Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1920-03-06

derstand that they must work
starve No law or government In the
world Is powerful enough to compel
people to work. This is particularly
true Of the people today. To think Of
using force is foolish, suicidal.
We have had enough Of force during
the last four years and the farther we
get away from the idea OF beating one
another into submission the better of
we all shall be. The present unrest is
positively dangerous. 1t isn't like any
unrest we have ever had before. 1t is
the restlessness of human beings who
nave been face to face with death. We
need lot of calmness and common
sense. By kindly conference we must
try to understand each other. and by
Just compromise help each other. OF
one thing am sure, and that is. If an
EFFORT is made to use blind, brute force
on the working people of the world,
the present unrest will be set in mo-
ton, a whirlwind will break upon the
world.
The plain, open road back to happi-
ness is cooperation. If we stop for
moment and realize what we have been
through, and the changes that have
come upon us while we were going
through 1t, we will find getting to
gether easy. Unrest blocks the road
1t letters the will to work. We must
face the truth, and the sooner we do
the better. The world is broke. The
war has bankrupted Europe. One
thing, and one thing only, will bring us
back to sane, normal living. 1t is work
Sympathy and understanding will d.
more to secure peace, stimulate work
than defiance, challenge and threats.
A normal world is one in which mel
live and work together in peace, where
all men have a chance to be happy
This means an interest in work, a 10Y
in working--living to work, rather
than working to live. Men must have
food, clean wholesome food, and
enough Of IT to do their work without
exhaustion. Men must have clothes
Not only the quantity and quality nee
essary to protect their bodies from the
weather, but clothes that satisfy the
normal instinct for appearing clear
and neat. Decent clothes sustain self
respect. Men without them are less
normal and moral.
All Need a PIaytlme.
There must be a time between the
end of the day and the beginning of
sleep in which men can know and en-.
joy their families. The man who is SO
used up by his days work that he falls
asleep at his supper table isn't play
ing fair with his wife and children.
and his employer isn't playing fair
with him. All men are boys, even aft
er they have gray hair. This quality
is probably the finest and best
in them. They need playtlme, a recre-
alton time. They lose something and
the world loses more when they do
not get it. 1t is not enough that bodies
are fed, minds must not be starved
Light is the right Of every human be.
ing with eyes. Education is light. The
human race must have light. None of
us were intended to live in darkness
Children are entitled to school time.
a jump-the-rope time, a top time,
play time. A child who enters manhood
or wOmanhood without ever having
known a childhood goes through life
with something missing, something
lost. The creed of the changed world
is that while the world doesn't owe
anyone living, it is obligated to give
every human being chance to make
decent living. The new commandment
is that this chance must be given.
found these thoughts planted in
the unrest in Europe. They are strong
ly, deeply rooted in the consciousness
of the people. They are growing. Men
and women are gardening, cultlvating.
protecting these ideas. Any effort to
uproot or destroy these Towering
thoughts viii be resented and fought
by the gardeners. They are not weed
thoughts-they are the blooms Of hope
and they belong to the poor They will
fight and die before they will see these
hope growths trampled under foot.
This is the only garden they have. The
blood of the dead fortified it. The
living care for it.
Copyright. 1899. Western Newspaper UnionI