The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1920-02-06
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction
in Europe Follow the Great
World War;
CHANGE or SOME SORT SURE
Returning Soldier Feels He Has at
Least Earned a Better Chance
Than He Has Hitherto Been
Granted.
Article III.
RY FRANK coMERFoRp.

I
| thought is arouslng her from the
stupor of her misery. She opens her
eyes In wide amazement when she no
| tees and notes the striking change
/ that has come over her children. 1t IS
| puzzling her, although she well knows
what they have gone through, how pa
tiently and uncomplainingly they suf-
fered. 1t isn't strange to her that they
have changed, when she remembers
the peace of the years before the war,
the quiet, sane lives they lived, and the
tour years in which they lived in wet,
foul sewers called trenches, slept In
tombs on the edge Of strip of hell
called No Mans Land, breathed the
! smell of burning flesh saw their pals
"go west" buried their dead, grinned
/ at pain, laughed at death. Nerves of
steel could not stand what they have
gone through without being changed
/ by it.
! They have put on multi again. 1t
Is strange to them. The quiet streets
are dull. The demobilized soldier feels
the letdown. The tenseness over de-
preston sets in. During the war he
didn't have time to think of anything
except the job ahead of him. Every
minute, every move was life or death
to him. Now he realizes for the first
time what he has gone through won
ders why he is alive. Two thoughts
possess his mind; one the memory of
every minute of the days and nights
of the war-the other, of what is
ahead of him, what is he going to do
with his life He is at strange cross
roads. The word Job" doesn't mean
much to him. 1t isn't that he is lazy.
He has to pinch himself to realize that
1t is over and that he is back from the
war.
Earned Right to Better Place.
Between the whizz of machine bull
let's and the shrek of shrapnel he
spent his time thinking, and his
thoughts were not all about the war.
He never got used to the war. but he
learned to forget 1t. He has brought
more than souvenirs and memories
from his experience. He has brought
home thoughts, ideas and ambitions
from the trenches. Many night, look
Ing over No Mans Land, listening to
the 'banshee" of the war, he thought
and resolved that If he ever came
back he wanted, and would have.
better chance In this queer thing called
Life. He feels that he has paid for
a place, and he has paid. He has
earned the right to decent place in
the world. for which he fought He
helped save the world and he looks to
that world to save him from a mean
ingless machine existence. II it doesn't
he has made up his mind to use force.
He Is willing to work, wants to work.
but he insists on being part of his
work, rather than his work being all Of
him. He sees, feels and measures
things from an intensely human angle
He feels his humanness. The war
emphasized the value and meaning of
the human being. 1t was life or death
He is alive. He wants human inter
est In his work.
Hundreds Of demobilized soldiers In
different parts Of Europe, in different
words, in different languages, have
said to me: "If the world isn't going
to give us better chance than It gave
us before the war, then the worIt
wasn't worth fighting for. When W,
fought. they told us 1t was to make th,
world safe for democracy and to max,
{ life worth while. We thought thi,
t meant us and ours. We have learne,
that life isn't only a question of iol
!, and enough to eat. we want to b,
i treated like human beings. A mai
: wants to feel that his work mean
, more to him than just wages. HI
: spends most of his time Mt work tb
rest Of It Is spent with his family nm,
In sleeping so he will be able TO wor,
the next day. Why shouldn't he hay
\ an Interest in the business, and VIII
I shouldn't the business have an interes
In himf We don't want 10 RIM IN
business. all we ask Is a say in II.
! friendly say In II. Some peolle thIn'
that to be fed is to be free--it ism,
L Being free means being treated like
human being"
- have found many good honest me-
and women who have lost interest !
work. They say, 'We don't get fal
share of what we make. We fgF
. among ourselves for jobs because "
have to or starye, and they pay M :
little rs they can" am not reason;n
or arguing this question. am Stain
y a fact which indicates the state !
u mind Of millions OF men and woman ,
a Europe who did their bit for ciyiliz,
'r ton during the past four years.
Fair Hearing Must Be Granted
Calling these people bolshevlst
doesn't silence them nor solve y
K problem. Such tactics irritate or
e. deepen the unrest. Their grieyan,
re must be given fair, patient hearin
n Their attitude of mind must be rec
a.. | oned with If we hone to GET ba "a,