The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-04-06
TIE. RHINE at COBLEhZ;
EHREhBREiTSTElh ACROSS.
tie RIVER - DRAWN BY PEixoT7O

| ing the second. 1t is too much.
have lived in slavery and my life
has ended in this. My grandchildren
| shall not endure what I have suffered.
These barbarians must be destroyed"
A very natural sentiment. yet my
friend had suffered less than thousands
of Frenchmen and most of those thou
sands are thinking the same thoughts
as he expressed to me. To expound
, to such even the ideals and advan-
tages OF a League of Nations is useless
and inhuman. 1t is like Offering to
build n fire station on the estate of a.
friend whose possessions have just
been burned down; q kindly offer of
wise precaution against the repetition
of calamity, but one which the friend
is apt to regard as in bad taste By
all means get on with the fire station:
II should have been there before, but
let us remember that our friend will
appreciate it more when he has q
house to live in.
So 1t is all over Europe. OF Belgium,
Italy, Serbia and Rumania / cannot
write from personal knowledge, but
their sufferings speak for themselves;
of Germany I hope to speak in n
al tlNlt' blu "OIlu Is her
vous and irritable, given to explosions
which in calmer moments II regrets,
but behind its occasional tantrums
there is the clear and certain deter
mination OF its people that somehow
the return OF this horror through
which it has passed must be made i'm
possible. They are as yet a good way
from agreement as to how this is to
be done,
Those who have suffered most and
are nearest TO the point OF danger have
had the least time to think and are the
most uncertain. In Great Britain.
who feels herself safe now that the
German feet IS n thing of the past,
there is real public enthusiasm for the
ideals represented by the League OF
Nations, but ii is not easy to make
men like my Montfaucon friend under
stand that 1t is neither possible nor
desirable 10 destroy twenty five mil
lions of barbarians and that to at
tempt to do so is to prepare n third
catastrophe for his grandchildren. He
must feel himself safe and his nerves
must DO soothed before he can think
logically.
The power for good of the United
States to-day Is enormous because the
New World is free from the stress OF
emotion which still weighs upon the
Old You can plan and think in
calmcr and clearer air. | hope earn
estly that you will find yourselves ablo
to help build and equip the finest fire
station that man has ever devised In
making up your minds do not forget
the feelings Of the man who has lost
his home; remember what he has
been through; forgive him il his criti-
cisms are sometimes Captious and un-
reasonable and do not forget that his
real desire is To make himself safe
against another fire.
Tho architects are doing their best
Ia plan wisely. but the family is large
anC Il Is not easy TO meet the wishes
OF each OF its members Some of them
arc thinking most OF what they have
lost and wondering If and how they
will get compensation, others are plan
ming to have their new rooms larger
than the old, most of the dependents
are Clanoring for better quarters than
they had before II tho rich brother
who came across TO help put out the
fro gets inpatient Of all the talk and
noise md decides TO leave the family
t. itself the chances arc that the new
home will be little better than the old
and that the fire station win never be
built.
Copyright 1919 By the Mcclure Nsus.
49,. 0Gper Syndicate ....a'