In the second place, war has become less frequent and less destructive
because men have not so many motives for waging it, nor the same
motives to push it to the same extremes. Formerly, war was the main
source of wealth; through victories Man acquired slaves, subjects and
tributaries; he turned these to the best account; he leisurely enjoyed
their forced labor. Nothing of this kind is seen now-a-days; people
no longer think of providing themselves human cattle; they have
discovered that, of all animals, these are the most troublesome, the
least productive, and the most dangerous. Comforts and security are
obtained much more readily through free labor and machinery; the great
object no is not to conquer, but to produce and interchange. Every
day, man, pressing forward more eagerly in civil careers, is less
disposed to put up with any obstacle that interferes with his aims; if
he still consents to be a soldier it is not to become an invader, but
to provide against invasion. Meanwhile, war has become more
scientific and, through the complications of its machinery, more
costly; the State can no longer call out and enlist for life every
able-bodied man without ruining itself, nor put too many obstacles in
the way of the free industry which, through taxation, provides for its
expenses; however short-sighted the State may be, it consults civil
interests, even in its military interest.
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