This column first appeared in the Victoria Daily Times on Sept. 16, 1939.
A woman who had two sons in the last war wrote these words in a letter: “Surely some great good will come out of so much suffering. Our home is broken and empty but I am not without hope. Some day, you will return, improved by this awful experience; for by experience we grow bigger and get a deeper insight in life and its mysteries.”
And now one of the sons to whom this letter was written has evolved a plan whereby the democratic countries of the world may be united for mutual protection, just as the states of the United States have been able to weld themselves into one country without loss of identity or freedom.
It is no easy job to be a democrat in these searing days. A democracy has to have intelligence in its people, and not only intelligence but character. Self-governed people have to be alert, intelligent and honest if democracy is to endure.
A number of books have been written on this theme of union, showing that the mind of the people is being stimulated by the present crisis. Everyone knows something has to be done.
Countries cannot go on arming and manoeuvring in front of each other to show their strength for ever. It is both dangerous and expensive, and will end in either an explosion, which will leave a large portion of the earth in ashes, or a sudden return to sanity.
When people’s nerves are worn raw, as they are in this moment, there is no cure like good, honest hard work. Every woman knows that. A bad-tempered woman is usually an excellent housekeeper. She loves to beat and scour and scrub. There is no use of saying to us now, be calm. We have been calm too long. Get busy, is much better advice.
Here, in Canada, we are disposed to feel very critical of the German people, and their placid acceptance of the loss of their liberty. I am not so sure that we can afford to be critical of anyone.
A large proportion of our own people are not much interested in national or international affairs. We have just come through a campaign to prevent the introduction of beer parlours in the capital city of British Columbia, and I have been amazed to find that many of our women quite calmly admit that they are not interested enough to even have their names on the voters’ list. Comfort and security have their dangers.
Women’s organizations, with their study clubs, are doing an excellent work, but their scope is too limited. Only 10 per cent of the women of Canada belong to any organization. But with the quickening of events in Europe, it appears that the day of complacency is drawing to a close.
The plan for security, which is outlined in the book entitled Union Now, is unquestionably one that is worthy of study. Think what it would mean to have Canada, Great Britain, the United States, Scandinavia, Holland, Belgium and Switzerland in one union, with the same currency, postage and communication system, and best of all, an open door to any other country that would want to come in.
Such a union, if successful, would draw other countries like a magnet. The little countries of Europe, fighting now to preserve their identity, know they have about as much chance as a flock of white chickens on a plowed field with hawks in the sky.
Machines have changed the world. Mexico still uses the wooden plow and wants to be left alone. So did Ethiopia. We are all one now, whether we like it or not, and nothing short of a world government must be our aim. Science and invention have driven us to this. Distance is no longer a thing of miles, but of minutes.
The League of Nations was a noble experiment, but it failed because certain nations were not ready for unselfish action.
The plan outlined in Clarence K. Straight’s book attacks the same problem in another way. He says, let us form a union of the countries that are like-minded, believing in the rights of man as opposed to the sovereignty of the state. Every person wants peace, freedom, security and a measure of comfort, but to this desire must be added the knowledge that these blessings are unlimited and do not need to be filched from someone else.
I am writing this with interruptions. Each half-hour or so there are radio broadcasts from Europe, telling of mobilized troops, cancelled steamship sailings, border incidents, food rationing, appeals for peace from world leaders — prayers in the churches. The whole world waits breathless and agonized for the decision of one man.
The time does not encourage constructive thought. When I read Straight’s book now, in the interval of radio news, it seems like writing an insurance policy on a house when the flames are already licking at the foundation. It is hard to believe that this lovely world is going to be destroyed. The world that has been patiently built by earnest men and women of all countries.
Twenty-five years ago, we knew nothing about war until it suddenly cracked down on us one fine August afternoon. Now we know much, but the knowledge is no advantage to us. Knowledge is no longer power.
Last night, we heard editorials from the London morning papers, read to us as they came on the streets. We heard voices from Moscow, Berlin and Paris, which told us of the anxious crowds standing waiting for news. We know exactly what these people look like, and we know how they feel.
The people are the same in all countries. They do not want war — not one of them. If the issue were in their hands, the world would be safe.
Vincent Sheean, in his new book entitled Not Peace But a Sword says we have to learn not to trust the diplomats or dictators, but rather to depend on the good sense of the common people. And so today I feel that the only hope of the world lies, at this moment, with the common people of Germany, who ride on streetcars, set alarm clocks, go to picture shows, pay insurance premiums, own dogs, save coupons for silverware, wash on Monday, pay taxes, love their children, flowers and music.
The blow has fallen, we are at war!
The news came crashing through the quiet night, like a stone through a window. Killing our hopes and mocking our prayers.
Bombs are falling and people are dying — the wrong people.
The common people have again been betrayed.
But this is no time to grow panicky and wring our hands. It is still our world, full of beauty and goodness.
Life must go on, and we must hold steady. The constructive forces are needed more than ever. This is not the time for recriminations. Whatever has happened in the past, the issues now are clear. We must keep alive faith’s flickering flame. God has not deserted the world.
There is much to be done if we are to keep the poison gas of war from penetrating our homes, our schools and our churches. Above all, let us guard ourselves and our children from the hysteria of hatred, and we can do that only by a new drive on selfishness and complacency in our own hearts.
We won the last war, but we lost the peace by being too full of hatred and revenge.
