Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-08

for common folk, with freedom from the
hatredS which had led to all this, With a
wider sense of unity among the tribes OF
men. Wasn't it a war to end war?
Wouldn't the human mind learn les
son from all this slaughter and deStruc-
ton? When peace came, wouldn't there
be a more civilized scheme Of human
relationship?
CPLENDID promises were made by
statesmen and leaders, and it is pos
Sible, though doubtful, that there were
men in the front-line trench, crouching
under the scream of shells, who believed
them and obtained some little comfort
for their souls before they died But
afterward, when those who had escaped
looked around upon a world in ruin and
stared toward future which none could
guess there was for many of them moth
ing left but heartbreak and ghost mem
cries and a sense of having been be-
trayed.
Thirteen years have passed since then
How stands the world now? How many
of those promises have been redeemed?
What lessons did we learn and put into
effect to establish better order of life.
with more security for common folk and
some ideal of civilization higher than
that of cave men and warning tribes?
don't want to be ironical, though God
Knows there is the chance here for irony
Looking around the world today, there
is no binding vision of higher stand
ard of human intelligence than that
which led the world to war. Thirteen
years after ArmiStice day the same ma
tons that fought in that death Strug-
gle, which left unhealed wounds in the
very soul of the world, stare across each
others frontiers with the same old Sus-
picion and hostility. The passion of ma
tional egotiSm Is even stronger than
before the war, and there is no drawing
together of human tribes except for a
defense against other groups.
They have given lip service to the
ideals of international justice and arbi-
tration. Many of them have renourced
war as a part of their national policy
Many of them belong to the League of
Nations, which was established to Sc
cure world peace on the lines of intelli-
gent cooperation and discussion. But
they are heavily armed, unless the po-
htical pressure of more powerful states
departments are searching, not without
success and with the aid of scientific ex-
perts, to discover new weapons and
methods of destruction which will give
them an overwhelming advantage in a
new struggle.
Under economic stress the great powers
are prepared to cut down their war
budgets, provided their potential enemies
agree to do the same, thereby enabling
them to maintain their superiority Of de-
Tense and striking power if they need it.
Germany, disarmed after her defeat but
capable Of rearming rapidly, frets under
this inferiority in military strength and
will not submit to it much longer. Her
young men, too young to have expert
enced the agony Of war, have rallied to
the standard Of Nationalist leader who
thinks in terms OF force, military dis
cipline and aggressive action.
It is natural. It is inevitable unless
civilized nations forget their old blood
feudS and, Is years after the war which
laid them low, turn to new ideal Of life
based upon intelligent cooperation, for
civilization itself is menaced at this very
time by an utter collapse caused by the
ruin of the last conflict. There are few
signs of such intelligence. New nations,
liberated from old tyrannies after the
armistice, adopted Immediately the men
tally of their old tyrants. Many of them
have been brutally intolerant of minor
tiles which came under their own do
minion. All Of them have an inflamed
sense of nationality which sets their
nerves on edge against neighboring
e4R&A mn T. 49, rAl~w L.