Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1922-01-18
WEDNESDAY. JANUARY IS. 1922.
THE DANGERS or REACTION

lnE UANNHhN WI hh-As ii"'
One ~ the most familiar OF the
laws Of motion. as stated by Sir
Isaac Newton Is that which pre-
scribcs. "To every action there Is
an equal and opposite reaction.
Not only does this law operate i'll
the sphere Of dynamicS but It also
holds good. 10 a certain degree.
in every field OF human endcavor
and activity. The human body Is.
obedient To its mandate. for a
period of intense physical, mental
or emotional strain is followed by
a corresponding time OF rccupcra-
ton and lassitude. What is true
OF the human body is also true OF
the nation. Any great absorbing
movement which commands the
interest of the entire country
sweeps on to its objective under
the stimulus of popular support.
but once it has reached its zenith
the inevitable reaction sets in
and the pendulum begins to swing
backwards.
The great outstanding point OF
difference, however, which arises
in applying this well recognized
law of mechanics to the nation
ccnters in the fact. that, while in
the realm OF states and kinetics,
natural laws regulate all re-
actions until they are exactly the
equal to the action which pro
duces them. Where people as 4
mass are concerned theseNtent OF
the reaction may be regulated by
the people themselves.
lust at this time this country is
in the throes of reaction from
the effort and organized action OF
the war. Between 1914 and 1918
the world, including America. be
came surfeited with armies,
navies. bloodshcd. violence, death.
fire and ruin. When the United
States entered the war the emo
tons of the people rose to tire
mendous pitch and during the
months of our active participation
the strain continued. What more
natural then, that. after the armis-
tice, the reaction set in and peo-
pie go to the other extreme OF
losing interest in armies. navies
and all that their minds had been
conferred in previously However.
this is lust where the foct that we
can regulate the extent OF this re-
action ourselves. become. peril
nent. There is danger that we
allow the pendulum TO swing too
far and. that, in our indifference.
To things martial, we allow the
extremist to lead us to the point
of foolhardincSS.
Already we have indications. OF
how far this reaction can go If
uncontrolled. and recently we
have seen examples of what. for
want of better name. we canterm
peace hvSteria." This has been
accumulated. in great many
cases. bv the meeting OF the Limi-
tation OF Armament Conference
in Washington. and miSunder-
standing OF its objects, This con-
ference met. not in the hope OF
stopping all future war, for the
millincum has not yet arrived. but
rather because the strain OF the
race in naval armament was be-
coming too severe to be horne BY
the treasures of the various pow
erS and agreements regulat-
ing their naval building pro-
grams was practically forced BY
the condition of their finances.
Net IN spite OF this we have seen
people demanding that this nation
completely disarm. Congress re-
tlecting the sentiment of the peo-
pie so cuts the appropriations OF
the Army and the Navy that the
efficiency of the establishments
Is endangered. Indeed the Navy
but recently had to give up its
Joint maneuvers of the Atlantic
and Pacific Fleets due to lack of
funds. In the army, whole regi-
ments have had to be put on the
inactive lists. and last.year, when