The Elk Mountain pilot., 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
Isase Earned Q Better Chance
Than He Has Hitherto Been
Granted.
Article III.
sy FRANK coMERFoRp.

By FRANK coMERFoRD.
Europe wears an anxious look. One
thought il arousing her from the
1SupoF Of her misery. She opens her
A3e0 in wide amaxement when she no
dees and notes the striking change
that has come over her children. II II
0e1xling her. although she well knows
l40at they have gone through, how pa
fi<etly and uncomplainingiy they suf-
xesed II Isn't strange to her that they
have changed. when she remembers
the peace Of the years before the war,
tie aUiet. sane lives they lived. and the
four years in which they lived in vet.
foul sewers called trenches, slept in
t64nbs on the edge Of . strip Of hell
Oiled No Mans Land. breathed the
auell Of burning Aesh, saw their pals
20 west," buried their dead, grinned
at pain. laughed at death Nerves OF
sfeel could not stand what they have
1oos through without being changed
By II
They have put on mutt again. It
10 strange to them. The quiet streets
ars dull. The demobilised soldier feels
the letdown. The teaseness 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 6rst
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
ahead Of him, what II he going to do
with his life! He II at . strange cross
roads. The word "job" doesn't mean
much to him. 1t isn't that he II lazy.
He has to pinch himself to realize that
Il II over and that he Is back from the
war.
Earned Right - Setter Place.
Between the whixx Of machine bul-
lets and the shriek 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 II. He has brought
more than souvenirs and memories
frem his experience. He has brought
home thoughts, ideas and ambitions
from the trenchea Many q night. look
ing over No Mans Land. listening to
the -banehee" Of the war. he thought
and resolved that II he ever came
hack he wanted. and would have. q
better chance In this queer thing called
Life. He feels that he has pnid for
. place. and he has paid. He has
earned the right to a decent place In
the world. for which he fought He
helped save the world and he looks to
that world to save him from q mean
ingless machine existence. II II doesn't
he has made up his mind to use force.
He n willing to work. wants TO work.
hut 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
He II alive. He wants q 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 a better chance than 1t gave
Hs before the war, then the world
wasn't worth fighting for. When we
fought. they told us 1t was to make the
world safe for democracy and to make
life worth while. We thought this
meant ms and ours. We have learned
that life isn't only a question of job
and enough to eat, we want to be
treated like human beings. A man
wants to feel that his work means
more to him than just wages. He
spends most of his time at work. the
rest of 1t Is spent with his family and
in sleeping so he will be able to work
the next day. Why shouldn't he have
an Interest in the business. and why
shouldn't the business have an interest
in him1 We don't want to run the
business. all We ask Is say in 1t. a
friendly say in II. Some people think
that to be fed II to be free-It isn't.
Being free means being treated like q
human being"
I have found many good honest men
and women who have lost interest in
work. They ~, 1--WE don't get q fair
share Of what We make. We fight
amonr ourselves for jobs because we
have to or staSvo, and they pay Ms ~
little ~ they can" am not reasoning
or arguing tAis question. am stating
. fact which indicates the state Of
mind Of milliona of men and women in