STANDARDIZATION 143

separated as Texas from Maine or California
from New Jersey, and containing an immense
diversity of races and interests, the value of a
uniform technique in externals is obviously
great. It functions in much the same way as
the common language and might almost be
defined as a second language added to that of
the mother tongue. European observers,
accustomed to the social conditions of smaller
countries where diversity of interest is on a lesser
scale and far less heterogeneous, are often slow
to appreciate this aspect of American standardi-
zation. It should be reckoned an important
contributory factor in maintaining the unity of
the United States, a unity which looks at first
sight almost like a miracle, and becomes intel-
ligible only when we understand its fundamentally
economic nature. In spite of the flag-waving
that goes on everywhere there can be little
doubt that if the economic tie were broken, as
it would be by the abandonment of free trade
between the States,1 the American Republic
-would break up into at least five, the centres
of which could be easily named. The unity of
the United States is not exactly a live issue;
but neither is it a dead one. It sleeps, and will
continue to sleep so long as the economic tie
remains intact, Americans all over the country-
know very well, and they would be blind if they
did not know it, that the unity of the United

1 There is no prospect of this happening.