Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-04-25
BRYAN STILL PRATlNG
ABOUT DISARMAMENT T
He Seems to Think Men Would Not
Fight II They Had No Guns, For
getting That They Made Guns
to Fiaht with

getting That They Made Guns
to Fight With
TT is impossible to abolish war by dis.
armament. The only way to end il is
to bring about n dominating desire for JUS
tiCc in the hearts of men
Yet the disarmament advocates are urging
their cure with unabatCd zeal. Mr.. Bryan
has just told the Economic Club. of Boston
that the United States should work for an
international agreement to disarm and,
failing that it should lead tho way
My position" he said, "is disarmament
by agreement if possible, by example IL
necessary. | believe the Christians Of the
world would cocrcc their governments into
joining us IL We lead the way"
This is of piece with Mr.. Bvyan's famous
plan for raising an army for national de-
fcnse, 1t will be recalled that he said
standing army was not necessary. for 1t
would be possible to raise an army Of n
million mon overnight if an emergency
arose in which they were needed.
When the emergency did arise we raised
our army of four nHion men, but it did
not happen ov"rnGhtV A conscription law
had to be passed. and when we got the mon
it took six months to train them for their
duties
1t is the favorite argument of paCifsts
that II man docs not have n gun he will
not shoot They are right so far as shoot
ing is concerned But they are wrong in
assuming that absence of weapons will pre-
vent men from fighting when they are liz
that mood \ man without weapons will
fight for the defense Of his wife and chill
dren. He will use whatever he can lay his
hands on, whether it be n stove, poker.
chair or n water pitcher. He will i'm.
provise a weapon. The fronticrsman did
hay - H. 49, -. :.
to keep n gun to protect his home against
wild animals
Nearly every war is the product of the
wild beast instinct in nations. Hunger of
one kind or another sends them on their
foraging expeditions. They see something
which they wish and they set out to get it.
Those who own it resist and the war fol
lows. There have been exceptions, but they
have not been many.
Disarmament, in the present stage Of
the world, means that the nations which
diSarm will deprive themselves of the power
Of defense against unwarranted aggression.
No appeal to the Christian people of the
world to prevent war has ever succeeded
The churches in Germany preached the
righteousness Of the war begun in 1914 just
as the churches in the allied and asso-
ciated nations preached the Righteousness
Of the war in which those nations were en-
gagged The thinking Of Christian people
whatever may be their nationality. is col
Ored by what they regard as their interests.
They accept in theory the two great COM
mandments to love God with all their heart
and TO love their nGghbor as themselves but
when 1t comes to applying them they fall
far short OF the ideal. The employer and
the omploye will fight over the amount of
work TO ho done and the amount of money
tO hp maid fOr tho work ,yfhoit tbpuuht
Of the Golden Rule. AS nations are made
up OF employers and employees, they con-
duct themselves toward one another after
the manner of the men who make them up.
But the world is moving slowly in the
direction Of the peace which Mr.. Bryan
seeks to bring about by disarmament. 1t
will take a long time to reach the goal. but
thinking men have discovered the road to it
and they have seen the nations take n few
faltcring steps on the gittering highway
The Hague court was the visible manifcs-
tation Of m aspiration for better intrrna.
tonal relations based on justice. 1t did
not accomplish much but the few cases
tried before It set men to thinking about
the establishment Of justice rather than
about III" accomplishment Of selfish pur-
pose. Then the peace commissioners,
gathered in Versailles rose to lofty
spiritual plane when they drew the GOV.
ennnt of the League of Nations and ar
ranged the machinery for settling intCrna-
tonal disputes on their merits. y court
which should decide between the disputantS
was planned in the full knowledge that rhe
purpose Of a court is to establish Justice
Arrangements were also made for the ad-
ministration Of the backward territories
seized from Germany. not in the interest of
any ono nation. but in the interest Of the
DcOr,la living in those countries The man