Evening star., 1945-01-15
Letters to The Star
Argues for General Government
as Basis for World Peace

dS DdotS AOI w oIlu CdCC
To the Editor Of The Star:
In the midst of the greatest war the
world has ever known, there Is ample
evidence to indicate that many people
have notions about the causes of war
which ought to have been dispelled
long ago by experience. A sample is a
letter which appeared in The Star on
December %, in which Mr.. Goldsborough
asks: go how can permanent har-
mony be established as long as men are
motivated by greed, self-interest, fear
and rivalry?" This is only one of the
many causes of war popularly cited A
favorite one is the socialist theory that
wars are caused by capitalism.
1t is important that we recognize the
true cause of war, because we cannot
eradicate war until we know what
causes 1t. So long as we put the blame
for war upon scapegoats such as "hu-
man nature" and economic systems, we
shall continue to have war. Pulling
mans teeth will not relieve him of the
pain that comes from fallen arches.
This is not to say that there Is no room
for improvement in human nature or in
the worlds various economic systems;
but rid the world Of war first and then
concentrate on preaching the brother
hood of man and on bettering our eco
nomic systems-or, better still, work on
all these problems simultaneously, so
long as we recognize the true cause of
war.
In looking about for the cause of war,
we must notice that there are isolated
areas of peace. The usual condition
common to the areas of peace is gov
ernment. AS general rule, peace
exists within those areas which are con-
trolled by a common government. On
the other hand, the usual condition
common to war is anarchy-ie., the alb
sence of government.
The reader Immediately may call to
mind certain exceptions, among which
we may list, on the one hand, the So
called Civil War in the United States.
In that case, the Federal Government
was common to North and South. At
least part of the explanation is that no
government Is immune to civil war and
the possibility of civil war is reason
for making the general government
adequate to cope with the problem; 1t
Is not justification for refusing to es-
tablish a general government. An ex-
ception on the peace" side ', the fact
that the United States of America and
Great Britain, for example, have existed
side by side for good many years
without government common to both,
and yet they have not fought each
other for over hundred years. That
fact is due largely, I think, to the
presence Of one or more common enc
mics: Germany and/or Japan. II
Britain and the United States had not
been SO busy fighting common menace
during that time, they probably would
have turned against each other. But
the exceptions DO not disturb the gen.
eral rule that we cannot have peace
that is permanent without government
which Is coextensive with the area in
which peace exists.
Causes" of War at Home
In connection with the false causes
OF war, 1t is interesting to note that
these same causes" exist within the
peaceful areas: Not all men in the
United States are angels. We have per-
sons here who are the full equivalent
Of Hitler and his Nazis or of TOTO and
the Japanese militarists: Our jails and
prisons are full of such men, and many
of them have been hanged, electrocuted,
otherwise executed or as with Dillinger,
shot in running gun fights. Moreover,
concerning the socialist argument, peace
does not necessarily result from social
ism: Germany fighting Russia is the
best example.
In studying war and peace. we do well
to study the history of the United
States. The founding fathers knew
the causes of war. In the Federalist
No. Is, Alexander Hamilton wrote:
why has government been instituted
at all? Because the passions of men
will not conform to the dictates of rea-
son and justice, without constraint" +"
In the Federalist No. 81 CHamilton or
Madison), the author wrote: 80
what is government itself, but the
greatest of all reflections on human
natureP If men were angels, no govern
ment would be necessary"
While the enemies of a general gov
ernment fought tooth and nail against
adoption of the Constitution, blaming
human nature for all their troubles,
the men who live in our memories
struck directly at the source of all the
trouble-anarchy-a set up the first
federal union of men living in differ
ent states that the world knows Of
The federal union system has been
widely and successfully copied already:
Australia, Canada, Switzerland, the
Union of South Africa are examples.
Are we of today people of lesser ability
and courage than the people of 1897?
Let us profit by their wisdom and exam
pie and establish international federal
union as soon as possible.
JOHN F. SCHMIDT, Capt, U. S. A.
Praise for Criticized Editorial
To the Editor Of The Star:
Did not Herod some 1000 years ago
complain of another "Star in the East?
They say, People, who want to know,
read The Start" There you have 1t,
sure enough. .