Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-01-25
BY HUGH S. JOHNSON


IN THE face of it, war is a
" form of madness as all the
sages have said since the begin
ming. or. as Emerson put it, IAN
epidemic insanity, breaking out
here and there like cholera or
influenza, injecting mems brains
instead of their bowels"
That can't be helped by talk
ing about il, but its secondary
infection of people who, are not
yet in the affected area and who
have never fought and never
will, passeth Observation-Disclosures
the female of the species seems
more deadly than the male.
Miss Dorothy Thompson is
leading new crusade for Union
Now" trotting out lot of eX-
patriates to argue for a new
nation of Notwithstanding
peoples
The idea is to copy the union
of the American colonies under
the Articles of Confederation,
which attempted to bind to-
gether the American colonies in
and after their revolution against
precisely such a union then
before our Constitution was
adopted.
1T is not beside the point to
l. suggest that the distinguish
ing feature of the Article of
Confederation was their utter
futility and inadequacy
1t was a league of friend
ship" AS Max Farrand has
written:
Congress might declare war.
but the states might decline to
participate In it: Congress might
enter into treaties but II could
not make the states live up to
them; Congress might borrow
money but it could not be sure
of repaying 1t; and Congress
might decide disputes without
being able to make the parties
accept the decision.
1.-THE pressure Of necessity
might keep the states together
for a time, yet thefeAis no dis
guising the fact that the Articles
of Confederation formed nothing
more than a gentlemen's agree
ment."
EXACTLY the same remarks
II might have been made about
the League of Nations. In this
country. the great laboratory of
experience, it was proved be-
yond peradventure. not only
that such Articles of Confeder-
alton will not work but also,
by the Constitution, VIII al
changes are necessary to make
them work.
Why then from this country
should have proceeded such a
repetition of proved error as
the League of Nations and, to a
greater establishment, why now
should proceed a suggestion of
repetition of the Articles Of
Confederation for the English
speaking peoples 2"
Furthermore, what community
of economic. military or political
interest necessarily follows the
language that nations speak?
What is. to become of our good
neighbors" and all-American de-
Tense when we leave out of this
Union Now" the Spanish and
Portuguese speaking peoples Of
North, Central and South Amer
lea?
Where do the hundreds OF
Asian, Malayasian and African
tongues of the British empire
fit in and our own Tagalog,
Moro Ilocano and Illingote dia-
lects?
IT is about the craziest pipe
L dream yet advanced. but as
this war mania spreads we can
expect more and worse propo-
sails. People who have the nerve
to number "1776" a new bill
practically authorizing our naval
and military reunion with the
British empire can't be ex-
pected to know nor care that
they propose to cancel out the
Declaration of Independence and
repudiate the American Revolu-
ton.
They would unknowingly di-
lutte our strength with the
worlds weakness, finance new
world wdr UvEn 10 the bank
ruptcy of the United States,
and pave the way for bolshevist
revolution and the triumphs of
-communism-everywhere in the
world.
With every week that passes,
events more plainly suggest that
the old fox of the worlds MAD
shlndy is sitting cannily in the
kremlin waiting for the de-
tenders of every other form of
government to destroy them
selves as prelude to his own
effortleSs triumph.