The Wrangell sentinel., 1920-04-15
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction in Europe Follow the Great
 World War?
MEN CHANGED BY BATTLE
Soldiers Have Learned What Can Be Accomplished by the Use of Force, SternIy and Efficiently
 Applied.
Article TX
By FRANK coMERFoRD.


 does more than change the clothes he wears. It changes the man. Men who had never owned a revolver or rifle, who had never even shot one off, who had never killed anything in their lives, were given firearms. They were drilled, taught to shoot, taught to kill. The education was thorough and scientific. They learned to look down the sight of rifle, pick out a human heart for a target, fire and eagerly watch for the man to fall. They were trained to rush madly at a wall of human beings and drive bay onets into mems heads and bowels. Many of these men few years be- fore would have fainted in stock yards where cattle were being killed. For four years they have been in human slaughterhouse, not only as spectators, but as part of the place. It steeled these men. Many of them contracted the undertaker's point of view towards life, fatalism without fear.
 Experience in battle taught them the meaning of the word force" They discovered that the individual was only important and efficient when he acted in concert with great group. Everything depended upon team work. Men learned that group of men working in harmony, with nerve and rifles with fixed bayonets, could do wonderful things. They could take an objective. In other words, take the thing they wanted and needed. When these men. came back into civil life and took off khaki and put on over- alls, the taking off of the khaki and the putting on of multi did not erase from their minds this lesson the war had taught them.
 This lesson has borne fruit. The men look at the employer as an en- emy. The employer thinks of them as a commodity. Hatred is cordial. The men want something. They de- mand it. The employer refuses. Their objective is to get the thing they want and need. The war taught 
 Today in Europe men reason, Eff we can't get what we want, and need, we must take 1t. We have the force." Having grown habited to suffering &C., customed to blood and death. they look with indifference on the question of danger, of price. They saw that when nations could not agree they re- sorted to force. They discovered that victory generally went to the nation possessing the greatest force.
 Threat of "Direct Action"
 In the labor movement of Europe we have this idea in what is called "direct action" "Direct action" is nothing more or less than applying war methods to peace conditions. It Is an effort on the part of great groups of working men to compel recognition of their demands. They seek to se- cure their objective by force. No al- lowance is made for the fact that methods justifiable in war are not right in peace. Few people will deny that war is the supreme expression of force.
 Many men got their first taste of fresh air and decent food while in the army. Very properly the allied gov ernments gave the best of everything to the men in the armies. It isn't diff cult to get accustomed to good food and fresh air; 1t is hard to go back to poor food and the tenements. Back home, many of the demobilized sol diers are not eating as we'll or as much as they ate during their service.
 Notwithstanding the rigid discipline of army life, men are treated as men. The humblest man in the ranks has rights that must be respected. This is not always the case in civil life. Then, too, while in uniform the pri- vate was made much of. Class dis tinction was obliterated. He was looked upon as one of his country's defenders. Since he has been demobi- lized he has been forgotten and neg lected. This has soured him. He re- sents 1t. Social distinctions have come back. He Is only working man now.
 Another cause of unrest among the working man of Europe grows out of the war. Mobilization took millions of men from their jobs. A great short age of labor resulted. Employers were forced to compete to get men. The usual competition was among men to get jobs. The law of supply and demand affected the labor market, wages went up. The soldier went off to war. While he was in the trenches the wages back home were high. His pay was small. Our fighting men were not interested in pay. They went to fight for principle. With the coming of peace large quantity of labor was dumped upon