The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1924-09-05
DAY TO.
LEAVE AFTER
EFFECTS
William Hard Sees Future
U. S. Military Policy in
Balance
By WILLIAM HARD.

Defense Day has split the
churches and has split the labor
| movement in the United States into
two factions about 1t.
Most Protestant official utter
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS been
against Defense Day.
Most Catholic official utterances
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES been in ia.
vor Of it.
The conservative wing Of Ameri.
can labor-through the American
Federation of Labor--has declared
in favor of Defense Day.
Nevertheless subordinate branches
even Of the American Federation
of Labor. itself have declared
against Defense Day.
This has been true in many
cities, including Milwaukee, Wis.
In Wisconsin, in the town of
Alma, citizen named Emil Bueh,
Ter gets out and in an hour or two
secures some sixty-four signatures
to petition saying:
we, the undersigned citizens of
Buffalo County, Wisconsin, hereby
condemn the proposed national De.
Tense Day as the propaganda of
mllttarists We have had all the
Circulars get found in wisconsin,
as well as in other parts of the
West, containing within thick black
borders, the following words:
War profiteers and militarists
have set aside Friday, September
IL, as Mobilization Day. We urge
you to proclaim Black Briday. Sen.
TENDER IL, as a Day of Mourning.
La
band on the arm. Let every flag
be haif-masted and draped with
crepe. Post mourning notices in
all newspapers and in all windows
and on every windshield and fence"
All Fanatics Funny.
Thus fanatics on one side become
as funny as fanatics on the other
side.
Chaplains of the United States
Army go to alarmed gatherings and
denounce the opposition to Defense
Day as contrivance of the REDS"
A multitude Of Protestant clergy.
men meanwhile denounce the Reds"
with earnest conviction on one
Sunday and denounce Defense Day
with an equally earnest conviction
on the next.
The RED" newspapers-like 1.-THE
Young Worker" of Chicago-mean.
while denounce the Protestant
ciergymen for insincerity in having
been for the war and in now being
against Defense Day.
Everybody proceeds to quarrel
with everybody else.
Out of 1t ALL however, certain
lines Of cleavage do appear.
The enemies of Defense Day
come mainly from the following
quarters:
l. Organizations favoring the
League of Nations and the World
Court and other International ef-
forts to avert war by common in
ternational counsel and action.
2. Organizations opposing cap
italism or opposing big Bust
ness" and believing that Defense
Day is scheme by capitalism or
big Busienss" to lead the work
ers" into new wars for imperial
istic capitalistic profiteering pur-
poses.
3. Organizations such as many
Of the Protestant churches, in.
spired by a literal reading of the
New Testament and trying to
reconcile their undoubted absolute
patriotism with the Divine ct.m-
mand to turn the other check"
to ones foes.
Such are the three sources from
which most of the opposition to
Defense Day comes.
Those Supporting Day.
On the other hand the organiza.
tons rallylng to the support of De.
tense Day are by classification the
| following:
Those which nave shown
small interest in the League Of
Nations and in other such en-
deavors and are based essentially
on recollections of purely Ameri-
can efforts to promote American
interests and ideals. In THIS class
come such organizations as the
Daughters of the American Revo-
luton, the Veterans Of Foreign
Wars of the United States, the
United Confederate Veterans, the
United Daughters OF the Con-
federacy, the Disabled American
Veterans of the World War, the
Women's Overseas Service
League, and many other similar
organizations which have Endorsed
Defense Day and which propose
to make it a dazzling succe SIS
against all it's critics AMI op-
ponents.
2-Organizations-like the Amer
lean Federation of Labor-which,
although engaged in constant con.
troversies with capitalists. never.
theless are not at all engaged IN
trying to destroy capitalism. but,
on the contrary, wish to reach
some Kind of cooperative reIa.
tionship with capitalism. In other
words, revolutionary labor tends
to oppose Defense Day and non.
revolutionary labor tends to sup.
port it
3-Religious organizations which
like the Catholic Caurch-pro-
coed on a theory of authority
within the church itself and do
not so strongly stress the literal
meaning of the New Testament.
The National Catholic Welfare
Council, controlled i.y the body of
Roman Catholic bishops in the
United States, quotes the words az
Cardinal MERCER, of Belgium.
MERCER on Patriotism.
He said, in effect: "Nobody car,
be perfect Christian who Is not at
the same time a perfect pat"iCt."
The fact is of course that patriot.
ism equally animates the Protestant
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