Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-10-11
A Miners Opinion


In Somerset miner who put me up for
the night asked the usual questions and
began a discourse on the war which
ranged from the necessity Of restoring Bel.
gium to the wicked wrongness of a certain
conscientious objector. He and his wife
spoke of their two sons now at the front,
one Of whom had come from Saskatchewan
TO fight: they expected their third son to
enlist from Scranton. Their one regret
was that they could do so little in the way
of entertaining the wounded who were in
hospitals NEARBY.
In railway compartment we discussed
the Count LuXburg disclosures, and l
heard high praise for Lansing. The man
who talked most decisively and carried the
others with him felt that we had taken
long step toward peace because the recent
rumored terms spoke of restoring Belgium
He thought if Germany were willing to do
so much we had only to go on a bit more
and we could have satisfactory settle
ment.
At a pub In Cornwall ! was asked how
long the war would last. l said from
eighteen months TO three years. The gem
tleman for whose drink ] was allowed to
pay opined that there wouldn't be any one
left to fight for if the bloody war went on
that long, and the lady who served the
drinks agreed. Then they cursed the
Kaiser
In the midst of Dartmoor Forest heard
much talk of a man who was always called
"kernislIy," and was told that If Russia
hadn't broken the war would be over now.
But / heard no one regret, as some Of the
writer's in London papers regret that RUS
sia had freed herself.
These are samples of, literally, hundreds
! Of conversations. Not one has the least
| diplomatic importance not one can claim
| 20 give the whole heart of England so far
| as the war is concerned. But the total
| effect cannot be mistaken. Leave out for
| the time being the other side of the ques-
| tion which is a chaotic yearning for some
/ thing better in the way of old England's
| living after the war, and you can with hon
| esty and accuracy say that these western
! counties from which the solid stock of
! England largely comes are heavily and
steadily backing the war.
Western England Likes Us
Also they are hopeful One hears In
credibly little about international relations
after the war, except such remarks as
| Wen not have to see another war soon II
we end tids one we'll" There is no new
idea of the league of nations in the popular
| mind. so far as l can discover, although tes-
timony from the midands and other labor
districts would give another view The
hope is simply that the Allies will win the
war rather handsomely and that II will be
worth winning, because in some way vic
tory will insure peace.
And now, If any American wants to know
why they are hopeful, / can tell him.
negatively Like this: II the Russian affair
had pursued its present course and the
United States were not in the war at this
moment and well advanced with its prem
arations. the countryside OF England would
be hopeless and despairing. 1t would NOT
conceive the possibility OF a successful end
because the hard-hearted people In the
west are not deluded by 'victories"-thev
| go TO the extreme Of consulting nothing bnt
maps and want 10 know. And. In a certain
sense the victory would hardly be 50 wei
} worth winning Because here. 500 miles or
? so from London, the people really ike us
and rejoice in their hearts that we ars
| hghilng with them. without reservations ana
without er|'iehnea4