86 THREE YEARS OF CALM BEFORE THE STORM

fear, but not the less earnest—in the broad significance of this building
and all it stands for.

Far above national statecraft and politics stands that noble philo-
sophy, of which I have spoken, that the human family is a unit. It
is a sublime conception of mankind, a conception towards which the
forces of nature must inevitably exert their impelling influence,
gradual perhaps but not the less certain of eventual realization. Has
not the whole tendency of civilization been in that direction ? The
prehistoric family found that its better interests lay in tribal associa-
tion. The tribe developed gradually into the nation. To-day the
nations of the world are steadily moving towards a more intimate
and enlightened co-operation because they have come to realize that
only thus can the greatest good of the greatest number be attained.
Thus the co-ordination of the human family is gradually but surely
in the making. When we pass through eras of discouragement, let
us look back on the road that has already been traversed and the
progress already made, even in our own generation. The eventual
triumph of the movement is not a matter of opinion, tinged either
with optimism or pessimism according to the times or the individual;
it is a matter of mathematical certainty, because mankind as a
whole, in spite of all the discouragements and obstacles and delays
which it is bound to meet, will always work towards its greatest good
and its greatest happiness, and with that instinct inherent in the
human race, eventual success is as inevitable as the fulfilment of
the laws of creation. If I am called a visionary, let those who doubt
merely trace the facts, the development, and the fundamental
tendencies of history and* then apply the rules of mathematical
analogy to the future.

I speak of this movement to-day for two reasons. First, because
the establishment of this great medical centre in Japan, representing
in concrete form the principle of international co-operation, is a
material manifestation of that fundamental truth that the human
family is in spirit, and by the nature of things eventually must become
in practice, a unit. I speak of it secondly because the principles of
medicine apply so aptly to the ills from which the world has suffered,
is suffering, and will assuredly continue to suffer before that millen-
nium of world unity can, by gradual development, experience, and
the wisdom of its leaders, be attained.

Most of our international ills closely resemble insidious disease.
Like cancer, they generally begin on a small scale as a result of long
irritation on a given spot. If that irritation can be sensed in advance
and dealt with promptly, the disease can perhaps be avoided. Even
the most skilful physician may not be able, or may not be given an
opportunity, to sense the irritation in advance, but the moment the
obvious symptoms appear, he seeks to eradicate the disease by curative
treatment long before operation becomes unavoidable.

Some day in the distant future we shall have, perhaps, a sort of
Faculty of International Political Health who will study inter-