The Detroit times., 1915-05-14
What Are We Going
to Do About 1t?
az Or. FRANK CRANE
Copyright, 1915. by Frank Crane)

street and smashed you in the mouth,
and if he were manifestly so much
stronger than you that it would be folly
10 fight him. or If he were armed with
revolver while you had no weapon, that
would you do?
You can think of but one answer. You
would call the police.
! But WHAT If THERE WERE NO
POLICE? What if the city expected
every man To defend his own person and
property, and there were no court nor
sheriff?
! That would, of course, be anarchy. No
such city could continue TO exist. The
criminal class would soon burn or blow
| up all the houses i'm their unrestrained
! lust for plunder. and every decent citizen
would be driven out of town or reduced TO
terrorized slavery. II is not imaginable
! that human beings would tolerate such
condition.
| Now for individuals SUBSTITUTE
! NATIONS. Here are fifty or more ma
tions dwelling side by side upon this
! planet.
/ Along comes a bandit nation and de-
\ liberately murders some ! 800 non-com-
batants in cold blood even drowning
babies in their desire 10 cause terror TO
another nation they hate.
Among the victims are hundred
citizens of nation that has nothing 10
| do with the quarrel. has observed
strictly the universally acknowledged
laws Of neutrality, and even protects
| from destruction 100000 900 worth of
the bandit nations ships.
What is the neutral nation going to
do about It?
The obvious answer ought to be, Call
the police
But THERE Is NO POLICE. Each
| individual state is a law unto itself.
! Each totes its own gun. In other words,
! THE WORLD IS IN A STATE OF
! ANARCHY, precisely as the above cited
city would be If il had no institutions
and officers Of law, and let every one
defend himself.
! What is then the plain. pressing.
clear duty of decent. humane nations?
WHY. TO ESTABLISH A POLICE,
AN INTERNATIONAL POLICE, AT
| ONCE: TO SUBSTITUTE LAW FOR
ANARCHY.
Nationalism is dead. II expired with
| the destruction Of those l30 American
lives II went down with the Lusitania.
/ IL was blown 10 hades by it's chief ex-
ponent. Germany.
FROM NOW ON 1T MUST BE
I INTERNATIONALISM-OR CHAOS.
We are bound for world federation.
or hell bent for world war. Which will
! America choose?
To declare war on Germany will be
| the impulse Of those who can only think
in terms Of the past 1t will be the
qualification of the low passion Of VEN
have hurt us. II will mean that we send
| 100000 good American lives after the
! 100 already sacrificed.
But if we call upon all civilized nations
10 come together and create an interna-
tional police, we will strike at the
| CAUSES Of such atrocities as this which
has prostrated the world by its inhuman-
| ty We will be HEALING THE DIS
| EASE, INSTEAD OF POULTlCING
THE SYMPTOM.
| Let this be the occasion for the
worlds greatest republic to arise, in the
dignity Of it's power, and in the majesty
of it's self-restraint, and call all nations
to take such action as shall INSTALL
THE POLICEMAN on the high seas and
in all the highways of earth.
Leave VENGEANCE to God. Let as
strive to ESTABLISH JUSTICE AND
LAW, which alone can prevent the repe-
tition of such an outrage as this last,
| ,pb ich fraazea the blood of mankind