Evening star., 1937-01-19

SENA7
these races mean q guaranty Of war
not a guaranty against war! Lore
Grey Of Falloden it was who, speaking
Of them, said:
"The> moral Is obvious: It is tina
great ornaments lead inevitably Il
war"
Great Arms "Falsity."
The false thought that great arma
ment guarantees understanding ant
peace continues to get wide hearing
While remain q believer in nationa
defense capable OF repulsing the at.
tack of any possible enemy OF my
country, I cannot forget the expert
ence, imaginary perhaps. of a FRIEND
who wrote:
II have a neighbor with whom
I wish to be a friend. He also
wants to be a friend Of mine, and
We both agree that We must get
along peacefully together, doing
everything possible to further mu-
tual understa nding and friendship.
In order to show him my good in
tentions I built high barbed-wire
fence with steel pickets on top be-
tween his house and mine. He, IN
turn, to convince me Of his friend
ship, put . ferocious dog in his
back yard. then put bullet-proof
glass in the window on his side
and started wearing large pistols
in my belt. The other day I saw
him moving supplies Of poison gas
and hand grenades into his house.
Now have a machine gun mount
ed in the front yard. and for the
life OF me l can't understand why
we don't get along better"
Yet We go on building greater anc
more armament, and move closer x
the thought that the vitableness'
Of war makes neutrality unthinkable
Insist must upon Offering still an
other evidence Of effort to convert the
American mind away from the pos
sibility OF any successful neutrality
It Is this:
Clear as day is the record Of facts
showing how an increasing American
trade with the allies from 1914 u
1917, how loans and credits to the al
lies, underwritten by few American
bankers, united to play an important
role in breaking down our resistance
against participation in Europe's war
We remember how tales Of horror, o.
the mutilation of helpless children
and the violation of the Belgian nuns
aroused us to q frenzy against the
conduct Of an inhuman war. We know
now, Of course, how untrue these
stories were.
Would Blind Us to Truth"
But, 10 and behold, the same artists
who coined those ghastly fictions are
in the picture today, engaged again In
endeavoring to blind us to the truth!
Here is one, for example, one who
played a leading role 20 years ago
once more at work concocting and
publishing in one Of Americas fore
most magazines. statements cunningly
calculated to hide from the American
people all knowledge Of the part bank.
ers' loans to nations at war played In
our attempt at neutrality. This &C.
propagandist now says that though q
Senate committee tried for months to
prove that a reason behind the entry
Of the United States into the Grea'
War was the pressure Of internationa
bankers, that "at the end there wa!
not even Q scintilla Of evidence to
prove that American loans to allies
had any bearing whatever on the wal
decision of the United States" In
point of Imagination that almost tops
the stories of atrocity which the same
writer gave us 20 years ago!
If ever an investigation proved any
thing, this one did prove that rela'
tionship. Some few people, reading
this propaganda yarn have written te
inquire If accounts published at ths
time of the investigation disclosures
and the report of the committee were
true.
So 1t goes, proving how short OH,
memories are and our susceptibility t<
blindness to truth.
It Is to be expected that these mex
several weeks will witness many ven.
lures into fields intended to drive peo.
pie away from high resolve to write
a permanent neutrality law that will
do away with many Of the dangers ol
our country being drawn into Other
peoples wars, and leave us for thu
moment content with not much more
q law to safeguard and back a desired
neutrality than we had 20 years ago
when, while proclaiming neutrality
we were really marching straight into
war without realizing 1t.
II progress Is to be made on the neu.
trality issue this Winter it will b
because q public, acknowledging expe.
rience of the past, refuses to be fright
ened away from the truth Of past
experiences and continues to insist
that uncompromising action Be &C.
corded the challenge before us.
Not Easy to Stay Out.
A challenge it Is! If and when wal
comes to Europe again we are goinf
to find 1t much easier to get into thai
war than stay out Of 1t, however high
our national resolve to stay out may
continue, unless we do more building
than we have yet done to prevent thu
selfishness of q few becoming . ma.
tiorial interest calling for . nationa
protection.
However hard forces may try tt
close American eyes to these truths
truths they will remain nevertheless
our prosperity growing out Of Europe
at war once came to embarrAss and
finally destroy our neutrality, ant
than want on IA NAV 4 vsarv matacis,