Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-11
Extracts from
"The American Peace Movement


Women and Churches the Backbone.
The organized women and the
churches constitute the backbone of
the peace movement in America.
This makes 1t quite different In
character from the peace movement
IN other countries. Labor Is much
less active on this issue here than in
Europe. The farmers are fully &C.
cupied with their own economic
problems, though emphatically OPP
posed to war. Business groups know
little as yet about the subject, al
though International Rotary has Of
ficially made world peace its sixth
object" Our eX-soldeirs are doing
nothing for peace as an organized
body. despite excellent resolutions
that were adopted by the American
Legion three years ago at Omaha,
and the undoubted personal concern
Of many individual legionnaires.
The liberal wing of big" business is
for peace, but without noise. It is
among the women and the churches
and the colleges-that the pres
ent strength of the American peace
movement lies. -
What 1t Is Not.
- The facts are that none of
our peace organizations or leaders
are Communists or in alliance with
communism. None is financed
abroad. None is foreign controlled.
In response to the natural ques-
ton as to the proposition of thor
ough-going paciflstS" Gin the narrow
sense) to be found in the American
peace movement, a fair estimate
would be that not 10 per cent pro-
fess to reject war utterly. Probably
over 80 per cent accept paSsively
the nationalist dogma that If ones
country is at war, one must support
it regardless of the issues, and find
a moral justification for doing so
as one can. Yet in ministerial circles
and in the colleges much thinking
and much discussion of this phase OF
the war problem are going on.
How Increasing Preparedness Affects
the Peace Movement.
We still hear it said in America
that everybody wants peace" Under
such circumstances one might sup
pose that it would be hard to dis
tinguish the peace movement from
the rest of the population. Actually
the line is sharply drawn and with
scientific precision by the issue OF
increasing military preparedness.
''Militarism," in the correct sense
in which we are using it, is the same
the world over. 1t is not banker
ing for war. 1t is definite theory,
namely, that national security rests
on the nations armed might. The
more armed might, the greater the
nations security THE second best
navy-or army-is worse than none.
The paciflsts tin the broad and
correct sense Of the world every
where reject this theory as h1storl-
cally discredited and clearly unten-
able. Every nation cannot be the
strongest nation, and failure to keep
I'D In a race in ornaments leads to
fear, hatred, military alliances and,
ultimately, war. This is not theory;
it is history. Increasing ornaments
mean actually increasing the gen.
eral sense of insecurity. Security,
according to the pacifists, must be
sought by the nations jointly. Un-
less all are secure. none can be.
At bottom we have here the old
issue of cutthroat competition versus
cooperation, of general anarchy
versus the reign of law.
Position on the Army and Navy.
While the American peace move
ment has not thought through all
of the complexities of its problem,
it is fairly well agreed on certain
fundamental issues. One finds well
defined policy with regard to the
Army and Navy, substantial agree
ment on world organization and the
Is
foreign policy to cover our dealings
with Latin America and China.
On the evil effect of a big naval
building program there Is intelligent
and united sentiment in the peace
movement. Any child-except a mil
itarist chilean see that such a
naval program as was advocated by
the big Navy" group is competitive
and leads toward war. On the other
hand since the peace movement Is
at least 80 per cent middle-of the
road and the other 10 per cent
stresses education, the regular Navy
appropriation bill went through Con-
gress without protest providing mon
ey for eight 10,000-ton cruisers
which were authorized two years
ago, six of which had not been
started. (The II ships were to be
in addition to these }. So it cannot
be said that the pacif1sts are trying
to scrap" the Navy. We are agreed
in opposition to competitive and dam
gerous increases. We expect reduce
ton of ornaments to come by inter-
national agreement. We are ready
now to support a conference looking
to that end.
Attitude Toward Outlawry Of War.
Coming now to the constructive
side of the movement, we will be-
gin with the attitude toward the
Governments own peace plank.
The signs point to a general and
enthusiastic support on the part of
the whole peace movement for the
proposal to renounce war as ma
tional policy. Militarist and nation
alist opposition has not yet ex-
pressed itself, but will undoubtedly
take the form of multiplying reserva-
tionS proposed In the Senate and
clustering about the Monroe Doc
trine.
Attitude Toward World Organization.
When war has been outlawed, how
are disputes to be settled? A poll
of the American peace movement
would probably show 80 per cent
of its active adherents, both in
the churches and in the womens
organizations, as In favor of our
country's membership, at least ulti-
mately, with or without reservations,
in both the World Court and the
League of Nations. North as
we'll as South, by far the greater
part of the peace leaders, both ma
tionally and locally, are for the
League. Moreover, despite all oppo-
sition to the League in our country
and from those who expect too much
of it, and from our ultra-nationalists
and militarists, who, as have ex-
planned, cherish the dinosaurs dream
of armored isolation, events are driv-
ing us steadily toward it and the
Kellogg proposal will hasten the
movement,
In the present deadlock on our
entrance into the World Court there
is no question whatever that the
only opposition to our Governments