The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1920-02-12
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction
in Europe Follow the Great
World War;
CHANGE OF SOME SORT SURE
Returning Soldier Feels He Has ~
Least Earned q Better Chance
Than He Has Hitherto Been
Granted.
Article III.
BY FRANK coMERFoRp.

stupor OF her misery. She opens hel
eyes In wide amazement when she no
tees and notes the striking change
that has come over her children. II Is
puzzllng her. although she well knows
what they have gone through, how pa
tiently and uncomplainingly they suf
fered. II isn't strange TO her that they
have changed. when the remembers
the peace Of the years before the war
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 sgrinned
NJ pain. laughed ut death. Nerves OF
steel could not stand what they have
gone through without being changed
by II.
They have put on mufti again. II
are dull. The demobillzed soldier feels
the letdOwn. The tenseness over de
preston sets In. During the wqr he
didn't have time to think Of anything
except the job ahead OF him. Every
minute. every move was life or death
10 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 nigh s
Of the war-the other. OF what IA
ahead OF him. what Is he going 10 do
with his life He Is at n strange cross
roads. The word Job" doesn't mean
much TO him. II isn't that he Is lazy.
He has to pinch himself 10 realize that
Il II over and that he is back from the
war.
Earned Right to Better Place.
Between the whizz OF machine bul-
lets and the shrek Of shrapnel he
spent his time thinking. aud his
thoughts were not all about the war.
He never got used 10 the war. but he
learned TO forget II. He has brought
more than souvenirs and memories
from his experience. He has brought
home thoughts. ideas and ambitions
from the trenches. Many n night. look
ing over No Mans Land. listening to
the "hanshee" OF the war. he thought
and resolved that II he ever came
back he wanted and would have.
better chance In this queer thing called
Life. He feels that he has paid for
place. and he has paid. He has
Qa 80
the world. for which he fought He
helped save the world and ne looks 10
That world 10 save him from a mean
ingiess machine existence. II II doesn't
he has made mp his mind to use force.
He-is willing 10 work. wants TO work.
but 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 humnn being. II was life or death.
He Is alive. He wants human inter
est In his work.
Hundreds OF demobllized soldiers In
different parts Of Europe. in different
words. In different languages. have
said 10 me: "If the world isn't going
10 give MS a better chance than II gave
us before the war then the world
wasn't worth fighting for. When we
fought they told us II was 10 make the
world safe for democracy and 10 make
life worth while. We thought this
meant us and ours. We have learned
that life isn't only a question Of a Job
and enough to eat. we want 10 he
treated like human beings. A man
wants 10 feel that his work means
more TO him than Just wages. He
spends most OF his time at work. the
rest OF II Ia spent with his family and
In sleeping so he will be able 10 work
the next day. why shouldn't he bav,
an interest In the business. and why
shouldn't the business have an interest
in him1 We don't want 10 run the
business. all we ask IL a say In Il.
friendly say In II. Some people think
that 10 he 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, eve don't get a fair
share OF what we make. We fght
among ourselves for jobs because we
have TO or starve, aud they pay us as
little AZ they can" am not reasoning
or arguing this question. I am stating
a fact which indicates the state OF
mind OF millions OF men and women IN
Europe who did their bit for civilizs
ton during the past four years.
Fair Hearing Must Be Granted.
Calling these people bolsheyIsts
doesn't silence them nor solve the
problem. Such tactics irrItate and
ieepen the unrest. Their grievance
must be given a fair. patient hearing.
Their attitude OF mind pust be reef.
,ned with II we hope TO set back to
,ormsi living. have heard some ssy
hat these people must be given to NJ.