A further point to be considered is whether the general position of affairs affords some reasonable prospect of military success.

With these considerations of expediency certain other weighty aspects of the question must also be faced.
It must always be kept in mind that a State is not justified in looking only to the present, and merely consulting the immediate advantage of the existing generation.

Such policy would be opposed to all that constitutes the essential nature of the State.

Its conduct must be guided by the moral duties incumbent on it, which, as one step is gained, point to the next higher, and prepare the present for the future.

"The true greatness of the State is that it links the past with the present and the future; consequently the individual has no right to regard the State as a means for attaining his own ambitions in life." [L] [Footnote L: Treitschke, "Politik," i., p 3.] The law of development thus becomes a leading factor in politics, and in the decision for war this consideration must weigh more heavily than the sacrifices necessarily to be borne in the present.