The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1921-04-07
FOUR YEARS AFTER.

On April 6, this day four years
ago, the United States declared
war against ermanv and, on this
dav. two years ago, the One Hun
dred and Fifteenth Field Artille-
ry, composed largely of West Ten
nessee boys, naraded the streets
of Memphis preparatory to demob~
ilization. This regiment, like
many others, had been formed,
gone abroad and had done it's du-
tv. All of them made sacrifices;
some gave up their lives.
Four years after 1917 find none
of the promises kept and few
hopes realized. We started Ito
make the world safe for democ-
racy." We find today in some
lands democracy turned into mob
Ocracy and in other lands men, in
the name of democracy, tearing
down what consumed centuries of
honest toll in building up.
So the sum total for us has been
the expenditure of about $45, 000,-
100000 and the increase of our
national debt about $25, 100000
900. an enormous waste of prop
erty, the wastage of human life
and a wastage of human strength
But most of all there has been a
waste and wreckage of ideals.
The leader Of the hosts of A
merica in 1917 is again a private
citizen, hurt in mind and tortured
in body. The kaiser is gone, his
field marshals,s landgraves and
lord high admirals have passed
from the stage. In their place we
have the absolutism and the dis
order of anarchy in Middle Eu-
rope stalking under the form of
organized government.
At the close of the fighting in
1918 we looked forward to a
speedy restoration of order. TWEEN
ty nations had combined to beat
the kaiser's armies. England,
France, the United States and It.
ally, the major powers, worked in
perfect unison, after the high
command was established. We
thought that if nations could COM
bine their resources and pool their
forces for the prosecution of the
war they might combine their
forces and pool their best brains
for a prosecution of world peace.
We thought that within two
years all the distraught people of
the world would be back in the
factories and in the. fields in or
DERBY work, rebuilding and re-
forming.
This morning Japan has Eas-
tern Siberia at bay. She has
crushed Corea and holds 100000
900 Cinnamon as poems and snarls
like a. dog with a bone when her
ownership of a few islands in the
Pacific are questioned.
They tell us that India is seeth-
ing in disorder. One hundred and
fifty million Russians are squirn1-
ing and decaying like a pail of fish
worms, abandoned by a needless
bov on a sunny bank of a bayou
Turkey and Greece are fighting
The ex-Hapsburg emperor at
tempted to stage a comeback IN
hungary, and while this was nc
business of Roumania, JugO-Slav-
ia and Czecho-SlOvakia, spawns OF
this war, they prepared to light
the Huns unless they sent the i'll
starred young man away
Germany is stubborn, defiant
and refuses to pay. England is
torn bv a strike. The struggle
that has been going on in ireland
for seven centuries continues
with England burning the prop
erty of people and shootln more
people because they were bount
to know of disoreds in the neigh
borhood.' And the Irish are do
mo some shooting themselves.
Some Belgians fired on German
soldiers at Louvain and, in return
the Germans burned that city ant
shot a number Of citizens as a re
prisal and the world shuddered al
the German excess. The same
business is going on in Ireland.
How fares it with us? Our sen
ate refused to ratify the treaty
and enter a league of nations. 4
political party Selling upon TIT
misery that always follows a wal
and coddling those who were trail
tors during the war, and now hate
Wilson because he turned loose
the forces of this country against
the Fatherland, scored a great pc
htical victory.
state giving the German embassy
encouragement by suggesting thai
further conversations might Sc
cure modification of the terms
of the indemnity.
More hurt has been done to A
merica by her own since the wal
than enemies did during the war
National provincialism and mar
row-mindedhess, short-sighted
ness and ignorance during twt
years have brought us to a poinf
where we are forced to admit THAI
no ideal sought was realized ant
that the hope for a more peaceful
and a better world, which brought
100000 young American men in
TO the field. is vain and empty.
Commercial Appeal.
SITTING OR SETTING?