Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-12-14

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14:-The
reason we have war is that there
are certain arrangements of cells IN
the brains of most men which cause
| them to become excited n to want
to fight when bands play and bugles
call and patriotic speeches are
made.
Peace will be possible only when,
by education, the mind of the race
Las been changed so thai war, ana
all its attendant sights and sounds,
cause a different reaction IN men
and women.
This is the opinion of George w.
Grille, a celebrated American sur
geon, who took advantage of his
service in France during the war, to
make a special study of the effect
of war upon human beings, and who
published his conclusions in a book
! called "A Mechanistic View OF War
and Peace"
CRIES views are of special inter-
est lust now, because the armament
conference, if it is doing nothing
else, is proving once more that
whether we are to have war or
peace is a question which depends
upon the average man and not upon
the governments.
government are
bodies in the nature of the case. The
disarmament conference was called,
not because the governments wanted
peace or believed it was possible,
but because public opinion demand
ed it. Now that it is gathered, the
diplomats are busily jockeylng
around for advantages in the way
of armament. Meanwhile the COM
mon man is fed his daily dose OF
p%latitudes about universal brother
hood and the like.
Man Must Fight
AS Grille points out, universal
brotherhood is largely a dream. Man
is a fighting animal.
Grille is celebrated for his discov-
cry tina emotions in man produce
absolute changes in his blood, and
that the blood does not return TO
normal until those emotions have
been discharged in action. When
you become angry you feel a press
ing need for action. If you cannot
| fight you will stamp your foot, wave
your arms, kick the cat, or do some
thing else "to relieve your feelings"
as YOU say. This action which you
crave is really a physical necessity.
If you were repeatedly made angry
and kept from all action and ex-
preston of your mood, you would
die of acid in the blood, for anger
produces a definite discharge of acid
substances from your liver, and
other internal organs. All of this
| Grille and others ave proved beyond
question.
What remains somewhat mysteri-
Gus is why a given stimulus pro-
duces one emotion in one man and
another emotion in another man.
Why does danger make one man
want to fight and another want to
run away? Why does a band play
ing a patriotic air make most men
want to fight?
Grille assumes hat there are GER
tain arrangements of brain cells in
each individual which determine his
reaction to a given stimulus, and
that these arrangements are depend
ent upon both heredity and educa-
ton. In a word. your reaction TO a
given stimulus is partly determined
when you are born but can be
changed to some extent IN the
course of your life.
All men tend to react to many
stimuli with a desire to fight anc
destroy. This is inevitable because
man, throughout history. has beer
fighting for his very life. He hal
fought the jungle beasts. the ele.
ments, all the forces of nature
Tribes of men have fought with eacl
other for survival, and so nave in
dividual men. Those who would no
or could not fight have persisted ant
have left no offspring. The hes
fighters nave won the most mate!
and left the most descendants
Hence man is pre-eminently a fight
ing. animal, and to proceed on an.
other assumption is futile.
But men a fight in many differ
ent ways. For example, individual
used to fight with each other physi
cally and destructively. Now Their
is comparatively little of that IL
civilized countries. individuals fgh
each other in business and trad
and in the arts. All of the game
they play. from dominoes to foot
ball, are mock battles. These thing
satisfy the fighting impulse withou
destroying the race.
As men have progressed, large
and larger units OF organization
have given up destructive fghtini
for competition. First familie
banded together. then tribes, thei
small nations. and then large ones
1t is only among the nations them
selves that destructive physical com
bat still persists. And it become
lmore destructive all the time. A