The Washington times., 1931-08-13
True to Type
CHAMPAGNE AND SOCIALISM
INADEQUATE PLEDGES
OF PEACE
nv GILRERT SEE.DES-

For obscure cannot believe that peace
disarmament and economic recovery are going to be
achieved by the process of lifting champagne glasses
even when they are full of the best champagne even
when the lifters are Mussoni and the German Chan
ceor The event took place days ago; doubt it
was required symbol something dramatic for the people
to read about in the newspapers, and the situation be-
tween Germany and Italy made it necessary I remain
skeptica And in single paragraph in the current issue
of the Nation find plenty of for doubt,
If the Nation does not.
A Defeated Pacifist
The paragraph begins with Herman Muller, a German
Socialist who in the of 1914 risked his life in
trying to bring the French and German Socialists to-
gether in opposing the World War He travelled secretly
to Paris only to have his overtures spurned by the
French branch of the party He returned to Berlin dis
iusoned and joined with the majority of his party in
supporting the German program"
This is only the beginning, but stop to indicate
joker or two For the benefit of the forgefu and for
those who too young in those days to about
such things it should be noted that the European So
casts-the adherents of Socialism in every country
opposed to war; pledged to nonsupport of
They believed in the brotherhood of and dis
believed in the sacredness of nationaities It their
propaganda obligation to prevent war; if they
represented in paraments their pledge to refuse
to vote moneys for carrying One Socialist might
have carried the French Socialists with him, but Jean
Laures assassnated just the began-and
the punishment of his assassin rdiculously mild.
The Great Betrayal
The second joker is in the casual reference to Muers
Joining "the majority of his party The German Social
sts less than the French abandoned their principles
The Nation says truly "t is inconcevable that either
Of the two governments could have carried without
the support of the great of working people repre-
sented by the French and German Socialists" You would
think then, that after such betrayal, little faith in
pledges and promises would remain. Yet in the very
next sentence told that "the two parties have
again been drawing closer together" that French and
German Socialists will present united front against
and that leaders of the Socialists have made resound
ing declarations in favor of peace Muller by the way
became Chancellor of the German Republic Succeeding
to that office, Bruenng clnks glasses with Mussoini
for the same high pledge.
For Peace-Against Pacifism
If really want peace the only way to work for it
is basis of complete disbelief suspicion of everything
which sounded like ideasm in 1914 suspicion of the
and the methods of today. I quoted a few days ago,
Mr. Frank H. Simonds' idea that disarmament by reduc-
ing the margin between the heavily armed and the lightly
armed might encourage the latter to have try at
But there is another way in which disarmament is a
danger to peace Every time conference is held and
naval ratio is accepted every time president prime
minister that he and his country for peace
hundred thousand people rocked into the sweet
sleep of security-and it takes explosion in NUM-
tions factory to wake them up.
One of the most valuable aids to international peace
is the disappearance of the word "unthnkable in con-
necton with The great unthinkable is between
England and Amerca-but it is unthnkabe only because
people have been thinking about it. The process of
is always from the unthinkabe through the possible
and probable to the imminent and the declared It was
believe, hard-headed English publicist who begged
his fellow counrymen again to say that with
America unthinkable- every time they said
or even thought that, it made the more certain
At this moment millions of people who suffered in the
last war believe that country would deliberately go
to again. and these people, fer all their good will
for all their clnng of friendly glasses the graves
danger of Because there exists another body of
men and women who either did not suffer from the
war had good time in the war; and these would be
ready at the drop of hat the sound of drum to
plunge into suppose that all but tiny fraction
OF sane thinking humanity believes that financial de-
preston is the consequence of the (and bad peace
treaty.; but the tiny fraction may believe that war
would pull out of depression and that tiny fraction
may suddenly find itself in power.
Good Faith in Bad Works.