New-York tribune., 1919-12-16
"Gunfoddey''
Concerning Those Who Were
"Fool Enough to Fight"
editor of The Tribune.

10 the Editor of The Tribune
Sir: My attention has been called to
letter which appeared in your col
umns referring to my book, "Gunfod-
DER as a volume of disillusion that
misreprcsents the soldier 1t is writ
ten by Marion Couthouy Smith, of East
Orange, who says: an this country the
existence of the American Legion is a
living proof of the soldiers belief in
the cause for which they fought, and
there is little or no evidence of lack
of such belief in the soldiers Of the
Allied nations"
1t would be interesting to know to
what sources Marion Couthouy Smith,
OF East Orange, has been to get evil
cence in regard to the Allied soldiers.
1T is not for me to make any comment
as to the American Legion, because
do not know anything of its establish
ment, but when it comes to the Allied
soldiers, French, English and Colonial.
| think perhaps the eye Of East Orange
the trenches alongside those same soE
diers. The distance is, after all, not
less than 5000 nautical miles. Fur
thermore, have not yet met the Allied
soldier who could get up on his two
feet and say just why and for what
he was fighting. If the American
Legion can do this they must be a
remarkable body Of men. The Allied
soldier Is just as intelligent as the
man in the street, and the man in the
street does not know any more Of the
causes of this war than Marion
Couthouy Smith, perhaps less. AS she,
or he, says, "the performance was the
main thing" and that was all the Al
lied soldier knew about. He did the
Job-and cursed. Now that the Job is
done, perhaps he goes on cursing and
asks why he was fool enough to fight
and come back with only an insignif
cant war gratuty, while all his pals
who stayed at home and made mum
tions are rich and striking.
Marion Couthouy Smith talks of the
"strange delusion OF pacitism" Per
haps by this somewhat ambiguous
phrase she, or he, means that the war
to end war was really a failure. and
that the league of nations, ostensibly
an instrument to safeguard the worlds
peace, is o,more intelligent nor hone
tul than the Quadruple Alliance of by-
gone days. Evidently peace is very
far from the desires of Marion Cou-
thouy Smith. She herself, or he him.
self, is born fighter. She, or he. re-
1utes pacltists, sees an ever-present
enemy propaganda, smiles tolerantly
upon the intellectuals and comes out
from the depths of East Orange into
the glare of print From the point OF
view OF all those mothers in Germany
Austria, Bulgaria and Turkey who
mourn sons, husbands and lovers with
just as much pain as American and Al.
lied mothers, Marion Couthouy Smith
IS an enemy propagandist. She, or he
Is one of those who will keep hate
alive, who breeds thoughts of ven.
seance, of geographical pride, of the
savage Joy of being top dog. Her
or his, views are medieval, lamentable
and she, or he, winds gloriously up b,
quoting not less lamentable ane
medieval remark of Lord Dunsany's-
1T comes to this, that though we are
all killed there will be songs again
but II we were to submit, and so sur
vive, there could be neither songs no,
dreams nor any joyous free things an,
more"
Marion Couthouy Smith says tha
this sentence Every simply and clearl,
refutes pacihstic theories in regard t,
! this war'l 1t seems impossible to be