New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1920-03-26
shall Chaos or Reconstruction in
Europe Follow the Great
W0rid War;
HOPE FOR PERMANENT PEACE
Those Who Fought, and Those Who
Suffered at Home. Alike Favor
Some Form Of a League
Of Nations.
Article X.
nv A con

BY FRANK COMERFoRO.
Europe was ~succumbing to exhaus-
ion when the war came to an end.
The terrible waste was telling. En-
durance had reached the breaking
point. With peace n thought ran
around the world: There must be no
more war. The men who did the fight
ing said it loudest.
I'm glad | had a chance to do my
part-I wouldn't have missed the
show for a million dollars, and l
wouldn't take a million dollars to go
through It again." is the way they
put 1t. Everywhere In Europe l heard,
ut is over, 1t is finished. thank God"
The first thought of reconstruction
was a plan to make peace permanent.
The laboratory and the machine
shop gave to this war a terrible mean
ing, new agencies had been intro
duced to kill and MAIN men,. liquid
fire. mustard gas, high explosives,
bombs from the clouds, tOrpedoes from
the sea depths. The world was hor-
| rl1ltu. lie lcISth VI Nv "oh 49,
number of dead and crippled. the raid
ing and bombing of defenseless cities
taught the world that an end must
be put to wal II civilization was to
live.
SO the people. particularly the work.
Ing people. took heart when a League
Of Nations was suggested as a means
Of enforcing peace. They placed their
homes In It. They had suffered most
from the war. The dead were large
ly their dead. The returning cripples
were blood of their blood. AS they
mt II. they were from their class
OF course the SOM of the other class
fought, shared the hardships, paid the
price, but they were few. The group
from which they came is small, white
the toll of casualties from labor's
ranks was large.
All men know that controversies
between nations are inevitable. II
the absence of some scheme OF arbi
tration there is but one way that thes'
controversies can be settled. II II
force-War.
II is not uncommon for individuals
to have serious differences OF opinion
Every lawsuit, and there are thousand
Of them In every city OF every country
represents a difference Of opinion. !
we did not have courts providing
peaceful determination OF these dis
putes. the litigants would be com
PEELED to settle their differences b,
force. Assault and battery woul'
succeed orderly procedure. Nation
have been without a peaceful mean
of adjusting their difficulties. and a
a ecu they have been cOH
PEELED to resort to force. Until som
scheme Of arbitration Is created, {
! talk peace is to waste words. to hop
! for 1t Is idle dreaming.
! Peace Conference Fell Short.
The peace conference met In Pari
Labor watched 1t. At an early stag
In its proceedings intrigue was di'
covered at work. Wrangling, bicke
/. ing. bargaining and trading for con
mercial advantage occupied the tim
: and thought that the world expecte
would be devoted to the building up {
a league that would at least decrens
the chances of future wars. State
men in their blind devotion to e
pedIency lost sight of the great REL
A son for the conference. They talke
of boundary lines. discussed frontier
- ,.,. frn,n Tho nnipf nf view
financial and military advantage
their respective countries. Ii was n
ticed that the territories over whit
q they quarreled were rich in minera
/, or some other thing of great CONNIE
. cial advantage. They squabbled ov'
q spoils. Then, too, these men WI
a we're supposed to be concerned In Il
a future peace of the world. In arguir
a over frontiers urged their respecti'
m claims on the grounds h a their
spectiye countries needed these fro
~ tiers to make them secure in futu
wars. What future wars and why u
10 discussion of future wars at a confe
. ence. the object of which was futu
peacef
Working men watched. listened al
thought. They construed these bic
erings and %wranglings as evidence
q the fact that there is an interest
y the world which does not believe
giving up force. ! am only reportii
~ the truth when I add they suspect II
interest Is Capital.
If the League OF Nations falls II
suspicion will be confirmed. L
u movement toward an internationalis
~ of the workers will be given gre
81 impetus. The League of Nations ia
y ing. they argue there is only one 9th
- means Of preventing war. II Is !
A the men who make up the rank a
file of the armies in time of war,
y millions recruited from shops. Z,
y tories and fields. to get together a
:. organize an international labor .
tbority TO save the working men FRI
war. Such a movement would tn
:, away from governments an importa
and necessary function and give