The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1921-12-22
THE QUICK BENEFITS
OF WORLD PEACE

H. G.. Wells, and English writer
attending the peace conference al
Washington, the one who has
painted such a dark picture of what
must become of the nations oil
Europe if something is not done
right away to stop waste and idle
ness and starvation, and of how il
must inevitably spread to America
sooner or later, finishes his series
of articles by writing of the thing
that can be confidently hoped fol-
and expected if the nations reverse
their attitude and get down to acting
on the principle of good will and OF
mutual esteem and confidence.
He says that if we can make a
start among the great powers of the
world while the wish for it is unani-
nous, that the influence of it upon
the smaller nations will be felt
gradually as fear dies in them and
as they turn their energies to pro-
duction of useful things. There will
be the present temptation constantly
at hand, take to the better things
of life and to- forget the brutal things
that might be perpetrated, but which
could bring nothing so good in re-
turn for the energy expended. He
asks his readers to suppose that we
merely work along on this plan for
twenty or thirty years without max
ing any very great venture and with
out taking any very great risk. Sup
pose that in all Of this period we
keep building up some sort of mu-
tual interest in keeping this i'm
proved condition going along and we
wake up to find that we have really
come a long way out of the mire of
conflict in the course of genera
ton and should call the roll on some
of the changes, here are some of the
realities we might find.
In recent years there has been a
tremendous agitation for the crea-
tion and maintenance of better roads
and railroads. They are coming to
be acknowledged to be of greatest
necessity, and at this time they are
in most broken-down condition and
paralyzing business in some coun-
tries and threatening it in others.
Suppose that with the era of good
will and good endeavor we should
build up good transportation sys-
tenn on the theory that it would be
necessary for peace and disable in
war if war should come again. 1t
would be perfectly safe undertake
ing, and the blessings of good trans
portation system would be such a
great advantage to commerce that
it would aid everything that makes
for peace and plenty and would of
itself help the good effort along.
He reminds us that education is
very expensive and very profitable
and pleasurable to foster, and it has
been shown in our country in recent
years that real education needs many
times as much money and energy
poured into it as has been done, and
he. paints bright picture of people
organizing their school systems on
a scale of thoroness never before
undertaken as to common schools,
colleges, manual training, university
courses, science, music and art-in
fact, go into those things with the
sl6oA dHu ucLcI MllldLlOu dlu dSSuF-
ance with which we go at the ter
rible undertaking of self defense
when our national existence is
threatened land see where our edu-
cational system would bring us in
twenty or thirty years with the fruits
Of real education pouring their horn
of plenty among us.
Mr.. Wells would have us contem-
plate what poor housing facilities
we have thruout the world and es-
pecially in America with all it's re-
sources and materials. He would
have us start an era of building bet
ter houses and better homes and
them as comfortable and as
beautiful as possible on the theory
that nobody would come along and
destroy them or deprive us of them,
and see what great and beautiful
homeland it would become if none
of our tax money had to be used to
build dreadnaughts or forts or mu-
nitions or to equip armies, and no
fear or dread Of invaders ever dis
II rho1 nj to- H.