The Arvada enterprise., 1920-02-05
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction
in Europe Follow the Great
World War;
CHANGE OF SOME SORT SURE
Returning Soldier Feels He Has At
Least Earned . Better Chance
Than He Has Hitherto Been
Granted.
Article IN.
sy FRANK coMERFoRp.

thought is arouslng her from the
stupOr Of her misery. She opens her
eyes In wide amazement when she no.
tices and notes the striking change
that has come over her children. It is
puzxling 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
four years in which they lived in wet,
foul sewers called trenches. slept in
tombs on the edge of u strip of hell
called No Mans Land. breathed the
smell Of burning flesh, saw their pals
go west," buried their dead, grinned
Mt pain. laughed at death. Nerves Of
steel could not stand what they have
gone through without being changed
by 1t.
They have put on mufti again. 1t
is strange to them. The quiet streets
are dull. The demobilized soldier feels
the letd0wn. 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 a 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 renlize that
1t is over and that he IL back from the
war.
Earned Right to Setter Place.
Between the whlzz Of machine bull
lets 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. hut 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 MINIS Land. listening to
the "banshee" Of the war. he thought
and resolved That II he ever came
hack he wanted. and would have. n
hetter chance In this queer thing called
Life. He feels that he hns pnid for
plnce. and he has paid. He has
earned the right to n decent place In
the world. for which he fought. He
helped snve the world and ne looks to
that world to save him from II mean
ingless machine existence. II II doesn't
he has made up his mind to use force.
He IL willing to work. wants to work.
hut he insists on being part Of his
work. rather than his work being all ~
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 It was life or death.
He IL alive. He wants human inter.
est In his work.
Hundreds of demobiiIzel soldiers In
different parts Of Europe. In different
words. In different languages. have
said to me: "If the world isn't going
70 give Us better chnnce thnn II gave
us before the war. then the world
wasn't worth fighting for. When we
fought. they told us II was to make the
world safe for democracy and 10 make
life worth while. We thought this
meant us md ours. We hnvr learned
TINT life isn't only n question of II job
and enough To ca'. we want to hc
treated like human beings. A man
wants TO feel that his work means
moro To him than just wages. He
spends most of his time Ht work. the
rest of II is spent with his family md
In sleeping 20 he will he able 10 work
the next lny. Why shouldn't he hnv.
mn Interest In the business. and why
sloul,ln't the business have mn in'"r"s,
In himi We don't wnnt to run the
business. MI We nxk is u sny In n. u
friendly say In II. Some people think
thaf Ia he fed is to he frrc--lf Isn't.
BEING free means being treated like N
human hclng."
! hnve found m,nny good homes, men
nnd women who have lost interest In
work. They say. "we don't got n fair
shnrr ~ whnt We make. We fight
among ourselves for jobs because We
have to ar .'arve. nnd they pay us ~
little ~ they cnn." am mt reasoning
ar arguing this question. AM stating
n fact which indicates the state of
mind NJ millions ~ men and women II,
Europe VIII" did their hi for civilixn.
\ tou during the past four yeSrs.
Fair HssrInO Mvst d orsntsd.
Calling these people h"ishsvist.
i,n,.n'i silence them mr. solve IN"
rrOLlcm. such tactics irritsse nhd
deepen fh~ unrest. Their grievance
m,.i he given n fair. patient heafins.
Their attitude ~ mind must ',e rerk.
"n.d wi.h II We hope "a get back IL