Cheyenne record., 1919-06-19
The Worlds Next Step
NO.
The I.eagne Of NntiCrs and The Prog
ress Of Civilization
BY CLARENCE L. SPEED

BY CLARENCE l.. SPEED
(Written for and Approved by the lilir".s
Branch of League to Enforce Perreb
The worlds next step is to he the
formation of a league of nations. Ten
tative plans for its constitution haze
been approved at the peace conference.
Representatives. Of fourteen of thf
greatest governments in the world
havn agreed on III" tentative details
Reports intiic2te that delegates fr'rl
other nations aSscrlblrd at Paris 10 IL.
Oh the tCrmS for ending the great WAY
arc ready to sign Il treaty c"r:.tiig n
league of nations. Even tie defeated
nnti0ns apIrnv" the ih"a if rot th"
details. Ii may ebe taken now as n
fOrc:;one conclusion that the world
rs Il whole has decided to act in CON
cert, to organize to prevent war; in
future. to protect the weak anh pre-,
vent aggression by the strong.
Since the dawn of history the world
has been progressing logically toward
this step, though fnlt"rlngly ard with
many slips backward. From the pre-
historic times when it WAS every man
for himself. down through the ages
when small tribes d"spoilcd Their
neighEorS, when dcfpotisns of the an
cicnt world struggled for mastery,
when feudu lords who were little
more than robbers made wars for
booty, to the development of the mod
ern nations rs they stood five years
ago, man had slowly been learning
that he could not live for himself
alone, but must depend on the CO.
operation Of his nelghbors.
Slowly, very slowly, the Ideas Of
right and justice rs we now under
stand them grew up. Primitive man
learned that to protect himself he had
to live in accord with his nclghbors.
But his npiglhors then were the few
Of his fellow beings who lived in his
immediate vicinity. They were sepn-
rated from others by wide stretches Of
jungle. plain or swamp.
As human population increased
"neighbOrs" came to mean nll the
members of great tribes, and finally
MI citizens Of Il nation.
But scientific progress Outstripped
for n time manklnls social progress
! There came the application of stenm,,
| the discovery Of electricity, the tele-ii
| graph. the wireless. the flying machine.
which made the world n neighborhood.
, Trade was carried on from one endi
| of the world to the other. No nathnl
could live an independent life. Failurej
| Of the cotton crop In Texas meant Dri-'
vntion and suffering In Manchester; n
change in the tariff laws of the Unltedl
StnteS might mean great distress in
| far distant countries. Nevertheless,
| the nations of the earth continued to-
act entirely independently. each look
, Ing for its own selfish interests with
out regard for the interests OF thet
remainder of the world.
The individual In every civilized
country had long ago recognized the
Justice of the limitation of his rights
He no longer claimed the privilege OF
going out and killing m enemy with
whom he had disagreed; of stealing
his ncighbor'S property just because
he wanted it. of cn$luving his fellows.
Of fighting duels, of carrying concealed
weapons.
lie gave up nll these ancient privi-
legcs and depended on his government
lbE 11ToItttltIt. Ilt Nl'I ~ III SlbtS VA
the fact that there were individuals In
! every land who refused to tlo likewise.
+ He suffered ut times from the thief,
the robhrr. the murderer; yet as the
| centuries went by he took the law
into his own hands less and less fire.
qucntly. until before The great war
broke over the world the greater part
OF the rartlls surface waS settled, or
derby, safe.
Yet it never seemed to occur to
these same men who had submitted to
| 50 much curiailnrnt of their indirid-
ual privileges that there might ever
| he any joint exercise Of power by all
of the states of which they severnlly
haIpcnrG to be citizens. Nations built
M huge armies and navie$, glnrctl Mt
each other across frontiers. seized the
lands of weak or undrvelnpru peoples,
and exploited conquered territories for
| their own benefit.
True, some countries. notably Eng
land, which held subject colonies In all
parts Of tn" earth and the United
States, which only recently had rather
unwillingly accepted responsibilities
in the Philippines. had reached
sage of development where they no
longer considered II the proper thing
mrrcilcSSly to exploit dependent pcO-
pies, yet this sentiment wnS far from
general. Land grabbing was the nc
crptch practice. Peaceful civilization
was held back by the necessity of tie
voting 50 much of the resources OF
every land to preparation for
struggle that was deemed inevitable.
Finally. In 1914. the storm broke.
Wur. costing millions of lives and
scores of billions nf dollars. swept