Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-06-16
WORLD HORROR
MADE POPULAR
TWO NEW IDEAS
Each Nation, However Small,
Has Right to Direct It's
Own Destiny.
By FREDERICK j. HAsKIN.


wASHINGT0N-A new figure on the
| troubled scene of international relations
is the publicity agent who represents a
small nation trying to get the recogni-
| ton of larger ones fer its right to an
| independent existence.
! The splintering of national boundaries
which the war brought about, as we all
know, produced a large crop of new
nations. 1t also brought before the whole
world two principles, which, if not new,
were at least for the first time made
popular. These principlessw were the right
of self determination" and the rights Of
small nations or as one wag puts o.
| since the Versailles negotiations, tn
| small rights of nations"
1t is true that the dime diplomats
and politicians who made the peace and
who have held the reins Of power in
! Europe ever since, made light of these
principles. The right of a people to de-
| termine its own political destiny has
scarcely anywhere been made good, and
| the rights of small nations have ap-
| peared to be whatever the large nations
! found it convenient and profitable to al
| low them.
| Nevertheless, those two principles have
| become more than mere phrases for the
simple reason that they have been
] KTdbDeu
| not been put into execution, but they
have been enormously advertised The
| peoples of these small nations cling to
them with desperate hope, and cry out,
above the clash of armies and the sonor-
GUS rumble of diplomacy, to the people Of
| other nations. The whole world has
grasped the idea that a small and weak
nation may have rights, which it is not
strong enough to enforce, but which
must nevertheless be enforced for the
sake of justice; just as a small or weak
| man has rights other men protect for
| the sake of principle. This principle Of
Justice and cooperation instead Of force
and fraud is but imperfectly enforced be-
tween man and man, and force and fraud
often triumph As between nations force
and fraud seem to triumph almost al
ways. Yet it is by evolving this pEan-
! ciple of justice and trying TO live up to
1t that men have been able to emerge
from the jungle, and live together in
larger and larger units-first in families.
then in tribes, and finally. in great and
well organized states. The extension Of
this principle to the dealings of nations,
so that the whole world may become the
safe home of all men, is surely the next
step. 1t is an ideal. end you may damn
it with the adjective Utopian if you wish
the race has been travelling ever since IT..
came down from the trees.
THE CASE OF
| LITHUANIA.
/ So the small nation. addressing its
/ plea to the conscience of the world, de-
| serves some attention. And where is It
to get that attention unless through the
! newspapers?
Take the republic Of Lithuania, for in
stance. In medieval times it was a great
/ nation, as nations went in those days
+ Its kings claimed a large territory and
controlled it more or less successfully.
/ In the course of time Lithuania became
/ a province Of Russia, but it always re-
/ manned distinctive The chief reason for
this is that its people are not Slavs, nor
Asiatics, Of any other kind, but are tall
! blonde Nordics, of the same race that
has given England and America some of
| their best stock. This Baltic lfttoral on
which Lithuania is situated is said by
! anthropologists to be the original home
/ of the Nordic type of man. Its cold
and cloudy climate evolved his light
! coloring and high thin nose, suited to
/ breathe cold damp air. From this region
/ the Nordic type has spread over the
/ whole world, all except the tropical and
! semi-tropical parts, which are not
/ dramatically suited to it.
/ When the crash came in Russia.
/ Lithuania seized the opportunity to sen
{ up an independent republic. This re-
/ public was not in the least like the Rus
sian government, but modelled after our
own. Having thus resisted the Bolshevik
/ propaganda, of which the allied nations
are so fearful, Lithuania ought to have
| had their sympathy. But Poland claimed
a large part of the Lithuanian territory,
Q 4
is said a plebiscite would show beyond
a doubt that the population of Lithuania
is overwhelmingly in favor OF
Lithuanian republic and against POLISH
domination. But France wants a large
and strong Polish nation as a buffer be-
tween her and Russia, and she has been
trying to set up such a Poland ever since
the war, with somewhat distressing re-
suits. Hence France Is against the claims
OF Lithuania an independent existence,
and in favor of giving most, Of the
Lithuanian territory to Poland.
ENGLAND'S
ATTITUDE.
England, on the other hand, Is said to
be favorable TO the Lithuanian aspira-
lions. and this Lithuanian problem Is
said to be one of the several which are
straining relations between Britain and
France.
In this, as in so many other European
matters, the United States holds sort
of balance of power. If the United States
should extend formal recognition to the
Lithuanian republic, its case would be
enormously strengthened, probably won.
That is why Lithuania has hired q
press agent, and put him here in WASH
ington to tell the American people ell
about Lithuania and her aspirations. IL
the American people, through their
newspa pers, can be convinced that the
Lithuanian republic should be recog-
nized it probably will be recognized by
the American Government in due course
Meantime, most Of the American public
does not even know that there is a Lith-
uanian republic. It's official publicity
agent, Mr.. NJ. E. King, is up against one
of the hardest jobs a press agent ever
tackled The methods of putting over a
movie star or a candidate for Congress-
are well known and systematized but
when 1t comes to putting over a new re-
public, the great profession of publicity
has new problem to solve.