The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 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 ILL.,.
BY FRANK

~
Europe wears an anxious look. One
thought is arousing 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 we'll knows
what they have gone through, how pa.
tiently and unc0mplainingly 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 a 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 1t.
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 nov 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; n 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. It 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
fets and the shrek Of shrapnel he
spent his time thinking, and his
thoughts We're not all about the war.
He never got used to the war, but he
learned to forget 1t. He has brought
'AoeS NHNu NOuNC1lilS anu ll0IlOTICS
from his experience. He has brought
home thoughts, ideas end ambitions
from the trenches. Many a night. look
Ing over No Mans Land. listening to
the "banahee" of the war, he thought
and resolved that II he ever came
back he wanted, and would have, n
better chance in this queer thing called
Life. He fce's that he has paid for
a place. and he has paid. He has
earned the risct to a decent place in
the world. for which he fought. He
helped ave the world and he looks to
that world to ssre him from a mean
ingless machine existence. If 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 hnmanness. The war
emphasized the value and meaning Of
the human beins. 1t was life or death.
He is alive. H:a wants a human inter.
est in his work,
Hundreds Of Mmobilized soldiers 10
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 IT gave
us before the war, then the world
wasn't worth fighting for. When we
fought. they told US 1t was to make the
U7o,ld cofo far donnncroov nua --
Fife worth while. We thought this
meant us and ours. We have learned
that life isn't only a question of a lob
and enough to eat, we want to he
treated like human beings. A man
wants to fee! 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 81 lie 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 him? We don't want to run the
business, all we ask is a say in 1t. a
friendly say in it. Some people think
that to be fed is to be free-it isn't
Being free means being treated like a
human being"
have found many good honest men
and women who have lost interest in
work. They say, "We don't get q fair
share of what we make. We fight
among ourselves for jobs because we
have to or starve. and they pay us ne
little as they can" I am not reasoning
or arguing this question. I am stating
Z fact which indicates the state NJ
mind of millions of men and women IN
Europe who did their bit for ciyjlizo.
don during. the past four years.
Fair Hearing Must Be Granted.
Calling these people bolsheylsts
doesn't silence them nor solve the
problem. Such tactics irrltate and
deepen the unrest. Their grievance
must be given q fair, patient hearing.
Their attitude cf mind must be reck.
oned with II we hope t o get back to
normal living. have heard some INV
hat these people must be given to On.