Evening star., 1939-09-12
Points to American
Role in World Crisis.
To the Editor OF The Star;

With the long-dreaded war actually in
progress in Europe today there will un-
doubtedly be new emphasis upon the
word courage" Already, England,
France, Poland and Germany have
worked themselves into the state of hys-
terical courage that enables them to
face the prospect of long and bloody
war. And even in this country there
are many people who see that kind Of
courage as the only answer at time like
today and are clamoring for us to get
into the thick of the fight.
We can see the sins of Europe all too
clearly We hate the greed and the lust
for power that is driving the Nazis to
such desperate measures In fact many
of our best citizens are already prepared
to embark on another armed crusade to
get rid of Hitler for the sake of peace.
There is no doubt that man like Hitler
at the head of great country is men
ace to the peace of the world, but it will
do little good to remove Hitler unless we
do something about the things that make
it possible for Hitler (or another like
him) to gain and keep control over the
government of civilized country. Hav-
ing learned from experience that war
does not end war, let us look to other
means for lasting peace.
After all, isn't the courage to fight
when desperate rather cheap? We had
it in 1918, and spent the best of Americas
life blood on the battlefields of Europe
to no avail except to lay the seeds for
present-day Europe. What we need now
is a deeper courage than this-the kind
that will enable us to turn our eyes from
Europe back to America. We shall never
be able to carry peace to Europe until
We have peace in America!
For years we have stood idly by while
our country drifted away from the prirl-
ciples on which it was founded-respect
for God, the true spirit of equality among
men, the integrity of government and
business and belief in America to full
fill her destiny as a leader among ma
tions. AS result we have q Nation
where there is arrogant paganism and
in which there is general decline in
spiritual values, we have rampant ma
terialism with class selfishness and op-
preston, We have a great army of un-
employed and millions of citizens who
have sunk to dependence upon the Gov
ernment for mere subsistence, we have
dishonor in high places in Government
and business and we have lost our IA
thers' splendid hope for America.
These things are not caused by the
administration, nor by our economic or
social system. They are caused by the
decline in Christianity and the lower
ing of our moral standards that fol-
lowed the last great war. We cannot
have peace in America until there is
peace in the hearts of Americans.
Our country is at the cross roads today.
We can point the finger of scorn at
Europe and then be drawn into their
mae1strom with our hands equally red,
or we can face ourselves as we are and
begin to rebuild America so that we will
be fit to help, rebuild Europe. In either
case there will be price. If we take
the same course as in 1918, the price is
obvious and terrible. If we take the
other course of rebuilding America, it
will cost us as Nation and as individ-
uals-we must be willing to renounce
war profits, we must abolish class hatred
and oppression, we must root out dis
honor and greed out of our own lives
and from al Of our institutions, and