Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1935-11-08
TODAY AND
-.BY-
FRANK Parker STocKBRIDGE

do, newspaper reports headed
"Peace Meeting Braaks up in a
Row" The trouble with all efforts
to stop war by conversation is that
people bring their personal and "a
cial dislikes and prejudices into
these gabfests.
l don't believe peace is ever go
ing to be insured by talking about
it. All of the peace arguments are
based on reason and logic. Reason
and logic play a very small part in
human affairs. Mankind is still
the plaything of its emotions, Let
the bands start playing and put the
boys into khaki, and we'll all throw
reason and logic overheard.
Just the way the folk do who get
into a scrap at peace meetings!
WAR not peoples
Thinking back over what I have
read in the history books, and what
II have observed in a fairly long
lifetime, 1 don't remember any war
that was actually instigated by the
people Of any nation. Few ordl-
nary people ever want to go to war
with their neghbors. They are led
into wars by governments and rul-
ers who have ambitions and Pur-
poses which are seldom fully dis
closed to the general run of COM
mon folk.
1 am talking, of course, of the
way wars start. Everybody, prae
tically, is ready to Jump to the de-
tense of his country, when the
other fellow starts to invade it.
How to end war? l don't know
and I don't think anyone else
does. A good way might be for
nations to stop trying to take adj
vantage of each other.
MORALS of nations
One of the commonest examples
of loose thinking is the prevalent
idea of national honor" 1t implies
that there is some sort of a moral
law or obligation applying to ma
tons, comparable with the moral
laws by which individuals are, on
the whole, guided in their relations
with each other.
There ought to be some such
rule or moral law governing inter
national relations, but there isn't.
The League of Nations was set up
with the idea that it could serve
as an international conscience, and
by solemn proclamation "outlaw'
nations which started to grab some
thing that belonged to other ma
lions. But I doubt very much
whether all the moral force and
sanctions" recently brought to
bear by the League against Italy
would have had any effect if the
British fleet had not been modified
lin the Mediterranean.
Conscience has as much to do as
policemen in keeping most indivi-
duals from taking somebody else's
property by force. But until we
have an international police force,
strong enough to overawe any ma
ton, however powerful, l don't
think we're going to stop war.
AMERICA tree
Did you ever stop to think that
the United States of America is the
largest area in the civilized world
in which all the people speak the
same language? 1t is more than
that. 1t is the largest area in the
world in which everybody can
travel freely without interference,
sell his goods freely without tariff
obstacles, and live and work where
ever it pleases him.
War between any two states or
any two sections of the United
Estates is unthinkable. We had a
sectional war 81 years ago over the
question of slavery. That wal set
tied forever the liberty of every in
dividual to travel, work and trade
anywhere in the nation.
l become more convinced as time
goes on that there will be no such
thing as permanent peace until the
same liberties of travel, labor and
! trade apply to all people anywhere