Evening star., 1934-07-29

ribIe technique of modern poison ga,
warfare A whole nation 10 beinl
drilled in the spirit OF war. Yea.
know Herr Hitler speaks for peace
Nevehtleas. German paeihsts are put
In prisons and concentration camps
Paeifkt books are burned and their
authors prosecuted and driven from
the country.
Preparing for Combat
Do not let las deceive ourselves; the
great fatality Is once more preparing
itself-snd II viii throw not only the
German nation but the whole earth
into the abyss.
necessary" What yesterday was q
threatening possibility can today be-
come legend.
There remains to us still little
time. and we must not let it slip
away
All of us who experienced the hor-
ror OF the war saw 1t with our living
eyes and felt the burden Of its tragic
knovledge-we all want peace in
Europe.
Shall We attain IT by merely being
passiye2
Today war and peace. for the ruling
powers, are two eternally alternating
functions Of government War is de-
clared to obtain peace; peace Is TO be
secured by more war.
What, then. is the activity of the
politicians and busybodies in the his
tory OF The nations? The living
threads between nations are so tan
gled by them. so knotted together
that eventually the knots must cut
through. And since the ma jority oi
men are too lazy to think and have
such short memories. they allow
themselves TO be persuaded that life
has created this confusion that can
not be disentangled, and they forget
that it has been artificially introduced
by politicians and busybodies.
Peace Is Scapegoat.
And the bewildered people say: III
cannot go on any longer. We want
the ultima ratio. the last argument
namely. war" But after the war the
desolation is but the greater: every
thing is worse. and after a little while
men forget that the war Is guilty OF
the chaos and confusion. of hunger
and misery, and once again peace /,
made the scapegoat.
Then the game begins over again
An idiotic game, not a matter fol-
mere complaining but for struggle.
Ought we then to submit to war
as an inevitable fate, If men of vfo-
lence disturb peace2
Or should we not enforce the con.
tinuance Of peace?
This question stands before us with
merciless insistence in respect to the
situation in Europe.
But how, you will ask, is peace tc
be enforced?
With more guns, perhaps. more
armaments?
Growth of Control.
In children one notices a particular
KIND OF development. To begin with
the undeveloped child considers him.
self the center of the universe: ht
wants to possess everything, and what
he cannot possess he would like to de-
troy. Then, as he grows I'D, thu
child begins to see that he Is one O,
many children. that there are other,
with the same claims, the same
rights. He begins to control himself
to suppress the bellicose desire tc
possess everything. He becomes more
patient and peaceful
Today after thousands of years oj
human history, certain states are still
In the condition of the undevelopeo
child.
To teach them, activity is needed, q
curative compulsion. Otherwise the,
will hurl themselves and us into this
hell of another war.
Thls curative compulsion is tn,
vigorous prescription, the real out.
Iawing of the spirit of war
The spirit Of war does not, to be.
gin with, reveal itself In armament,
and deadly weapons: it reveals itselj
in the word.
Tne word is magical. The wore
gives birth to weapons. The wore
teaches men hatred of each other: il
teaches them to oppose one another
1t teaches murder and war.
On Gloryfying War.
That state which fires the first shot
is not the breaker of the peace. Tn,
peace-breaker is the state which
teaches its people to glorify war
which teaches its children not tn,
commandment of loving ones neigh.
Dor but the art of destroying one
neighbor: which instructs them in
the handiwork of the soldier; which
lets them play an inhuman gam,
with those hellish productions of ou
time, poison gases and gas masks.
The word is stronger than weapons
For that reason We need:
The Punishment of the spirit of wa
from schools and universities.
The Punishment OF the spirit of wal
from all history books.
The Punishment of the spirit OF wal
from all newspapers. films and PLAYS
AC OAIAASNIle1lI OF the spirit OF wa
from word and image and deed.
know that my proposal. simple a!
1t is, may appear fantastic and MAJ
die away in vain echoes. The voic,
of reason is today the voice of tn,
preacher in the wilderness. But shall
reason be silent on that account?
Only Beginning.
II half a dozen of the great power,
who profess themselves anxious 70
peace were prepared to put this pro
poSal as an ultimatum TO the world
that is 70 say, to declare every stat,
which rejected the ultimatum al
enemy of humanity-and if they a
the same time allowed the peace
breaker to feel the economic conSe
quences Of its crime, thereby callin,
up the suppressed forces within it
frontiers, then would it stand far bet
ter with the peace of the world.
But the banishment of the Spiri
of war is only a beginning. You'll
does not merely want to know wha
ought not to be, it wants 10 know
what ought TO be.
Teach them that peace is not /,
/ state but a risk.
Teach them peace as a dangerou