Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-09-29
AMBASSADOR LORD GREY,
PREACHER OF AN OLD GOSPEL
World Peace Can Come About only
Through the Rule Of Men Of
Good viii


~ years ago on the eastern shores of the
Mediterranean angels appeared in the
heavens and proclaimed ''peace on earth
to men Of good will
The two thousand years since that mo-
mcntous night have been twenty cen
turies of wars. Peace has not come. 1t
moves so slowly that we sometimes de-
spair of its ever coming. We are saying
even now that war cannot be abolished,
for we insist that issues will arise over
which mon will fight. We do not seem to
have faith that there ever will be enough
men Of good will to make the men of bad
will understand that it does not pay to
try to get what they want by going to
war over it.
In view of the slow progress of the
world toward the goal of ultimate peace,
the statement of his purposes with which
Lord Grey of Falloden, the new British
ambassador, signaled his landing on
American soil is nightly significant.
Lord Grey reminds us that we have to
make new start after this great war to
repair the Old World and to build a bet
ter one. He says that "the greatest Sc
curity against future war and the most
permanent cure for the evils of war lie
in good will" and he announces that it
will be the object Of his mission to
strengthen the good will between the
English and the American peoples in the
hope that this may lead to greater inter
national good will on the broadest posi-
BILE basis.
Hate has divided the world for the past
FIVE years. Like a knife with razor
edge it has cut old relations and sew
cred old bonds, and its effects are still
troubling US and will trouble US for
generation in spite of all that can be
done. Yet Lord Grey's effort is worth
while and it is the only thing that is
worth while. Peace cannot come about
by strcssing hate and keeping old
grudges alive, nor can it be attained by
magnifying differences and exploiting
selfish interests.
1t is of supreme Importance that good
will retween the two branches of the
Englisi> speaking race be cultivated.
More than 50,O00,000 inhabitants of the
SlNDc Sptdh lang udse, al
greater number by 80 100000 than speak
any of the other languages of the west
ern world These people do more than
speak the same language. They are
grounded in the principles of democracy,
for they have inherited from common
ancestors the fruits of the great struggle
for liberty which resulted in the recogni-
ton of the right of the common man to
enjoy all the privileges of life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness. AS Tenny-
son finely said, our governments are
"broad based on the peoples will" AS
each man is interested in the preserva-
tion of his own rights he is jealous of the
rights of others, lest, if they be denied,
his own may be destroyed also. The
political institutions of America and the
British isles rest on that mutual good will
which is the cornerstone of all democ-
racy.
If the English-speaking nations can
exhibit to the world the results of inter-
national good will through the develop
ment of the friendliest possible under
standing between the peoples and the
most amicable adjustment of all dis
putes the ultimate triumph of that peace
of which the angels sang will be little
nearer.
But it will not come until there is good
will among all the nations, those which
have been hating one another in recent
years and those which by fighting for a
common cause have discovered that they
have many interests in common We
shall have to lay aside all feelings of
hostility and tell ourselves that all the
nations Of the earth have common inter-
ests. We need not ignore the fact that
they have conflicting desires, but if we
stress the points of agreement and culti-
vate them they will gradually spread and
cover all the old sores as a properly
dressed wound heals, leaving only scar
to show where it had been.
1t will not be easy to do this, because
human nature is perverse, but the effort
is worth the making. When we calmly
consider the matter we are compelled to
admit to ourselves that there is no other
nrocess under heaven or known AMONG