Evening star., 1942-12-30
After the War

before delivering his address in
commemoration of Woodrow Will
sons birthday justifies the inference
that the concept of a postwar
world which he laid before the
American people represents, at least
in outline form, what the official
peace program of the administra-
tion will be. And since that is the
case, it merits careful consideration.
Mr.. Wallace, at the outset, avoids
one dangerous error. 1t has been
the practice of many commentators
to blame the failure of this country
to adhere to the League of Nations
on small band of Senators mott
waited by their personal dislike Of
President Wilson, and to ignore the
attitude of the people. But Mr..
Wallace does not make this mistake.
Unfortunately" he said, speaking
of Mr.. Wilson's failure, "the people
of the United States were not ready
(for the League)." 1t is important to
recognize this fact, for any settle
ment which follows this war, and
which involves the assumption of
new responsibilities by the United
States, will have to be "sold" to the
people. To take for granted that
the people as whole are, or auto
matically will be, ready to shoulder
new burdens when peace comes
would be merely to invite another
failure
Explaining that it Is not possible
now to blueprint all the Details"
Mr.. Wallace gave a general picture
of the new democracy" which he
hopes will materialize after the war.
ut will be-" he said, IAN adventure
in misunderstanding of duties and
responsibilities and sharing Of the
Joy that can come from the give
and-take of human contacts and
fruitful daily living" A first step
would be the setting up Of machinery
for the disarmament, presumably
permanent, of those who would
break the peace, and for the pre-
vention of economic warfare. Prob
ably" he added, "there will have to
be an international court to make
decisions ip cases of dispute. And
an international court presupposes
some kind of world council, 50 that
whatever world system evolves will
have enough flexibility to meet
changing circumstances as they
arise"
AS Mr.. Wallace himself pointed
out, this is the sketchiest of outlines.
Perhaps, as he suggests, it would serve
to prevent the rise of Adolf Hitlers
of the future, but there is nothing in
the blueprint to indicate, for ex-
ample, how decision in a dispute
between powers now friendly would
be enforced. Without regard to the
participation of the United
States, the great weakness Of the
League of Nations was the absence
of any effective means of enforcing
League decisions when they hap
pened to run counter to the interests
Of any of the major signatory powers,
and we must assume that the same
problem will arise to plague any
world council or international court
which may be set up after this war.
If such an agency is to be at all
effective in adjudicating and regu-
lating conflicts of interest it will
need the machinery and the power
to enforce it's decisions. And if hu-
man experience teaches anything 1t
is that the Joy of sharing duties and
responsibilities is a poor substitute
for force when the selfish interest of
an individual or nation collides
with a policy designed to serve the
common good.
From the American viewpoint, this
question of the nature and function
of an international police force in
the postwar settlement is apt to be
a dominant consideration. Thus,
while it is useful, as Mr.. wallace
suggests, at least to begin now to
consider the questions pertaining to
individual freedom and economic
security after the war, it also is es-
sential that we not neglect con-
sideration of some of the grimmer
problems which will arise with the
cessation of hostilities.