The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-02-19
HOPE FOR PERMANENT PEACE
Those Who Fought, and Those Who
Suffered at Home, Alike Favor
Some Form of League
of Nations.
Article x.
BY FRANK CcMERFoRD.

point. With peace one thought ran
around the world: There must be no
more war. The men who did the fight
ing said it loudeat.
I'm glad / had chance to do my
part wouldn't have missed the
show for million dollars. and |
wouldn't take a million dollars to 20
through it again." is the way they
put il. Everywhere in Europe / heard
at is over, it is finished, thank Cod"
The first thought of reconstruction
was 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 kin and MAIN men, liquid
fire, mustard gas, high explosives,
bombs from the clouds, torpedoes from
the sea depths. The world was hor.
ri4ied. The length of the war. the
number of dead and crippled, the raid
ing and bombing of defenSeless cities
taught the world that an end must
be put to war if 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
hopes in it. They had suffered mos,
from the war The dead were large
~ their dead. The returning crippes
were blood of their blood. AS they
HNt, II,
OF course the sons of the other class
fought. shared the hardShips, paid the
price, but they We're few. The group
from which they came is small, while
the toll of casualties from labor's
ranks sYas large.
.An mena know that controversies
between nations are inevitable. In
the absence of some scheme of arbi.
tration there is hat one way that these
controversies can be settled It is
! fOrce--Wa an |jt
| ~ II is not uncommon for individuals
to Kave serious differences of opinion.
Every lawsuit, and there are thousands
! of them in every city of every country.
| represents a difference of opinion II
we did not have courts providing q
| peaceful determination of these dis.
! putes. the litigants would be com
PEELED to settle their differences by
| force. Assault and battery would
succeed orderly procedure Nations
! have been without peaceful means
/ Of adjusting their difficulties. and as
consequence they have been com.
/ PEELED to resort to force. Until some
scheme of arbitration is created, tc
/ talk peace is 10 waste words, to hope
j for it is idle dreaming
! Peace Conference Fell Short.
/ The peace conference met in Paris
Labor watched it. At an early stage
in its proceedings intrigue was dis
/ covered ut work. Wrangling, bicker
ing bargaining and trading for com
merciaI advantage occupied the time
and thought that the world expected
/ would be devoted to the building up OF
league that would at least decrease
the chances of future wars. States
men in their blind devotion to ex
l pediency lost sight of the great rea
son for the conference. They talket
Of boundary lines, discussed frontiers
and always from the point of view o
| financial and military advantage t,
fhcir respective countries. 1t was no
/ ticed that the territories over whicl
they auarreled We're rich in minerals
or some other thing of great CONNER
cial advantage They squabbled owe
SpoilS Then too. these men VIII,
were supposed to be concerned in tn
fntHrp peace Of the world in arguin;
over frontiers urged their RESPECTIVE
claims ON the grounds that their re
spective countries needed these from
tiers to make them secure in futur
wars. What future wars and why tn
discussion of future wars at a confer
encc. the object of which was futur
| peace?
Working men watched, listened an,
thought. They construed these bick
7 cI.incS and wrangiings as evidence 0
| the fact that there is an interest Il
the world which does not believe il
\ giving up force. ! am only reportin
Il the. truth when add they suspect thi
81 interest is Capital.
If the League Of Nations fails thi
suspicion will be confirmed. TIL
movement toward an internationaliSr
Of the workers will be given grea
impetus. The League Of Nations fai
ing. they argue there is only one othe
means of preventing war. 1t is fo
the men who make up the rank an
file Of the armies in time of war. tn
, millions recruited from shops. ia,
torres and fields, to get together an
s organize an international labor nj
{ thority 10 save the working men froI
war Such movement would TAX
4 awag from governments an importan
= AMI necessary function and give t
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