Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-11-11

ARNuSTICE DAY.

AA@S - 80 VIZ
toned man (and woman) who cele,
brated Armistice Day by blowing
raucous horn for seven CONSECUTIVE,
hours and mussing up the street.
with waste paper?
Surely he must be old-fashioned
for 1t seems an age ago since he (ant
WEI were guilty of such childishnes:
as . celebration OF what we conceiv.
ed to be the greatest event of history
the winning of the great war.
Not that we were particularly
. blameworthy. Rather. that is the
pity of it. Why is man so constituted
! that he has no adequate vent for his
shugest emotions? Or why is he not
20 cultivated that he could find such
. vent?
Doubtless at such a time, we all
felt the impulse to shout in one
ccean-to-ocean chorus q great paean
Of rejoicing. We felt the inner de-
sire to leap and dance and give ex-
preston to our joy in some beauti-
full figure OF physical rhythm. We
wanted to exclaim in the sonorous
language of the Hebrew prophets.
the organ voice of Milton or the
grand chant of Sh~akespeare's verse.
But we were chained by the limita-
tfons of our commercial, work-a-day
existence, which had nc training in
expression. And so we formed little
lock-step parades. we hallooed a
little, we rang bells and blew penny
whistles and made all sorts of dis
cordant and unmeaning noises and
we made as much muss for the street.
cleaners as possible.
And we were all a little ashamed
of 1t, and a little rebellious hat we
had never been taught to express
ourselves.
However, having expresAd our
selves in the only way we knew how.
We may proceed TO forget, IL we
want to, u own emotions on that
ventful occasion two years ago and
onsider the situation as 1t is today
nd what 1t is likely to be in the
iture.
One thing most of us seem to have
rgotten by this time is the feeling
e had toward war on Armistice Day
20 years ago. We were rejoicing
CIR the prospects Of peace not only
the immediate peace. but because
was believed to be a lasting peace.
lch a world upheaval must not
appen again. was the thought of
early and it was fire.
aently expressed. The peace Of the
World was not then looked upon as
L partisan issue.
President Wilson went to France to
make secure the victory the boys had
won. He returned with a covenant
of a League of Nations intended to
assure peace. Then came the senate
fight and the partisan strife so that
today, two years after the armistice
was signed, the United States still
finds herself technically at war. In
stead Of the peace of the world be-
ing III as we had determined 1t
would be after the awful sacrifice the
boys had made, the menace of war
Is constantly increasing while the
great, powerful and influential United
States remains aloof, keeps hands
off and, thanks to petty politics, re-
fuses to have anything to do with
the worldwide movement to make
peace throughout the world a reality.
Today's celebration in France is
marred by the bitter controversy
Z over the kind of peace that has been
secured and the threatening aspect
of the future. 1t is well known that
the German leaders still retain their
old imperialistic spirit. Smarting
under the humiliation that they have
suffered through the treaty of Ver-
sailles, they are biding their time
when they can wipe out the dis
grace.
France is we'll ware OF this and
she is preparing to guard against the
next attack. Militarism is increas-
tng. Armament is Frances first
bought today in order that her bor-
lers may be defended. She has re-
used 10 give up universal military
aiming. And as France continues to
rln, SO must every other nation.
zen II is realized that 80 per cent,
ti.e cost OF all government today
10 meet the expenses OF war, pas
future. we a see what this FEEL
IN france means to all of us.
Mish the League Of Nations pro-
riy functioning having the greai
.oral influence Of the United State:
Jack OF it. France would feel secure
She would be able to reduce hei
armament and all the other nation:
could do likewise. That Is what We
had in mind two years ago wher
we were giving such free expression
to cur feelings In tie only way We