Evening star., 1934-07-08
BY HAROLD Z. SCARBOROUGH,
Noted English Author.

Noted English Autnor.
URING the 10 years which
followed 1922 there was no
country on earth in which
- the spirit of pacifism was
stronger than in England.
Today that spirit burns only as a
rather feeble flame. 1t is by no
means extinguished, but in brightness
and intensity 1t is sadly diminished.
Before proceed to an examination
of the reasons for this change, let me
say at once that I am quite aware
that the assertions in the preceding
paragraph would be challenged by
most Englishmen and fatty denied
by those responsible for carrying on
the government. This Is inevitable;
for even nations which are frankly
In belligerent mood (Which the Eng
lish certainly are not) never cease
proclaiming their answering fidelity
to the principles, If not the practice,
Of peace. But the record speaks for
itself. England, however reluctantly,
however much the process may be
accelerated by the behavior of her
neighbors. is getting ready to rearm.
She is not looking for a fight with
anybody-quite the contrary-but the
determination to avoid war at almost
any cost, which so strongly marked
the British policy of the 1920s no
longer exists.
To understand why this should be
so, one must take into account a
variety of circumstances.
Voted for Peace.
In the England of the decade which
followed 1922, war-weariness and dis
illusionment were more or less uni
versal. The great war itself had been
followed by the inglorious Anglo
Irish guerrilla conflict; and when in
1922 the nation, whether justly or
unjustly, suspected the coalition gov
ernment of being about to drift into
a new war in the Near East, the
electorate rose in its wrath and voted
for Bonar Law and tranquility"
It was precisely this desire for tran
quillity" (Which, although scarcely
anybody realized it, was really vain
hope that the clock could be set
back to 1919 that dominated the
ensuing 10 years. 1t was the under
lying factor which prevented the
British from following the French
into the Ruhr; which kept the Mes
opotamian, Egyptian and Chinese
1are-ups from degenerating into little
wars; which held within bounds the
always latent hostility toward Soviet
Russia; which made British states
men the most consistent and most
powerful hackers of the League of
Nations; which contributed to the
willingness to confer f-government
| upon India.
The British were fed up on fighting;
they had had more than enough of
it. With actual memories of partici-
| patton in the Great War fresh in the
minds of millions; with the realiza-
| ton that Germany, after all, WASH t
going to pay for all the war dam
ages; with unemployment and labor
troubles rife, the Englishman had
pretty definitely made up his mind
that war was a mugs game.
Change of Viewpoint.
What, then, happened to make him
change his opinion?
{ Lots of things. For instance, he,
like all of us, grew older. The vast
! majority Of survivors of the war now
are at least middle-aged. A great
many of them have been kept too busy
trying to make a living to leave them
much time to bother about public
| affairs. Many others have reached
| a more or less fantastic stage of
throwing up their hands and COM
| menting:
Whats the use? 1t looks as though
! thereTl be more wars, just as there
always have been wars. Apparently
nothing much can be done about it. +"
Still others, lining up to draw their
doles-or, worse, having exhausted
their benef1t-drawing capacity
with some bitterness that when they
were heroes, or even munition work
ers, they at least Jared better as re-
| CARDS food and shelter, and that their
| children did. too And a compara-
lively small number really enjoyed the
! war, found spice in its accompani-
ment of danger and wouldn't mind
repeating the experience.
Pull Of Tradition.
So much, then, for what might be
termed the negative factors in the
equation. What of the positive ones?
These, it seems to me, fall into two
categories-domestic and foreign. On
the domestic side there has been the
steady pull exercised by the dead hand
of tradition. Slowly, gradually, dur
ing the 20s, old habits of thought, old
aphorisms and old cliches began to
reassert themselves. Peace is undra-
matte, professional peace advocates
usually a sober-sided lot. But there
is thrill to be gotten out of the gall
loping gun teams at the Aldershot
Tattoo, out of the trooping of the
colors on the Horse Guards parade;
out of the battle fleet steaming in line
ahead of Spithead; out of the mar
velous evolutions of the R. A. F. pilots
at the annual display at Hendon.
Gradually, almost imperceptibly, the
whole weight Of the court and the
upper classes has been thrown toward
that side of the scales which repre-