history and the peace movement
TRANSCRIPT
World Affairs Institute
HISTORY AND THE PEACE MOVEMENTSource: Advocate of Peace through Justice, Vol. 92, No. 3 (August, 1930), pp. 155-159Published by: World Affairs InstituteStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20681465 .
Accessed: 17/06/2014 11:13
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp
.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].
.
World Affairs Institute and Heldref Publications are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to Advocate of Peace through Justice.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 195.34.79.223 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 11:13:38 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Advocate of Peace, August, 1930 155
therefore should invoke our common re
sources for its common defense when this
common heritage is imperiled." On the assumption that the control of
war profiteering is constitutional in nature, the act provides for the creation of a com
mission to be composed of four members
of the House, four members of the Senate, the Secretaries of War, Navy, Agriculture,
Commerce, Labor, and the Attorney Gen
eral, to consider what amendment to the
Constitution of the United States is neces
sary to enable the Congress to take private
property for public use during war, to
equalize the burdens and to remove the
profits of war, and to study the policies to
be pursued in the event of war. The bill
provides that the commission shall report definite recommendations to the President
of the United States to be transmitted by him in turn to the Congress not later than
the first Monday in December, 1931. It
specifically provides that the commission shall not consider and shall not report upon the conscription of labor.
To amend the Constitution of the United
States is no easy matter. That an amend
ment is necessary is doubtful. Our Govern ment had little difficulty controlling any
thing it wished to control during the last war. It merged railroads, sold bonds, com
mandeered manufactures, fixed prices, and
directed our entire economic life. Should
the existence of our national life be threat
ened again by war, the Government would
find ways to do these same things, and more if necessary. But the study of the
entire problem as provided by this recent
legislation is most desirable.
HISTORY AND THE PEACE MOVEMENT
TTkURING the war an eminent American
historian said that he had found men
trained in history to be a bit more efficient in the conduct of the war than others.
He was probably right. The historically
trained men are among the most useful of
the foreign representatives of govern ments. History lends perspective. Other
things being equal, it promotes wisdom. In this summer number of the Advocate
of Peace there are historical matters
relating to the peace movement, facts that
should be of use to anyone interested to
clarify one's own mind as to possible next
steps toward the lessening of the ills of war.
The American Peace Society is old
enough to view with nothing but gratifica tion the activities of others in its special field. In the language of its founder, Wil liam Ladd, from whom it is ever profitable to quote, "the field is large and the reapers are few."
The peace worker today must know the
background of his work. He will of course wish to know his representatives in Con
gress. He will seek to make use of men
and existing organizations. He will look for specific projects calculated to advance the cause. He will add to the political aspects of his interests the achievments of science, of literature and of art. His
approach to any or all these fields will be the more intelligent in proportion as he knows the achievements and the failures of the peace movement heretofore.
E great inquiry of history is not where a man came from but where is
he going? History is the science of cul
tural values, of the meanings and effects of
human behavior. In its larger aspects it
unfolds our views and hopes. In his "The
Decline of the West," Spengler is not so
interested in events and causes as in the
meaning of those events in the light of
the days that are to come. He finds that
there have been eight occasions when
large groups of men have lived on a high level of culture: in Egypt, in Mesopotamia, in India, in China, along the north of the
Mediterranean, in the Near East, in
This content downloaded from 195.34.79.223 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 11:13:38 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
156 Advocate of Peace, August, 1930
Mexico and in Western Europe. He finds
among all these the record of birth, growth,
maturity and decline. He might have
added, had he seen fit, that the decline in
every instance was due primarily to the
devastations of war. Whether or not our
Western World is to go the way of all
the others depends upon the merit and
vitality of the peace movement.
TNFAMILIARITY with data of his ^
tory is at the bottom of most of our
social ills. This ignorance blinds us to
the fact that the evolution of the peace movement is the most important achieve ment of our modern world. Knowledge of
past failures and achievements in this
movement is necessary, not to convince the
world that wars should cease?that has been accomplished?but to achieve a
greater agreement upon the best methods now to be employed. The task of the
peace worker is to guide public sentiment
of all countries to the choice of wise meth ods for the avoidance of irreconcilable
disputes, and to open ways for the just settlement of all other controversies as they
may arise. Such a service should not be
embarrassed by the imprudence of unin
formed zealots. Disagreements in the
peace movement are almost entirely over
methods. If the peace workers knew more
they would agree better. It is history that
ties faith to experience, experience to
knowledge, and knowledge to wisdom, which is the wise use of knowledge.
Familiarity with the past enables one to
advance if not to originate wisdom. The
difficulties of the peace movement are in
tensified more by its advocates than by its
enemies, due principally to an unfamili
arity with the work that has been done.
Many of our "new ideas" in the peace movement are but the skeletons of errors
that died generations ago among their
worshipers. Wise men looked upon those
"ideas," weighed their merits against their
demerits, and found them wrong. History,
progressive revelation that it is, is essen
tial to tolerance, and to the vigor, breadth
of view and wisdom that follow in the steps of tolerance.
E outstanding need of the peace movement?that is a dangerous way to
begin a sentence. But why not finish it?
The peace movement needs to be baptized with a more general culture, a wider vigor of thought, a deeper catholicity of spirit. The peace movement waits for a new in
fusion of those qualities associated 700
years before Christ with Isaiah, classic
genius of Judaism?qualities of grandeur, of concentration, of imaginative power and
splendor. Where are we to find leadership like that?
E peace movement has been impeded
most, not by its enemies but by the
imprudence of its friends. This has been
due for the most part to an ignorance of
the facts of the story of experience, which
is history. Patrick Henry was not the only one to find no way of judging the future
except by the past. Experience may keep a dear school but it is a necessary school.
The peace worker among the other social
endeavorers must lay experience by the
side of the things to be done, else in the
future, as often in the past, the things that
are done will have to be undone. The
peace movement needs the dignity that
thrives between the dull and the florid, the
realization that the task is interesting be
cause true and convincing. If it can escape
pedantry and ostentation, find its efforts
measured by the failures and successes of
the past, it will find itself in the hearts of
men, winning their judgments and support.
This content downloaded from 195.34.79.223 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 11:13:38 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Advocate of Peace, August, 1930 157
STANDARDS
of measurement for the
further development of the peace movement may yet prove to be largely out side the current standards most familiar to our day. They may have little to do
with money, salaries, memberships, build
ings, publicity, size of organization, stand ardization based on statistics, propaganda or any outward success in terms of brag and crowds. These things may play their
part, but the peace movement cannot af ford to close its doors to the inventors, the
artists, the poets and the prophets, for in its substance there are the spiritual reali ties of courage, confidence and insight. The
most sacred of the Christian sacraments
began in no endowed temple, but in a little
upper room borrowed for the purpose; and that in no hour of success and acclaim, but
among a few anxious men faced with an aweful tragedy.
NE WONDERS how far conven tions now in force between the United
States and a number of governments relative to the smuggling of intoxicating liquors are calculated to promote good feelings toward our government. Each of these conventions has a provision that au thorities of the United States may board
private vessels under a foreign flag out side the limits of the territorial waters of the United States for the purpose of as
certaining whether or not the vessel or
persons on board are endeavoring to im
port or have imported alcoholic beverages into the United States. The provisions go further. On sufficient evidence that such
attempts have been made, or are being made, the United States may seize the vessel and bring it into a port of the United States for adjudication in accord ance with the laws of the United States. The first convention of this kind was
signed by the United States with Great Britain in 1924. Similar conventions are
now ?n force between the United States and Belgium, Cuba, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Pana
ma, Spain, Sweden and Poland. One
signed by the United States with Chile on May 27, 1930, is now pending ratifica tion by the two countries.
qpWO EVENTS calculated to promote
understanding between thoughtful per sons of the United States and Italy were
recently reported by our Ambassador to
Rome, Mr. John W. Garrett. It appears that there is held at Venice every year an
exhibition of painting and sculpture to which "all the world" comes. America has been twice represented there in former
years, but, it is said, inadequately, and in rooms in the main building, which is
ordinarily given up to Italian art or to
exhibitions of minor importance from
countries which have no buildings of their own. All the major countries of Europe have buildings of their own and do not
fail of adequate representation. There are
pavilions flying the flags of France, Great
Britain, Spain, Germany, The Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Belgium, among others. This year for the first time
America is represented by its own build
ing, a satisfactory and beautiful pavilion in the neo-classic colonial style designed by Messrs. Delano and Chester Aldrich
of New York and erected at the expense of the Grand Central Art Galleries. Mr.
Walter L. Clarke, President of the Grand Central Art Galleries, has, with great skill
and labor, brought together some one
hundred paintings and pieces of sculpture
by modern American artists, and although there are some important names lacking,
especially of the younger artists, it is im
pressive to see canvases of Cecilia Beaux,
George Bellows, Frank W. Benson, Charles
Chapman, Childe Hassam, Rockwell Kent, Leon Kroll, Jonas Lie, Gari Melchers, John
This content downloaded from 195.34.79.223 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 11:13:38 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
158 Advocate of Peace, August, 1930
Sloan, and Eugene Speicher, to pick out a few names rather at random; and pieces of sculpture by Malvina A. Hoffman, Paul
Manship, and others. The second event
has been the triumphant tour of the orches tra of the Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York under the leadership of Arthur Toscanini. The presentation to
gether of the greatest conductor and the
greatest orchestra of our time is a revela tion of good music to the people of Europe. Particularly in Italy the combination of this American orchestra and its Italian
Maestro has brought about an enthusiasm and delight that is said not to have been
equalled here before. The orchestra has
given two concerts in Milan, one in Turin, two in Rome, and finished the Italian
part of its tour in Florence. It has been a musical triumph everywhere, and a great debt of gratitude is due to Mr. Clarence Mackey and his colleagues who have sent this splendid embassy of Ameri can art to Europe.
npHERE IS AN international aspiration ? ?
among the artists of the world that
may well give pause to the politicians and reformers. There is a marked tendency away from attitudinizing in art to keep up appearances, away from the imitations of
the old masters and toward an open
mindedness, a stern passion for sincerity,
integrity, truth, a disposition to temper one's personal pr?f?rences with a tolerant
appreciation of different points of view.
The real artists of our day, almost with out exception, aim to place their work
above and beyond the disputes of nations.
They speak a universal language. Nicholas Roerich proposes an international
agreement to raise above museums, art
galleries and cathedrals an individual
flag, claiming and receiving the same im
munity as the flag of the Red Cross, and
thus to protect artistic treasures through
times of madness and destruction. Dun can Philips is editor of Art and Under
standing, a magazine devoted to the en
couragement of tolerance and open-mind edness in art and life and to the cultiva tion of intelligent enjoyment of the inten tions of artists and the varied qualities of their work. He points out that the crea
tive spirit unites. He urges that the crea
tions of a country's contemporary artists be exhibited in legations abroad, and that attach?s be detailed to interpret these to
visitors, as the Honorable Vincent Massey, long Canadian Minister at Washington, has done for the artists of his land. It is diffi cult to conceive of a finer service to the cause of international respect and under
standing.
WflTH APOLOGIES to "The Path "
finder,99 the following amended para graph is printed for no definable reason:
A "Literary Digest."?A "modern Priscilla"
crossed the "Atlantic" in search of an "American
boy" who had gone to help with the "world's work." Having good "success" she found the
"country gentleman" leaning against a "Satur
day evening post" and gazing at an "evening star."
He asked her to be his "youth's companion" and
share his "farm home and fireside." A "pathfinder"
guided them to his home, where the "household"
goods consist mostly of "needlecraft" and old
"farm bureaus." The "current opinion" was that
they would have an "independent" "life," but
after they had enjoyed "farm life" for nearly a "golden age," she received a "dispatch" from a
"Virginia farmer," saying, "come back." She laid
aside her "red book" and said to her "woman's
home companion," I'm going to leave this "cos
mopolitan" country, and return to "America" and
be an "American woman" and an "Advocate oj Peace."
THE REFUSAL of our Department of
State to favor the sale of $2,000,000 worth of bombing airplanes to Russia by a Baltimore company is a logical sequel to the fact that we have no diplomatic relations with Russia. It is a resolution
This content downloaded from 195.34.79.223 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 11:13:38 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Advocate of Peace, August, 1930
of Congress that empowers the President to impose embargoes on the shipment of
military supplies to Latin-American coun
tries and to China. The Department of State is opposed to the shipment of arms even to the government of the Soviet Union of Socialist Republics. One naturally wonders how far this act of the Depart ment may be looked upon as a straw indi
cating the course of events in Eastern
Europe and the Far East.
"T\ES DEVOIRS?DES DROITS" is a phrase engraved over the entrance
to the headquarters of the mayor of
Neuilly, just outside the old walls of
Paris. An English gentleman recently discovered this motto and wrote a letter
about it. In that letter he called atten
tion to the uneasiness in England and to
159
the despondency somewhat prevalent there.
Having recently visited France, he was
impressed by the facts that there is no un
employment in France and that taxation is falling. He is greatly impressed by the order of the words in the motto. First, duty to the nation: then such rights as the performance of that duty has merited.
He asks: "If France has engraved this
principle not only on the stone of her
building but also on the minds of her citi
zens, is it not at the same time a possible explanation of her better condition and an
example to ourselves?" He adds: "Is it too much to hope that our politicians and and the majority of our electorate may one
day see the life of the nation in that light? If so, there is ground for hope." The Advocate of Peace is too well acquainted with the epic grandeur of Britain to doubt the outcome in that land.
WORLD PROBLEMS IN REVIEW
LEAGUE OF NATIONS COVENANT AND THE KELLOGG PACT
THE most important item on the agenda
of the Eleventh Assembly of the League of Nations, which will open in Geneva on
September 11, is the discussion of the Re port of the Committee for the Amendment of the Covenant of the League of Nations in Order to Bring it into Harmony with the Pact of Paris (the Kellogg Pact). This
Committee, which was appointed by the
League Council at its session of January, 1930, in execution of the Tenth Assembly's resolution of September 24, 1929, sat at Geneva from February 25 to March 5, 1930. It elaborated a number of proposals
which are now to be submitted to the League Assembly.
Committee's Terms of Reference and
Composition
The Committee's terms of reference were
embodied in the Tenth Assembly's resolu tion, which read as follows:
The Assembly,
Taking note of the resolution submitted to it on
September 6th on behalf of various delegations
that, in view of the large measure of acceptance obtained by the Pact signed at Paris on August
27th, 1928, whereby the parties renounced war as
an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another, it is desirable that Articles 12
and 15 of the Covenant of the League of Nations
should be be re-examined in order to determine whether it is necessary to make any modifications
therein; and
Taking note also of the resolution proposed by the Peruvian delegation on September 10th recom
mending that a report should be obtained as to the
alterations which were necessary in the Covenant of the League in order to give effect to the pro hibitions contained in the Pact of Paris:
Declares that it is desirable that the terms of the Covenant of the League should not accord any
This content downloaded from 195.34.79.223 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 11:13:38 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions