Evening star., 1943-10-30
NutionuIism and Peace

NutionuIism and Peace
Former President Herbert Hoover
speaks with the wisdom of an elder
statesman when he cautions the
American people-aS he did last
Thursday at Kansas City-against
loose thinking on the subject of ma
tionalism and against assuming that
AS soon as the shooting stops the
speedy establishment of an enduring
peace will be relatively easy.
AS Mr.. Hoover sees it, it is totally
unrealistic to deplore the existence
Of nationalism or to say that it is
necessarily inimical to a lasting
peace. 1t is something every coun-
try has. 1t is that country's pride
in itself, in it's past, in its present, in
its aspirations for the future. 1t is
loyalty to particular flag, to a par
tlcular tradition and culture, to a
particular area of the earth's sur
face. 1t is at once patriotism and
kind of reasonable self-love, and to
suppose that it can ever be torn out
OF the hearts of any people, and
made over into equal affection for
some Supranational state, is to sup
pose that human nature can be
changed at the roots. OF course,
like virtually anything carried to
excess, It can be bad in its extreme
form, but of itself it is essentially
power for good and it should no
more initiate against the idea of in
ternational collaboration than free
dom of the individual, or the indi-
vidual's natural self-centeredness
initiates against the workings of
American democracy.
Nationalism, in other words, can
be fltted into a system of collective
security. But this can be done, ac-
cording to Mr. Hoovers thesis. only
II the nations themselves recognize
1t Tor what it is, and work out honest
give and-take adjustments among
themselves. This cannot be done all
OF a sudden and all at once in keep
ing with some pat formula or elab-
crate blueprint drawn up imme-
diately after the Axis lays down it's
arms. An enduring peace cannot
be made as easily as that, says Mr..
Hoover, for the character of the war,
its totality, has infinitely compli-
Gated the problem. and the solution
must, therefore, be reached through
methods different from those of the
past.
Mr.. Hoover's own plan would
abandon the idea of long armistice
or Of general peace conference like
Versailles, and instead of making an
effort to set up world organization
right away, would fix a transition
period in which the key United Ma
tlons-America, Russia, Britain and
Chlna-Would work together to put
the world back on its feet. The ap-
proach to the final settlement and
to the creation of permanent ma
chinery for international collabora-
ton would thus be a piecemeal
process in which the other nations
would gradually play an increasingly
active part and in which the meth
ods OF cooperation could be per-
tected over period of years and
eventually be systematized on
global basis.
One Of the chief virtues of Mr..
Hoovers approach to the problem is
that 1t is realistic. 1t does not prom
Use wonders in hurry. It does not
promise that the world will be made
beautiful overnight. We must be
chary OF blueprints, he says. What
counts in the long run is not paper
documents but the attitudes of ma
tions. And inherent in all these at
titudes will be the need for American
patience and more patience lest we
lose heart and faith"
In a word, we ought not to expect
too much too fast, because if we do.
we are likely to suffer a vast disil-
luslonment which will be harmful
both to ourselves and the rest OF the
world in the complex future.