The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-12-30

i nat the most important accomplish
ment of the conference has been to
afford the American people a free
course in international affairs, such /
as they never had before, is ar opin-
ion often heard here as the great meet T
ing draws TO a close.
Public interest in the deliberations
/ is now perhaps declining, but at the
start it was keen. And never has such /
high level of newspaper comment
on great political event been seen in
/ this country.
1t is true that every nation poured
cut its propaganda by the familiar
methods, but these partisan state
ments stood side by side with discus
sion by experts which reached the
| very highest level of impartiality. Al
| famous socialist wrote from his own
| point of view under his own name,
and his writings were printed by many
| papers who by no means shared his
| views. An economist of international
reputation discussed the matter from
| an economic point of view. College
professors, army and navy officers,
i radicals and conservatives, all have
had a hearing
! Doubtless such a symposium of con-
/ f1icting viewpoints is sometimes con-
| fusing; yet never has the intelligent
reader had better opportunity to
hear all sides and form his own
opinion.
/ And never before have the motives
| behind diplomatic moves and preten-
/ sions been more clearly unmasked.
! Compare the meeting to that at Yer
sailles, where self-interest always ad-
vanced behind a barrage of platitude.
The Work of Public Opinion
! In the first place, the common man
has seen what public opinion can &C
complish. For it was undoubtedly
public opinion that created the con.
| ference and that deserves credit for
whatever it may accomplish. The
| Borah resolution, providing for such
gathering, at first attracted no atten-
ton at all. Neither the American gov
eminent nor any of the other govern
ments seemed at all interested in it.
But the Borah suggestion had fallen
on fertile popular soil. 1t soon became
apparent to the administration that
there was general popular demand
for such a gathering.
Thus the average man is brought to
realize that he is the ultimate arbiter
in matters of peace and war If the
common man would not fight and pay
taxes, there would be no wars If gov
ernments could not drum up a war
to decide who shall have the oil in
MeSopotamia or the trade in Mongo-
LA, then the oil and the trade would
/, be peaceably divided up. OF course,
the trouble is that some peoples make
more rapid progress than others in
getting over their capacity for beng
, fooled. people with something left
/ in them of the medieval war spirit is
a menace to the whole world
) None the less in this slow but steady
popular revulsion against war is the
one real hope of permanent peace
Doubtless a great world tribunal W ill
! also be necessary, but that OrganiZa-
ton will simply be an expression OF
the popular will against war, and un-
til such a will has been developed
no international organization will be
any more effective than the league OF
nations Is.
= To realize the slow growth of this
will against war, you must look long
:, way back. You must remember that
= in medieval days, kings made aggres
; sive war deliberately, in accordance
d with their divine right, and that theil
subjects dared not refuse to follow
them. Now every war is made with
elaborate apologies. and with a thou
> sand pretensions of high moral intent
y The real rulers of modern nations are
simply the property-owners in them
and these property owners make wal
: for profit just as the medieval kings
did, but their puppets, the politicians
{ must provide for them a vast smoke
screen of apology and pretense.
> FooIing the Public
In other words, once it was not ever
necessary to fool the common man
Now it is necessary to fool him, bu
how painfully easy it is! The ques
. ton now is to what extent he cal
get over his amazing capacity for be
y ing fooled. Just before we entered h,
World war the American people wer,
in most pacific mood. They did no
a want war. They reelected a presiden
e because he had kept them out of wal
al The actual declaration of war foun,
the greater part of the country indii
ferent, apathetic. And yet within
" few months state of hysteria ha
+ been worked up such as was never ez
a. ceeded in the Middle Ages. By a do7
Is en- awful bugaboos the people wer
n harassed into state of feverish be
Iii licosity.
ID 1t is not meant by this to impug
n the motives with which we entered III
lie World war, but simply to recall, in
period of reaction against war, ho'
lie easily the war spirit is worked up wit
Is flags and drums and speeches. Som
re wars are just wars and some wars ar
necessary, but the point is that III
'e methods by which wars are made ar
to not in the least dependant upon III
IN merits of the case. Our attack o