ABSTRACT
The people at home have no way of knowing the truth about their compatriots abroad, and distance invariably lends enchantment. The abused person abroad may be a dirty scoundrel, but how is patriotism to discriminate? The Scandinavian countries are-weak, they may be attacked, but they are not the objects of constant diplomatic meddling. They are not part of the stakes of diplomacy, because they have a modern political structure. The democracies at home would have a chance to assert themselves. They would no longer be harassed by the troubles of their citizens abroad; they would not be stirred constantly by the question of whether Americans or Germans or Englishmen were being given a chance to exploit Persia or Morocco. A few people have remarked that the worldwide sympathy for Belgium was extraordinary in view of the treatment of Persia and China.
