The Washington herald., 1914-11-21

mas labor so bitterly disappointed
the hopes of its brothers and sisters the
Never before did it have such chance to show its
might The best that be said for ii is that taken
Iunawares it had no time to gather its forces, TO
assert its principles and to resist the conventions and
the preudices and the patriotic enthusiasm sustained
for many generations
II by means of solidarity labor had resisted the
war. il would have won universal applause Many
of its bterest foes would have thrown up their hats
No triumph on the battlefield could have compared
with this triumph OF all the victories of peace in
history this victory would have been the greatest.
Above the inhumanty of kings, the humanity of labor
would have shone like star.
However, the war makes the ideal of solidarity
not less beautiful but even appealing Its fail
ure in this crisis must give it stronger hold on the
workers in the crisis yet to At any rate, the
next time they are likely to be taken by surprise
Now they cannot fail to see that nternationalism
must be something than name if il is
to sustain the mighty of labor that built
of the spirit and the energy OF all the laborers the
world over without reference to sex, creed color
By comparison solidarity makes all the other
aspirations of labor transient and insignificant
1t is as big as all humanity 1t reaches the laborers
in the depths and it gives them the promise OF stand
ing side by side with their brothers the heights
1t sweeps aside the wretched prejudces that so long
have caused estrangement among mankind. Its
eager acceptance as faith by multitudes the world
over during the past few years shows how super
fetal those preiudces were and how misleading
What it needs now is to find the way to teach man
kind how to put the faith into practice. Theories
- ;6aJ h., is
But the rewards are proportionate. To ask in
one generation to break the bonds that have separated
the nations of the past and become broad enough
in spirit to include all the nations in their practical
consideration as we'll in their sympahies, is to
impose task beyond the average human power. Be-
fore solidarity can be reached there must be hard
and persistent effort along way that presents many
difficulties
First of all there is the difficulty of language. If
the nations could only speak freely to another,
they would realize much clearly their essential
likeness. To hear the talk going on now about the
Russians. for example, one might imagine that the
Slav peoples were profoundly different from our
selves The surface differences almost eXclu-
svely dwet and exaggerated. Seldom is there
reference to the humanity that makes them identical
with ourselves. Similarly some OF the nations OF the
WOTlQ look Will dIllpdlHE OH oul ONu HdlIOh' llSS
regard us as infinitely inferior to themselves in
fnement and culture. The Americanizaton of the
world they would consider calamity. But if they
knew US better they would be likely to get pleasant
surprise.
All people who think at all nowadays becom-
ing aware OF the world-bndness that has kept hui
manity from acknowledging and living by its unity
They are trying reach the light 1t is significant
that the strongest effort in this direction should
from the people the base OF society, those assumed
to be the least enlightened They are stirred by an
urge greater than sentiment. In one another |
they sec not foes but allies Each year they see the
truth growing plain that the weakness of labor
in one part Of the world weakens labor in all parts
of the world that labor is great organism, the
blood of each aborer contributing to the life of the
whole.
Even while the barrier of language persists. other
barriers can be thrown down. They include the pride
that makes people rejoice in the advantage of their
2wn country wrung from the advantage of another
country Shall the laborers of one nation rejoice
because their fellow-laborers purely imagin
,ry line have been subjected crushing tax? When
The situation is seen in its reality such rejoicing be-
comes impossible through being inhuman.
Bv solidarity the workers of the world have moth
ng to lose and everything to gain Their way out lies
n their own minds All they have to do is to make
themselves big enough in thought to compass their
And their emancipation means the
winning of the world for all who are willing to
work 1t means universal cooperation on terms of
Christianity the realization, not in theory alone but
n practice, of universal brotherhood
Nations Opportunities.
What are we doing toward seizure and making
he most of these unparalleled opportunities? The
war; observes the representative of great mercantile