Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1943-01-07
Prosperous
Nation Gully
In This War
Helping Others Doesn't
Always Mean Peace =
BY WESTBROOK PEGLER

BY WESTBROOK PEGLER
If THIS is inopportune. excuse
il, please. if you would be so
kind, but my theme is that want
isn't necessarily the cause OF
wars and certainly didn't kick
up this one, and that people who
are dirt-poor are likely TO be
detected and submit 10 kicking
around instead of arming might
lily and going out TO stick up
others as a desperate Individual
would.
The idea is prompted by the
rather general suggestion that
If we do not strip ourselves of
that portion of our food and all
which constitutes the luxury
standards IN the United States
and relieve the poverty OF the
have-not nations and breeds.
they will get sore and gang-up
on the Il. s. a. and Britain and
destroy us or drag US down 10
their own level or some inter-
mediate level between theirs
and ours.
BECAUSE. no question about
- IL, this war in the world or,
as they now say, the global
sense. was started by a well fed,
we'll dressed, we'll educated and
impresslvely healthy nation. 10
wit, Germany. and was the sec
Ond world war initiated by Ger
many IN a quarter of century.
They were living high up 20
the hour when the kaiser started
that one, too, rcmember-a lux
ury nation If there ever was one.
with a schedule Of six or seveM
meals day and money 70
travel and plenty Of leisure and
also. lest we forget, some very
advanced social Improvements
IN the way of insurance, pen
SlonS and so forth.
Yet, on top of that they could
afford 10 buy the mightiest mill
tary equipment ever amassed up
TO then and hurl enormous
armies into war over night &C.
cordlng TO a premeditated and
coldIy predatory plan.
ITALY isn't important In any
consideration because Mus
Sollni is Just a swollen fool and
the people would not have gone
10 war If he had not made them.
They were poor II is true, but
poorer than they need have been
because the bum OF buns had
been squandering their eating
money on clrcuses and expensive
but punk equipment.
The Germans, on the other
hand, whatever they may say
when il IS over. were the same
arrogant, bragGart bulldozers
that they were in 1914 and this
means not merely the party fol-
lowing.
They have always thought Of
themselves As a special race
with a mission and a right 10
rule other races, and the reason
they thought the others inferior
was that they are snobS who
think material things and high
scale Of living which they had,
means SUPERIORITY.
They made their machine for
this war mostly out of stolen
goods, Swindled away from
trusting nations, principally this
one, and though they deprived
themselves slightly during the
guns instead Of butter era to-
ward the end of their prepar z
tons, they still were doing We
enough and were not goaded 10
war by desperation but vanity,
larceny and greed.
They were not 50 poor that
they had to fight for a living.
That Is tho point They were
tlch 10y comparison with Greece
and their people were living A
lot better than the French or
Italians.
MR. GREW and other authori-
w tics can pick away AT the
mystery of Japan for us, but IL
Japan was a loW-standard coun-
try, China was worse and had
been, moreover. a doormat ma
ton since memory runneth not
TO the contrary.
We western nations kept
troops in China. something we
would never let China do to US.
and treated the Chinese people
IN a very lofty way and vet
China never showed any resent
mcnt until Japan walked in and
started to take over the whole
thing.
Then they did fight and dis
covered that they were great
ScrapperS, but il wasn't poverty
that drove them 10 II. II was
SeIf-prcScrvatlon They would
have starved quietly, but natu-
rally when clutched by the
throat they began 10 scratch and
kick