Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-28
UNDERSTANDING SOURCE
OF TRUE PATRIOTISM
British Statesman Scores Narrow Nation
alism as Breeder of Mistrust of
All That Is Foreign.

What the great nationalist historians
Treitschke in Germany. Theirs In
France, Macaulay In England, for m
stance-achieved among the intellec-
tuals Of their different countries the
stmplifled history books inStilled into
the boys and girls Of the primary and
secondary schools.
But now the tide has turned. At last
concerted attempt is being made to
drive out this lying caricature Of true
patriotism from the school history books,
and, what Is better, to encourage chill
dren from the very beginnings Of their
civic and historical knowledge to look
upon international cooperation as the
natural way Of conducting world af-
fairs" If the League Commission Upon
Intellectual Cooperation had done
nothing else but induce the govern
ments, AS they have done in most mem
Der states since 1925, to give this new
orientation to national education, It
would have justified its existence.
League Foundation Facts.
Millions Of boys and girls in nearly
every European country, in Japan, in
the British dominions, are now learning
the facts about the Leagues founda-
ton. its covenant and its activity as a
matter Of general knowledge. And it
Is impossible to learn such facts with
out relating them to principles. Were
government edicts to stand alone in
this matter they might perhaps fail.
But there Is ample evidence that wher-
ever the teaching profession is organ
lied 1t Is beginning to seize the oppor-
tunity presented by the new oficial re-
quirements to inStill into the younger
generation a philosophy of national and
international life more in accordance
with conscience and reason
1t is a slow process. this turning of
the vast machine of public education
from an engine Of hostility into an
engine Of peace. 1t is all important, but
we cannot afford to wait.
There is much that grown men and
women can do to fight the disease of
international misunderstanding. Every
one can make a practice Of doubling
the truth of any statement accusing a
foreign nation of deliberate dishonesty
or hostility. That nation consists Of
nothing more than ordinary men,
women and children, with their indi-
vidual daily needs and difficulties, per-
sonal friendships, struggle for life,
amusementS, interests; 1t is wildly i'm
probable that they are all combining in
sinister conspiracy to attack or defraud
neighboring peoples.
Every voter can withhold his vote
from any parliamentarian who can find
no better argument for his policy than
an appeal to fear or hatred of the for
eigner. Radio communication should
help, with the opportunities which the
wireless programs increasingly offer OF
listening to the music or evening amuse-
ments of other nations and of learning
their point of view. Books, too, already
abound written by good citizens Of the
world-M. Andre Siegfried. for instance
about the life Of countries other than
their own.
Extreme French Anxiety.
In short. with modern facilities It is
not difficult to begin to understand the
mental background and the outlook of
Of view it Is surely possible for the
German or the Englishman In his
capacity as good European to under
stand the extreme anxiety Of the French
for the integrity Of their soil, twice
ravaged by invasion in the lifetime Of
those now living.
1t is equally possible for the French
man, simply upon the basis Of human
| Self-reSpect, to understand the bitter
| humiliation of defeat and the instinc-
tive desire of a proud nation like the
Germans to recover position of moral
equality. The Italian demand for
parity" viewed from within and as q
manifestation of a nations new-found
| consciousness Of itself, IS not unrea-
sonable nor undeserving of sympathy.
The Hungarian'S undying attachment
to venerable crown the Czech's ner-
vouS mistrust of any revival of an old
order which seems to menace the new
national institutions-even my own
countrymen'S disinclination to under
/ take Continental commitments, not from
mere sloth but from a half-expressed
belief that constant anticipationS of war
may entrench the idea of war in the
mind-all these are convictions of in
| Stincts which have something to be said
| for them. No one of them Is wholly
true, none holds the whole secret of
peace for the world, but all inclose some
right. some natural desire, some ele-
ment of social value in the vast COM
munity of mankind which it Is the duty
OF the statesmen to conciliate, adjust
and coordinate for the common good.
| Is it hard for the ordinary citizen to
believe this? Not so hard. surely, as
to believe that this little globe is in
habited by utterly separate tribes, each
god to itself, each destined to arm and
fight against the others, each meneced
by the perpetual treacheries Of foreign
devils. For nationalism in the last re-
sort means no more than that.
! tCopyrisht. 1917