The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1920-03-04
PROBLEMS FACING
STRICKEN WORLD
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction
in Europe Follow the Great
World War?
DANGER IN GENERAL UNREST
Practically Universal Feeling Of Dis
content viii Grow Unless the
Causes Which Gave II Birth
Are Removed.
Article VII.
BY FRANK coMERFoRD.

BY FRANK coMERFoRD.
A specter hauntS Europe, II is the
ghost of unrest When | started ont
to Interview unrest in Europe | did
not give my ear to the idle theOrist
who always knows all about every
thing, but never from direct expert
ence with it. nor did | go to the aglta-
tor who breaches unrest In red words
Neither did | seek out the type of ia
natical labor leader, who is eager for
trouble, who is trying to mobilize un-
rest aud marshal ii under the banner
OF Revolution. passed by the place
hunting, time-serving politician. was
not interested In platitudes and prom
ICES.
sought knowledge Of unrest from
those who knew ii from contact with It,
those who were part and parcel of it.
| went to the man in the street, the
average man. talked with the
sweaty, dirty coal miner at the mouth
of the shaft. He had just come from
his day in the darkness deep in the
ground visited the man who works
in the mills. listened tn the rough
speech of the teamster. went to fac
tories and talked with men between
the two whistles which mark the time
Of the noon meal. They munched at
black bread, ate cheese or sausage,
al, u oil
wine spent time with the idle the
idle by choice as well as those without
work through no fault Of their own.
Only yesterday many yes, most Of
these men were in khaki; now, back
on the job i'm overalls, they were think
ing. Their speech was troubled. Dis
content looked out from their eyes.
could feel it, They talked 1t, but never
as unrest. always protest
Unrest Must Be Quoted
Their state Of mind is the problem.
Unrest is epidemic; It is militant,
There is little of pacifsm in it. 1t is
real, II is not without cause. To get
close to the cause of this disease which
threatens revolution, one must know
and understand what IS going on in
the minds of the men we are looking
to and depending upon to do the
worlds work. 1t doesn't take a
prophet to understand that if heed is
not given TO the things irritating them
and Il remedy is not found for the irri-
tation, serious trouble will follow
While war is hell II has at least
the restraint of discipline. A revolu-
ton growing out of unrest would mean
mob madness, terrorism, fanatical,
brutal, cruel and merciless. Once
started, II would spread like wildfre.
The world would he swept from its
senses The fire would run its course
until stopped because there was moth
ing left to burn. Who dares picture the
state In which it would leave the
world? In this day, when the nerves
of the world are on edge. when cold
and hunger irritate, one shudders when
he thinks Of the fate of civilization
if unrest is not checked before it ex-
plodes in passion and wrath.
Unrest existed before the war 1t was
an acorn then. II is an oak now. Be
fore the war men were complaining,
and justly complaining, about their lot.
The difference now is that four years
in the trenches have caused them to
stop complaining and act Soldering
taught them much They learned of
the greatness Of force,
Back of their present tendency 10
act is the grown grievance and the
war lesson. Before the war they com.
planned; today they demand. II is in
tere. Ing to examine unrest in the
complaint stage, ms these men knew It
before 1914.
These plain, ordinary average men
have always been intensely human.
They loved their wives and children,
they lived for their homes. they felt
kcenIy their responsibility for the hap
piness ofthcir loved ones They have
but one thing to give. Before the war
they gave II unSparingy-it was their
labor. Their one source Of income was
the pay envelope with their wages
they had TO buy shoes, clothes, food,
and provide shelter for the lives they
brought into the world, and for the
women they had chosen to be the moth.
erS Of those children.
Home" Before All.
Home, Sweet Home is the inter
national anthem 1t is the heart song
of the average man The club plays
no part in his life. From his home he
goes TO work. and from work he goes
home. Shanties ana tcnements are
not homes. These men have always
protested against the ugly shacks in
which they were compelled 10 house
their loved ones. They bit their lips
in jOblcss days when their children
went 10 he'd hungry. Resentment
grew in their hearts when they saw
how poorly dressed their wives and
children were. They muttercd curses
when their children were forced 10 20
to work. They wanted 10 give their
children \ better education than they
had had. i better chance IN life. and
they laughed ~ laws prohibiting child
'Abor whiio conditions compelled chill.
NO SHOES FOR TRAVELLING.