineteenth century economic development has given an enormous impetus to international movements and cosmopolitanism generally.
Unfortunately political development, though great, has not by any means kept pace with the economic; in other words, it is still possible in most countries, and in some more possible than in others, for a small oligarchy to gain control of the political machine.
Again, if there is one thing in the world more international than Labour, it is Capital; and, as Mr.Norman Angell has shown, it is the capitalist who is hardest hit by international war and who stands to gain most from its abolition.

European capital is almost certain to have a large say in the settlement, and considerable influence in the counsels of any new Concert of Europe that might come into existence.