Evening Star Newspaper, September 13, 1935, Page 7

- NEUTRALTY PLEA " MADE BY THOMAS Futility of War in Solving i Questions Stressed by _ ' Radio Forum Speaker. (Continued From Sixth Page.) \worthy objective. It is a definite notice to the world at large that if nations use war as an instrument for the settlement of differences those nations cannot expect assistance from us. The greatest good that has come ‘to America as a result of this law is our break with the past in regard to .our own theory of neutrality. Right after our original neutral theory was ‘advanced it was suggested to our Gov- ernment that if we were to be con- sistent we would prevent the sale of ,arms on the part of American citizens, but our Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, pointed out that many American citizens made their living from the manufacture and sale of| arms and that the private citizen's| 'right to sell should not be stopped by the Government. That has been our American neutrality theory for one| hundred and fifty years, and the right to trade although we were neutral has been defended so completely by America that that very fact has taken us into two wars. Thus our particular neutrality theory up to the present has made for war as far as we are con- cerned rather than keeping us out of war. Motives of Legislation. The motive behind the present legis- lation is one which comes definitely from two present-day concepts uniy versally held by American .people: First, that trade which is made out of war does not pay in the long run, and secondly, that if it is brought into existence because of economic consid- erations, the loss in lives, the wrecked homes, the sacrifices and the saddened firesides are all too great for & ,momentary trade advantage. Thus the greatest business Nation on earth now condemns that business which wrests St profits from the misery and suffer- ting of its people. Is that not an ad- vancement in the thinking of a na- tion? Are we not making some prog- Tess by treating these great emotional ! questions which grow out of war in an intellectual way? America has de- ‘cided that if there is to be war we will stay out. The meaning of the law is that we do not want war and we do not want to have anything to do with war. Look Made Into Past. Let us connect what we have done lately with America’s international actions in the last generation. We refused to become a member of the League of Nations primarily, accord- ing to those who voted not to adhere to the covenant, because our entrance constituted an entangling alliance, and entangling alliances ultimately meant war. The sincere advoeates of non- adherence to the covenant made their stand on the promise that we should stay out of peace negotiations in order that we would not be found tied when peaceful processes changed to war- like ones. We have refused to adhere to the World Court primarily for the same reason. Now we are faced with this fact: the objectives and the aims of both the World Court and the League of Nations were declared to be, and have been according to his- tory, directed toward the preserva- tion of peace. We have said we want no official connection with an insti- tution which is set up primarily to maintain peace. Could we take any other stand than that which we did when we passed our neutrality law and declared that we wanted to have no ties if nations go to war? If we have decided not to co-operate formally for peace, how could we ever decide to co-operate for war? By the logic of our past actions we are forced to maintain our present one. Had we taken any other stand we should have been forced to say: “We won't have anything to do with our neighbors while they are good neighbors, but when they get bad and act foolishly to each other, then we will join then.” Surely Washington’s and Jefferson’s notion of no entangling alliances meant no entangling alliances in war times as much as in peace times. If we have refused to co-operate in the maintenance of peace, would we not stand utterly condemned in our own public opinion and in the opinion of the rest of the world if we did not take the same aloof stand—“stay out of it” stand, “keep away from it” stand and “we will have nothing to do with it” stand when nations go to war? Can We Do It? Now the question arises, have we the ability, the national power, have we the individual strength to stand by our declarations in regard to the outlawry of war, to stand by our de- eisions in regard to neutrality, to stand by our theory of no entangling alliances and aloofness in the face of & temporary loss of profits? That is the sordid question which you and I have to answer. Students of history and students of politics will answer that man’s love of economic advan- tage wiil wreck these more or less {dealistic stands when the time comes. Temptations Will Arise. To put it more plainly, America 15 years away from the last war and suf- fering from 15 years of economic un- /balance, says now it was all wrong, " we must stay out. Can we do it, or will history repeat itself? If war comes to Europe the price of food- stuffs will go up, Can we withstand the temptation to sell our wheat at $2 a bushel? Copper will reach again a price around 25 or 30 cents. With that chance for profit will we have the strength to say, “No, we would rather not sell, it is not worth the at- tendant cost in lives and blood and wretchedness”? Cotton will double in price. Is the Government of the United States strong enpugh to face the demands of her people when they cry for the right to sell when proiits ADVERTISEMENT. ALWAYS BLOATED AFTER MEALS? The chances are that those gas pains and bloated stomach are caused by acld indigestion—the effects of eating acid- forming foods. Here is a simple way to easily relieve these annoying condi- tions. Go to vour nearest drug store and buy a bottle of FATHER KELLY'S PREPARATION: take as directed. Gas after meals usually disappears and disturbing indigestion pains will not trouble you. Father Kelly's acts as an antacid and has the added benefit of being mildly laxative. Get a botte of FATHER KELLY'S PREPARATION to- day. Only 75c at all good drug stores. are so easy? There will be the test. Historians will tell you that we will fail in this, that no government can stand against the force of its people when its people want profit. It is ex- tremely sordid to say that men will sacrifice the lives of their neighbors and offer even their children for their economic advantage. Of course, the economic advantages will be buried under the nationalist cry to protect our rights, to save our interests and our honor. It will even be harder to withstand these sentiments, for we know that war is a mistake and that war can bring nothing but suffering. ‘We say boldly we want no profits that ocme from war, we want peace, but we say this most self-convincingly when we are far away from war-like actions and because it is at a distance and we see its foolishness and its sel- fishness. Can we show the same self- control when it is in our midst? Those are the tasks we have to face. That is our determination today. Can we train ourselves to the same economic approach in the future as we do to- day, or will history repeat itself? Losses of War Recalled. Can we not, then, face the whole question as a matter of business and economics and show our people our losses from the last war, the world’s losses from the last war and prove to our people and to the world that war actually does not pay? Theoretically it can never pay, because nothing for which nations will fight can be at- THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, tained by the war process. Take even the Italian-Ethiopian situation. Italy may destroy Ethiopia, but in doing so she may also destroy herself econom- ically to such an extent that the great business advantages for which she is fighting will become worthless. What good is it to have a tremendous stock of goods if there is no one able or capable of buying them? Assume that Mussolini’s stand is not economic but | political, what advantage can he gain by military action which he cannot gain by peaceful action? Have we learned nothing from Manchuria? Japan's success in the Far East de- pends upon friendly co-operation with the Chinese, not upon aggressive ac- tion against the Chinese. If this fact was not clear two years ago, it now is. Mussolini’s success in Ethiopia de- pends upon friendly co-operation with the Ethiopians. Warlike gestures are the worst ways possible for bringing friendly co-operation. So definitely is this the case that many people be- lieve that Mussolini’s action against Ethiopia is merely an excuse for call- ing men to the colors to be used for other purposes or to keep Facism se- cure in its own land. War Is Wrong Procedure, Let us turn from the economic and the political considerations and as- sume that all that Italy intends to do in Ethiopia is to better mankind there, overcome the ills of the Ethiopians, wipe out slavery and give the Ethio- battered? plans s higher standard of living. None of these things can be accom- plished by war. They all require peaceful processes. High living stand- ards cannot be forced, they myjst be developed. High social . standards cannot be gained by killing. They can come only through living. What is the use of wiping out slavery if the only way to free a person from slavery is to kill him? When we analyze the present situation thus economically, politically and socially, and realize the world’s changed attitude in regard to international war, we cannot help but feel that the nations of Europe by col- lective action will find a way out and that they will not resort to war. War in theory has been outlawed. The test of the ability to keep it outlawed de- pends upon the public opinion of the world and the effectiveness of peaceful processes which have been set up for governments to use, based upon the great theory that wherever there is a threat to peace that threat should be of concern to the whole world. Inf®- national deliberation, collective action, international distussion backed up by public opinion will prove themielves moral forces great enough to restrain. I conclude by quoting the sentences uttered by our distinguished floor lead- er, Senator Robinson, in the Senate August 27: “We want no war, We want no wealth gained from war. Wa want peace.” I share Senator Robin- son's feelings. we must stay out. This time we mean "'l D. C, HAZEN ABANDONS TRIAL BOARD CHANGE Commissioner Drops Plan Due to Objection by Maj. Brown. Commissioner Melvin C. Hazen has abandoned consideration of a revision of the Police Trial Board to make it conform to the plan for the new Fire Trial Board because of objections by Police Supt. Ernest W. Brown. On recommendation of & committee of District officials, the Fire Trial Board recently was revamped to con- sist of an assistant corporation coun- sel, an Assistant Engineer Commis- sioner and a Fire Department official FOR MOTDRISTS WHO WANT Y aA’vEfiso’n on WORKS ogLuMBIA 5228 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1935. instead of three officers of the depart- ment. Maj. Brown opposed adoption of a similar plan for the Police Trial Board on the ground a departmental board would be better. Al Can Start Own Zoo. NEW YORK (#).—A raccoon which stowed away in & banana barrel, sur- prising a fruit dealer, and a hawk which flew right into & butcher shop in séarch of prey have been turned over to Al Smith, honorary night su- perintendent of Central Park Zoo. 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