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i4 Th e Great Illusioncan r e to r t th a t sh e i s in a p o s i t io n to main ta inth e lead b ecau se sh e h as th e p o p u la t io n , wh ichin th e en d mu s t mean mo n ey . Mean wh i le ,neither s ide can y ield to the o ther , as the one sodoing would , i t is fel t , be p laced at the mercy ofth e o th er , a s i tu a t io n wh ich n e i th er w i l l accep t .There are two current so lu tions which are offeredas a means of egress f rom th is impasse. T h e r eis th a t o f th e smal le r p ar ty , r eg ard ed in b o thco u n t r ies fo r th e mo s t p ar t as d r eamer s an dd o c t r in a i r es , wh o h o p e to so lv e th e p ro b lemb y a r eso r t to g en era l d i sa rmamen t , o r , a t l eas t ,a l imi ta t io n o f a rm am en t b y ag reem en t . An dth ere i s th a t o f th e la rg er an d mo re p rac t ica lp a r t y w h o a r e q u i t e p e r s u a d e d t h a t t h e p r e s e n ts ta te o f r iv a l ry an d r ecu r r en t i r r i t a t io n i s b o u n dto culm inat e in an arm ed conf l ict , which , bydef in itely reducing one or o ther of the par t iesto a posit ion of manifes t infer ior i ty , wil l set t lethe th ing for at least some t ime, unti l af ter alonger or shor ter per iod a s tate of relat iveequil ibr ium is es tablished , and the whole processwi ll b e r eco mm en ced da capo.

Th is second so lu tion is , on th e whole, accep tedas one of th e laws of l i fe; one of th e hard factsof ex is tence which men of ord inary courage takeas a l l in th e d ay ' s wo rk . M o s t o f wh at th en in e tee n th cen tu ry h a s tau g h t u s o f th e ev o lu t ion of l i fe on the p lanet is pressed in to theserv ice of th is s truggle-for-l ife philosoph y. W e

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