Pueblo chieftain., 1921-12-06
WHO IS GOING TO DFSARM?

to establish in the Far East some sort
OF an arrangement that Will be less
immediately and obviously productive
of conflict than the present one.
Butain the main the causes OF inter-
national war will not even be touched
by the conference. The cnuses of in
tcrnationai wars are the qusrrels Of
investors of different nationaiities
over concessions OF trade and natural
resources in countries not strong
enough to defend themselves. Every
international war SINNERS down to
that in the long run. The late World
War was fought for a large number
OF high ideals. as we all know. And
we all know that mono OF them were
realized and that when the dust of
battle settled the victors were to be
seen dividing up, among their rcspec-
tive investors. oil wells. iron deposits.
spheres OF influence and lIttio things
lDSo that The United States went
into the war with no selfish Interest.
but she camc OUT OF Il with the fl
nancial mastery OF the world In her
loft pants pocket.
WHAT BENEFITS BY VICTORY
Yet how this financial mastery Of
the world has benefited tho man who
works for wages or a salary IN This
country, it Is hard TO discover. He
either fought or paid for that mast
cry, bu, II called upon to produce
his share OF tho scncfi, ho would
3 have a hard time doing t.
I SO IL alwnys ia The common man
: never shares in tho material benefits
OF war. except in temporary and
accidental way. Those go to fow
financiers. what the common man
gets Is the fun OF fighting and pay
/ ing taxes and the emotional cXaltn-
! tion OF engaging In great patriotic
I enterprise.
| That these things arc worth somr-
/ thing TO him is evident from tho
( amount he pays for them. il II futile
! 10 pretend that war has no appeal
I 10 tho common man. II IL didn't
! have, there wouldn't be any war. Tho
/ common mans life In apt to b. a
mouotonous restricted affair. War
may suddenly make II exciting. in
Z tense. War brings to a people an
enormous amount OF misery. but IL
also brings an enormous amount Of
excitement, of the JOY OF primitive
impulse unicashcd, and OF great
emotional dcbauch. II can scarcely
/ be disputed that there is some human
/ need which war satisfies Modern IN
ternational war is tho spectacle OF
| certain interested parties working to
satisfy thHt need and In 20 doing to
promote certain profitable purposes
OF their own.
| The flaw In the system is that ever
since the Middle Ages war has becn
\ becoming loss and less satisfactory to
I tho common man as a means Of Eatis-
Tying his craving for combat. advcn-
turc, and emotional explosion. In ,he
| Middle Ages war was n sort of great
| frcc-for-aIl fisht tn which men on
csscd tn cast iron hanged at each
other with long sticks Nearly every
body had a good time. aud not 40
/ Fftl 4 ii Ntau uNsN IsA - =
did, 80 on for a hundred years with
out doing any great harm. And then
there were the Crusadcs who
wouldn't like to go ON junkcts such
as thoseG
| Then came the great age Of dis
/ covery and colonization. Hero again
war became a delightful adventure.
From Cortez's subjuRation of Mosico
down to Custcr's last stand. tho con-
| quest OF the American wilderness was
an heroic adventure that riVallod the
| odyssey.
Those wars had appeal to tho i'm
asination. they gave the common man
real thrill, and they did not cx-
| haust nations or peupiea
i Modern war is an adventure for
comparatively few and a hard, mis-
erablc affair for many. aud 1, does
exhaust both nations and peoples. 1t
even sometimes destroys the men y,h,
expected to benefit by it. Even men
OF finance conccde that the last war
cost too much. Some of them went
broke.
And the common man is disillusion-
ed. That IL the great point Conn
pare tho feeling in this country now
with that which existed after the
Spanish- American War. md YOU sec
where tho real hope OF peace lies
| ---4-z
Finland is one of the few countries