The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1946-02-07
Distance Dims Reality
Of Europe Need Of Aid
Well Being Of U. S. in Contrast to Bleak
Ruins Of Old World; Trials of Nazis
Point Up Evils of Miitarism.
BY BAUKHAGE
Nesus Analyst and Commentator.

ders, the minor sub-humans like
Strelcher because they were to<
small to be caught in the meshes o.
an all-enveloping law. Since Their
the prosecution has shown how all
these men were deeply involved ir
the vicious plot and counterpart O
Nazidom whose prime purpose wa
aggressive, predatory war itself.
Why didn't we shoot the ~conspira.
tors in the first place and be done
with it? Because we wished to show
to the world that democratic ma.
tons can put behind them the law
OF the jungle. an eye for an eye and
a tooth for a tooth. Because we wish
to demonstrate that we. the con.
querors. do not intend to invoke the
law Of the conqueror - victor,
volentes per populos. dat dura"-
that we believe in the dignity Of
man and are willing to give that
spark Of manhood a chance to be
judged by his peers. that we do not
believe that two wrongs make a
right or that that right 10 nipple
mented by might alone.
Must Reform
German Mind
The battle Of the democracies IL
not a fight Of body against body,
it is a fight Of mind against mind.
The democratic concept which is
based on the teachings of the Chris
tan religion must triumph unless
the world be divided forever into
a race Of fighters and a race
OF slaves. The long task ahead Of
US in Germany is the reforming
Of the German mind. That will take
the patience Of the teacher. not the
skill Of the fighter. II we are un-
willing to spend the money and the
time and make the sacrifices neces-
sary to re-mould the German men,
tally, that mentality will be used
by others who know only too well
how to channel it back into the
ways Of the warrior.
1t is no trick to kill Naziism, that
itself is un%palatable to those who
have borne its yoke. The Germans
are sick Of it for it brought them
only defeat. But Naziism was only
a local %aflication Of the German
people. Their chronic ailment is
militarism. It will take a long and
patient schooling to remove that
poison from their blood and to
transmute its power, its sacrifice,
its stubborn energy into the con
structive forces without which Eu-
rope cannot survive nor live at
peace with its neighbors.
As l look back on the efforts
which were made by the United
States military government to ex-
plot the trials as a means of de-
veloping an understanding Of
democracy in Germany, I feel that
they have missed a remarkable op-
portunity. AS far as I know at this
writing, the speech of Justice Jack.
son. which explained the purpose Of
the trials and convicted Nazidom
out Of its own mouth, is yet to reach
the Germans in full text. It is ex-
difficult for the Informa.
ton Control division CORNER OVID
to take any positive steps over and
beyond the established institutions
which they created before the lid
was clamped down (the few estab.
lished American published maya.
zines, the n newspaper. the news
service and the radio). However,
the speech will eventually be trans.
lated and appear as a brochure
which will be sold at a low price
and will be greedily absorbed like
every other piece Of reading mat
ter in the book-hungry Reich.
Nor was the trial properly COZ.
cred by the German newspaper
men. After a long argument an ar.
rangement was finally permitted
whereby a certain number of seats
eight at first-were assigned to
newspaper men. They we're
never all filed while l was there.
The explanation was that t%ranspor.
was difficult for Germans.
were furnished with per-
nits to travel but they weren't fur.
with jeeps. or space in a
bouncing truck, or seats on the
o~vercrowded trains. They were left
fight it out for themselves. And
believe me. there is no room for a
'kraut" on a vehicle If anyone else
wants the space and Il he does get
/ seat, what will he eat? There is
10 food available for the itinerant
,x-enemy. The authorities should
,ave seer to it that every German
lewsman for whom space at the
rials was available was occupying
hat space. And he wouldn't have
needed q second invitation.