Evening star., 1941-02-25

weeks ago, the embargo was lifted
parently her sins have been washed
away. This bill is a fraud, a de-
lusion and snare.
Not a Party to This War.
Keep before you. o We Americans,
this is a question of war or peace.
Forget not the fallacies that have
been dinned into us. Remember,
oh, remember. that you are not q
| party to this war, and you will be
in 1t without knowing how you got
there, If you permit this bill to pass.
In pamphlet that I received the
| other day was a copy of Mark
Twain's formula for war, and
quote it to you here:
From the mysterious Stranger"
l can see million years ahead,
and this rule will never change
in so many as half a dozen in
stances. The loud little hand
ful-as usual-will shout for the
war.
The pulpit will warilv object.
at first; the great big dull bulk
of the Nation will rub its sleepy
eyes and try to make out why
there should be war. and will
say, earnestly and Indignantly,
ut is unjust and dishonorabe,
and there is no necessity for it
Then the handful will shout
louder.
A few fair men on the other
SIDE will argue and reason
against the war with speech and
pen, and At first will have A
hearing and be applauded: but it
will not last long; those others
will outshout them, and presently
the anti-war audiences will thin
out and lose popularity.
Before long you will see this
curious thing: the speakers
stoned from the platform, and
free speech strangled bv hordeS
of furious men who in their
secret hearts are still at one
with those stoned speakers-as
earlier-but DO not dare to say
so. And now the whole Nation
pulpit and all-will take I'D the
war cry, and Shout itself hoarse.
and mob any honest man who
ventures to open his mouth. and
presently such mouths will cease
to open.
Next the statesmen will invent
cheap lies, putting the blame
upon the nation that is attacked.
and every man will be glad of
those conscience soothing falsi-
ties, and will diligently study
them and thus he will by and by
convince himself that the war
Is Just, and will thank God for
the better sleep he enjoys after
this process of grotesque self
deception.
War on Another Continent.
Now for the first time in all his
tory we are going into war unde-
clared. that We had nothing to do
with, that RACES on another continent
that we are not connected with in
any manner, and separated from by
thousands of miles. We have no
troops there We have no material
there, and all of the munitions that
we contributed to this war we con-
tributed not to ourselves. but to one
of the belligerents, not for our use.
but for his. What a strange spec
tacle is thus presented We are the
absentee warrior Are you so silly
and so gullible that you can believe
if once we get into this wa, although
we're separated by 10000 miles from
the scene of hoStilitieS, that we would
remain supine and Indifferent? On
every street in every city in the land
there would be the martial tread
of men preparing to go abroad I
don't care what the British Premier
says about not wanting our men.
1t does not lie in human nature to
lure us into war, and then make no
demands for our man power. This
was to be done in the first World
War, and you'll remember. as 1 do,
the awful shock we received when
within 10 days of the making of the
promise that no men would be taken
abroad, there came the cry from our
Allies for men, and more men. An6
this in war declared, in which we
asserted we had suffered losses in
property and in lives. What do
you suppose the enormous Army is
being made for in this country? At
first they wished an Army of some
100000 men. They are now build
ing an Army of over 1000 900 men.
We wouldn't be in the war IS min
uteS until the cry came from Eng
land to send our men, and send
them in great numbers, and we'd be
sending them. So, lay not the fiat
tering junction to your souls that
We are going to send materials, and
munitions, and airplaneS, and tanks,
and other things, and we are not
going to send men. The very fact
AnVEpTICENENT