The Washington times., 1922-05-24

Again Around the Earth.
Foolish Nakedness.
Big Nations Needed.
Japan Keeps Ready.
ARTHUR BRISBANE

10y nnthOh DtlouANE-
tcopyrisht. issa)
Almost exactly four hundred
years ago, Magellan's ship Wit
toria entered her harbor in
Portugal. the first vessel that
ever went around the earth.
Magellan didn't finish the trip,
having been killed in a foolish
local war in the Philippines.
The Vittoria spent something
more than two years on the
Journey. Today two English
men will try to repeat the trip
IN a flying machine. 1t will be
comparatively slow. but it will
be the beginning of real circum-
navigation of our planet.
In the old English ballad.
King John, "Lackland," asks the
poor squire, disguised as the
Abbot of Canterbury, to answer
questions on pain of property
confiscation. One question:
"How long would it take me to
20 around the world?" The
imitation Abbot replied: "You
must rise with the sun and ride
with the same" Then the an
swer is you will go around. the
world. in twenty-four hours.
That will be done by men in
flying machines before this
earth is much older. 1t would
surprise King John, so would
the steam engine.
Major McEwan and his wife
In England intend to live like
Adals, and Eve and are looking
for a place "where we shall be
hidden from prying eyes,
Another lady and gentleman
will try the same experiment in
the Maine woods. Each couple
will wander out into the woods
without clothing and try to live
on things they can catch or
pick up and with tools they
make. Extremely uninteresting
and foolish experiment. Why
not stay at home and crawl
around on their hands and knees
they did that also once.
The back.to-nature idea as
Rousseau saw it, turning it into
useful radical teaching. is good.
But going out into the woods
naked is idiocy, not even anus
ing.
1t pays to have a big nation
on this continent, as it pays to
have big policeman on the
street corner.
Nicaraguans started a revo-
luton which wasn't necessary.
A good deal of harm might
have been done, but United
States Marines announced that
they would take a hand in it.
The revolution stopped. 1t was
like the big policeman walking
up to a small gambling game
and saying, "Go home!"
The League of Nations idea,
establishing as many. little
COUNTRIES as possible, will
result in starting as many lit
tie WARS as possible. The
world needs big nations-pow-
erful, responsible. Eventually.
of course. the earth will be all
one nation-say in half a mil
lion, or possibly even in fifty
thousand years.
Japan is examining about
$4,000 young men for service
In the army. They have con-
scription there every year. in
peace or war. Each year they
pick out 10000 Of the best
young men.
These must serve two years
IN the regular japanese army,
and a little over fifteen years
with the reserves. Japan bows
and smiles and KEEPS READY.
Very wise little country.
Three hundred Sim Feiners
were rounded up and imprisoned
IN Ulster yesterday. The fight
ing work goes on. although the
English are out of it. The first
problem was to get the English
government out of Ireland. The
present problem is to get civil
war out Of Ireland, and that is
the harder problem.
There are some hatred: more
intense and bitter than bitter
ness between different nation
alities. Religious hatred is one.
In obedience to orders Of the
Allies, Germany has thus far
DESTROYED more than five mil
lion rifles, one hundred thou
sand machine guns. thirty-five
million shells and mines, thir-
teen thousand airplanes. thirty
four thousand airplane engines.
The machinery thus DESTROYED,
especially the airplanes and air
plane engines, NAV be bitterly
regretted one of these days, if
Asia, led by Russia, should come
sailing westward through the
air.
II the Germans could not be
trusted with those things. why