Ids 3 /y33 i UC-NRLF B 3 fi^M ^2^ RUNG CHAP BOOKS iDAKICHI HARTMANN rmanent Peace : it a Dream ? UTED BY GUIDO BRUNO IN HIS GARRET ON ASHINGTON SQUARE. NEW YORK ctobcr 1915 Fifteen Cents H-33 BRUNO CHAP BOOKS Vol. 2 OCTOBER 1915 No. 4 Permanent Peace: Is it a Dream? By Sadakichi Hartmann \V^H01:\'I:R has strolled tliroush the palace of Versailles, through the endless picture galleries, one suite of rooms followiiii; the other, tilled with nothing hut battle paintings and military scenes, mostly of enormous size and mediocre work- manship, must have felt weary and amazed, a dull sort of irrita- tion and indignation, at this waste of effort and this persistent rlnrification of warfare. But a sojourn in Berlin proves even more nauseating in this respect. On every square, at the end of every thoroughfare looms some soldier monument, equestrian figure, victory column ; entire avenues are flanked with portrait statues of former war heroes, as if the population were devoted exclusively to the worship of Mars and I'.cl!i)na. Mvcn v.e, an unmilitary though not necessarily more peace-loving nation (we have a record of eighteen wars and disturhances 1. insist on dotting out parks and squares with hard bronzcn statues of military men. while poets, scientists, statesmen and philan- thropists are thrown in only occasionally for good measure. There is something strangely inconsistent ahcut this homage to fighting men, when we consider the troubled times of the past wherever violence becanie a i^ece^sity ami the joy over victories was mingled with sorrow and suflfering. It sei-ms that the fascination is primarily one of the senses. We all are fond of show and parades, hunting and flags, brass band anf trving to n- wn career. For her colonial warf.nre (ire.nt I'.ritain ha- i ■■ i. ,..ulty in recruiting a s'lfticj^nt number of Nolnnteers, and there is no gainsay that T'»tnmy Atkins is tl;e genuine soldier, by entering the service voluntarily and regarding it as a rrgular profession, and that there is sometliing fascinating. mSOoOTo 54 Bruno Chap Books wild and strange in the pursuit. American recruiting is less successful because it lacks the glamor, change and excitement of British service. Yet no man, and woman still less, in times of peace, reasoning logically, would deny that war is a terrible calamity. There they lie in trenches oposite each other, their feet in mud, exposed to rain, heat and cold, fed like Spartans, shooting away at some unknown opponent and shot at again in return, fre- quently killed or maimed for life without having seen the enemy. What are their thoughts during the long nightwatches lit up only with searchlights, rockets and fiery shells? They have no interest at stake in this mole work, no cause at issue in these endless attacks and counter attacks, no passion or hatred to gratify. They are mostly men from the ordinary walks of life, torn away from their humble vocations, forced to leave their family, women, old folks and children, to shift for themselves. They are summoned to the fields by the authorities and now set their hearts against bayonets and by command press madly to some battery's blazing tier. Is there anything more unjust than to have women give life to male offspring, to rear them to manhood, merely to see them march away to be killed from afar just as if they were cattle raised for the slaughter house. And what atones for the mother's agony, for starvation and destitution, for homes destroyed by shell and fire, for children sent adrift and outraged daughters? But is it not all for the glory of the nation, for the defense of the flag, for the protection of the home, for self preservation, libert}', safety, future welfare! So they are told, and the naiiJC of the dead soldier is used to glorify the bloody deeds of war, that others may follow without questioning. Why are wars fought? There are now eleven countries en- gaged in war, more may be drawn into it at any moment. Can any layman discern and explain 'the different sources from whence the present events have taken rise ! The Germans are said to fight for their country, for the de- feat of Pan Slavism, the Allies for self preservation, to subdue German militarism. One could just as well assert that they fight for the control of China. And "so each nation claims to have been forced into it and to fight for the right, while they compete in reality for commercial supremacy. War is the logical result of eager competition. Whenever a nation is be- coming too powerful, and endangering the money and trade interests of other countries, a declaration of war is brought about, to balance matters and to stop progress, momentarily at least, where it is not wanted. Goods made in Germany have been too successful not to arouse envy. In a few years the scale of events may turn, and they may be all fighting Russia. Tust as Japan will be engaged in a prolonged series of wars in the East. Japan needs trade expansion as acutely as its Bhuno Chap Books S.s daily ratioi i rice. So doi ^ China, Siam, Nepal and the variuiii dcijciukncics, bul Japan is best prepared to exert itself, it wants t'» reap the harvest and will not mind a lew campaigns of conquest if seriously opposed. Wars are invariably fought for strictly material reasons. It is claimed that wars are no longer possible for pure pur- poses of conquest, or the gratification of the whims of some potentate. Is there such a great difference between kings and ruling parties, between conquest and trade or colonial expan- sion. Only the pretext has been changed. Although humanity is sodden with the pursuit of gain, a population might not be quite as obedient al>out going to war, if the reasons urged made not some direct appeal to humanitarian sentiment. There must be a pretext, in the form of an ethical excuse. As to the real cause the masses remain in the dark. It is secret history. War is arranged in tinancial circles with the co- operation of the military party and international diplomacy-. Tho n;oncy interests are in the hands of the few, thus it is capitalism that instigates war, just as the Church and Imperial- ism in former centuries. The casus belli, like the assassination of the .Austrian archduke, at Serajevoi, the Kms despatch, the firing in Fort Sumter, the blowing up of the Maine, is never more than an incident. The honor of a nation does not allow sucli or such a thing to occur, war agitation has generally pre- ceded it, so it is comparatively easy when the moment is ripe to stir up war sentiment and to conceal the real cause, which often originates from no purer source than human passions and selfish motives. Tl'.c crusaders marched to Palestine, no doubt, many of them \y\iU fri,. r,.'.,M.,i]s fauaticism. It had been artificially aroused. It pretext, to put an end to occasional Christian n- t » regain the possession of the Sepulchre. But the real motive of pontifT and princes was to oppose the progress of the Ottomans and to enrich themselves, in short an invasion of conquest and aggrandisement. Even in wars of independence, it can hardly l>e said that war is forced upon a country. If abuses in a dependency exist and continue, become insufferable, if there is no redress, then tb- - I'd community is t - ' • ' .:iize its power for il' uch a way as is v cure its safety and h • >r the future. I •♦ »'■• --■••-'••. are sf rial and flow froi;^ rtics. T .k was the result i • . ... ation a: :.in. The Knglish from modest demands in the b- if*rned their program of exploitation more boldly ai f-very year. The more powerful party is always d 'he part of thr ^^n'-y^T. Wr. on the other hand. C' at first, but gradu- al changes. Humble rctIl")^^traIn:c^ tii.mgcn ii-.to rev >ii:t:' 'Mary ucinands. It was im- 56 Bruno Chap Books possible to remain indifferent. Little by little the majority was imbued with the spirit of revolt, and the result was war. And the cause of our secession war ! Freedom for the slaves was the avowed object of the abolitionist agitation, while be- neath it lurked an unusually vehement party strife of politi- cians. The South had been the most powerful factor in politics. The Northern party leaders coveted this same power. The discontent over the supposed advantages the South derived from the maintenance of slavery also did not help matters. Decked out with humanitarian appeals abolition was made the ostensible issue. The Secessionists resented this and advocated disunion. Through the Missouri Compromise the States were geographically divided, and the long threatened outbreak finally came because both parties (not the masses) could not restrain themselves any longer. The trouble had been brewing for forty years. Was Pacific abolition an absolute impossibility? Even "bar- baric" Russia in 1857 accomplished the liberation of the serfs in a peaceful manner. Was it done for the sake of humani- tarian principles? Hardly. It was the dread of a violent peasant uprising. There had been so many peasant insurrections that it was thought wisest to make the sacrifice. In Russia it was the nobility, a small minority, versus the entire farming popu- lation, while here were two parties, equally unprepared and equally resourceful. Both parties felt too strong to make any concessions. The inevitable result was war. If it is true that the hostilities of nations are prompted by material contrivances, each war should prove its economic justi- fication. This seems to be difficult to believe, when we consider the enormous war loans and the decline of exports. Take the case of any of the belligerent countries. Each country has been selhng to all the countries she is fighting. The idea that a nation could possibly gain foreign trade by fighting some of her biggest customers, cutting off a considerable percentage of its business seems to be visionary. But it works merely like an investment on a gigantic scale. The momentary losses and the expenditure represent the investment. War means to the victor new openings and opportunities to increase national wealth and prestige. To lose the war is the risk that is run. But even vanquished nations, if not entirely annihilated and annexed, have a wonderful recuperating power. Look at France after the Franco German war, with its World's Exposition in 1878. The individual is only indirectly a beneficiary. But the strenghtening, development, expansion of the material resources of a nation can not be censured as being a guilty or vain am- bition. What would have happened if we had lost the Inde- pendence war. Another war and another war until we had bought our freedom by roll of cannon and clash of arms. It is now a proposition so remote that it is difficult even to imagine Bruno CiiAH Hooks 57 it. liut \sc arc prtnul tli.it it has happened ami coiisiiler it worth all the sacnhccs that were made fur it. And there lies the deep rooted trouhle, if a victorious nation is a hcneficiary, the chancej for a world's peace become very nebulous indeed. But the human mind is obstinate, it there must be wars ai there apparently have to be and the individual can do nothiuR to prevent them, it insists at least on "civilized warfare." Uy this is meant Red Cross service and relief funds, a more rational treatment of war prisoners, the regulation of shippiuR. the safety of neutrals, armistices to bury the dead, the prohibition of sacking" evacuated towns, of killing the wounnded and firing on civilians, and all those principles that have been decided upon at the Geneva Conventions to regulate the conduct of an army during war and that are supjiosed somcwiiat to ameloriate evils. It is of no avail. Civilized warfare is a paradox. Warfare, premedidated wholesale slaughter can not be civilized. To send battle ships with their entire crew to the bottom of the sea. to sacrifice an entire regiment in storming an entrenchment, without any special purpose, to have it retaken by the enemy on the morrow, to bombard towns and to figlit big battles where the casualities run into the hundred thousands are in the words of \'oltaire not the work of God but of the devil, some sinister Siwa bent on cruel, merciless destruction. There is no difference whether one is clubbed down with a morning star and pierced by a halberd, or torn to pieces by shrapnel and throttled by asphyxiating gas. One is as barbarous as the other. Only modern war has become more scientifically cruel. The mucular strength has dwindled down to naught. As for atrocities: atrocities, acts of savagery, cross viola- tions of rules have occurred in every war, and non-combatants in invaded territories are naturally the scapegoats. But war in itself is such an outrage and atrocity that all minor inci- dents of executions and the killing of neutrals seem trivial beside it. The writer was brought up on atrocity tales of hor- rible mutilations of wounded and dead supposed to have been perpetrated by Zouaves and Turcos on the Franco-German battle fields. It is more than likely that they were not talcs but approximating the truth. Society, even by the infliction of the death penalty, can not alK)lish murder. How then can one expect that, when men arc sent deliberately to slaughter each other, some will not give full vent to their latent murderous instincts and commit heinous crimes just for the sake of com- mitting them, and even gloat over their bloody deeds. But do not blame the offender, the commanding oflicer or even the nation too h3rody in war times can be trusted for absolute impar- tiality. Even literary men arc not to be relied upon. They arc swayed too much by their temperament, the picturcsqucness of events and their particular theories. Has not Napoleon been lauded to the sky by Byron and Ilcitie, and utterly damned by Hugo and Tolstoi? Poets a^-c too often the echo of public sentiment, and too easily influenced to show off their talent in inflammatory odes and denunciatory lyrics. The majority of our New Kngland poets turned rabid al)olitionists, even studious I.owell. and coldly reasoning b'nicrson. and Whittier (most extraordinary for a Quaker) shouted himself almost hoarse in his \oices of Freedom. But there are higher and noI>ler strains of thought, namely those which emenatc from religion and philosophy. If there is a higher standard of the principles of humanity and justice, which according to most religious writings from the Zend Avcsta to Christian Science should govern the con- duct of man and which mankind has accepted for guidance, would we not come to the co-v:lis:on that war is absolutely uncondonable, that it does not iT-atter whr.t nation wins, as the victor as well as the oppone.-.t has contributed a crimson stain on the tattered pages of the history of human progress. What has become of the idea! of the brotherhood of man I Docs not the doctrine Love Thy N'eighlKjr .-Xs Thyself sound like a travesty in the state of pre>cnt events ! Docs it not tread profanely on the cherished scrolls of law and creed! We arc prone to put the blame on one individual, while indirectly and from the viewpoint of the highest tribunal, we all are equally at fault. There is too much of the wolf, the fox. the hog in all of us, in Mr. Ki«ckefeller. as well as in you, kind reader, and the writer of thc^e lines. We ourselves, each of us, should aspire to a better, e annulled ? And would it frighten a Freilcrick the Great, a Napoleon, or the ruling parties of such a nation into early peace overtures? Docs not Germany fight four of its ncighlwrs now? No. the result 64 Bruno Chap Books would be a new imbroglio, another world's war. There exists at least the danger of such an issue. Nevertheless, the idea of a permanent international court of justice, a council of the nations, and an international police (or rather army) seems to be the most plausible to aspire to. How these things will come about, or how, is not so much the question, as the existence of such a desire in the mind of man. And it may be true that it would require but a slight development in the laws of international relations to assert the right of arbitration as a duty towards the welfare of the human race. The introduction of an international police looks particularly well on paper. Just as we maintain peace in a community, peace might be kept among the nations. The members of a community wish to be protected from nuisance, theft, assault and maintain a police for the defense of a peace to this purpose. Former disturbances as Fehde and Vendetta, tribal feuds and religious persecutions belong to the past or are under control in most countries. And just as merchants, shipmasters and others within some ports have an arbitral court to go to for the hearing and prompt settlement of controversies, nations should have a world's tribunal. Yet the troubles of nations are more intricate than the squabbles of individuals, or even the internal differences of a state or province. Other difficulties lie in establishing an arbitral court with sufficient executive power to enforce the realization of its verdicts; and the selection of the right kind of judges, honest, learned and influential men, enthusiastically absorbed in their task beyond any party interests, not unlike the podesta of medieval Italj% who enjoyed absolute jurisdiction within their allotted township, but who were forced to live unmarried and isolated with their retinue, not coming into contact with anybody during their official term, to assure absolute impartiality of judgment. There is still another method that might bring about the desired solution. To declare war is still the privilege of the supreme heads of governments or representative bodies. Why not leave the decision, whether a war is wanted or not, to a vote of the entire population, in a similar manner as communities vote on questions of prohibition. Universal sufferage should be applied to dispel the warclouds, as Kant has argued in his treaties. "Zum Ewigen Frieden," so that the responsibility of devastations by flame and steel would be equally shared by each citizen. Surely the in- dividual who has to do the fighting and to paj- the war taxes has a right in the matter. In what direction would the ma«ses turn the trembling scale, war or peace. It is more than likely that in most cases, particularly if women were allowed to participate, the result of the ballot would be a decided nay. All we who are inclined that way, can do at present is to Hki'No CiiAi- FLOORS (..S think and arniic peace. The advocates of peace at any price, offer peace with honor, or those ulio wish to enforce peace by consultation or opposition, are all working for a good cause. Let the good work go on. It will lielp to burn into the hearts of the people that there are better ways than war to settle international disputes. Of course, talk alone is futile. The task demands special exploitation, a special type of men who combine the knowl- edge of international law of a Bluntschli with practical states- manship, who know how to trace the origin of events and ctinditions and who understand to apply these observations practically to those international di>tempers they would be called to cure. It will advance at least — what the world lias heeded at all times — a better understanding among nations, a closer ad- herence to mutual support and a warmer realization of the unity of himian interests irrespective of boundaries. The juncture for more friendly relations among nations is now as favorable as at any other time. 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