The Washington herald., 1919-06-20
ZONE OF STARVATION
CONTINUED FROM COLUMN EIGHT

''NilNCbD fhoM CDbIMN EIGHT.
its place i'm war. though not a brave
place. whether II was produced by a
U-boat or by a blockade But war is
war and murder is murder. and men
and nations engaged in murder in a
wholesale way may not be over nice
about their methods or their victims
A Picture of Europe.
But in peace? Children storming the
trains in Vienna crying for food, Ger
man mobs facing machine guns,
charging the cavalry. dismounting a
soldier. killing the horse under him.
ripping it to pieces in the street, and
running bloody to their homes with
the first bits of meat they have had
in year. German children sent TO
switzerland too weak to recover. Hor-
rible whispers OF cannibalism running
about Europe. and grim tales of
mothers dying TO suckle their chilren
What about these tales for times of
peace? They are true tales
British soldiers" wrote Mai
Gen. Plumer. of the British army.
will not longer stand guard over
starving women and children" They
are getting the Americans home
probably because they have similar
scruples. But what are we going
to do about it?
In mid-May 10000 middle class
Englishmen and women gathered in
Albert Hall one night to protest
against the blockade as an instru-
ment to enforce the signing of the
peace treaty. A British lord pre-
sided. bishop spoke and a lady
ship addressed the meeting 1t was
no rabble. But the speakers de-
nounced the peace treaty. denounced
the government. and advocated
turning England over to the So
cialists as a remedy for what they
considered a wrong.
The same amount of free speech
in America would have filled two
jails.
France, however. is not holding
meetings. For the most part France
is not excited. Nor should she be
expected TO be excited. She has
suffered greatly. Revenge is about
all she can get out OF il The
treaty provides that even in the
midst of this famine while children
are starving $4,000 milk cows and
hundreds of thousands of cattle and
sheep shall be taken from Germany
and returned to France. France
will take them. France is suffering
from shell shock. and il the shame
of 1870 is wiped out. that is all
France asks. Rut the allies can
hardly be expected to follow France
in those things. 1t is more than
possible that if We insist upon
Sto women
and children for the wrongs OF
their men-wrongs present even as
well as wrongs past-we shall ne
on the wrong side of the argument.
We in America made great use
of the moral position of the alIlcs
during the war Right was with
us; wrong was with the Germans
Our advantage was tremendous. 1t
was this advantage which gave uS
the victory; for our adversarles
melted not SO much before our
guns. as they melted before our
arguments which were dropped over
the lines and brought on the rev.
olution that took the mettle out OF
the German cannon.
Now famine is still abroad in the
world. In Russia and in the Ball
kans it must rage for another year
and perhaps another. 1t will take
all the sacrifice of generous people
all over the world to keep star
walton from killing millions. and
plague following famine to the ut
termost parts of the earth. Is 1t
not. therefore. important that we
should have our house in order? Is
it not necessary that every nation
shall be able to say to its people
This famine and its curse of pestl-
lence abroad is no fault of ours? :?
We have no part in it. If the war
is over why go on slaughtering the
innocent for the shortcomings OF
the guilty? Surely there is another
way to enforce a just peace. And
If the peace is unjust. il it has re-
venge its enforcement will bring a
curse with it. Germany tried that n
1870. We should profit by her ex-
ample.
Copyright, 1919. by the wheeler
Sydicate. Inc.)