WHERE THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS FAILS
Hughan, Jessie W.
Where the League of Nations Fails Democratic and Effective Organization Can Come Only With a New Social Order ; By Jessie W. Hughan jhakor of "A Study of Intemai fond Government," "The...
...but he's getting old, and besides he's a Socialist.'* His voice sank on tbe last word with a huakjj, penetrating note that plainly said...
...said I ought to be taken out and shot, or tarred and feathered...
...lately between Syria, France and Morocco, A=*nd so on, and the league has paid ab^solutely no attention to those little wars...
...He reached a sort of spiritual high tide when he succeeded in bringing Kate Richards O'Hare to lecture at Bethel in the late winter of 1(24...
...Not only are the straggling homes which border the water's edge affected...
...New, that i* what ia tailing place (a the council, *eur natiens hav* the permanent seats, and the small group of ton natione has the power to sway the world...
...That is what has happened after Ave years...
...The third point where we radicals feel that the League of Nations is hopelessly inadequate, in that it is not a league of peoples, but a league of governments...
...the biographer...
...They are between the two...
...I'd put up a stand in my front yard and often a big crowd would gather and listen...
...1»2...
...Gives to Party in His Will The old man had two traits "that are always proof of a noble nature: He waa charitable and kindly in Judging men and generous in all his dealings...
...People that I'd known all my life didn't want to be seen about me...
...We) know there Is no equality...
...But he was hopeful over the backsliders...
...a well behaved crowd, too...
...It waa a sheer delight to observe the pleasure that the old man got out of the performance...
...That doeiTnot soaan Bka a* vary ievolutionary suggestJBSL Why atjoam they not be elected according ^o the population of the Of wdPse, that might be abused...
...On the other band, however, the great powers have pleased the little powers by making tbe assembly a socalled democracy...
...Now if some live, intelligent young man would take up tbe work"— with' a hopeful probing glance at me...
...Sims...
...Young people are thoughtless...
...As Frank Harris, that master biographer, has said, a man with no outstanding vices or faults is a difficult subject for...
...81ms...
...Friends I have in the assembly always tell me what a delightful thing it ia to see sitting in one room tbe representatives of little Liberia...
...are now melting in the mountains and hills and pouring down into the valley of the Rhine...
...There hi no provision for electing them by tbe people...
...Denmark...
...Socialism, Communism, war...
...Last November...
...But tbey do not mitigate the fact that in to* neighborhood of tt.000 people are unemployed because of the inundations...
...But I didn't quit, believe me...
...Conscious that he must make tire, most of the rare occasion, he sat with a look or nervous expectancy a packet of papers poised ln bis hand ready to throw out at the mail box for which I was slowing down...
...Tbe amount of the damage* is difficult to estimate, but it will probably approximate II minion (IS.000,680) marks...
...I asked him about tbe "local.'* The War Terror Camas "We used to have good meetings," he replied with gentle regret, "twelve or fifteen would meet here at night...
...and I little thought that rd be living In it, and repairing shoes in the same room where I waa than sitting on, a horsehair sofa...
...Tbe article says that there-can be no amendment te tbe constitution ot the League of Rations unless that amendment is ratiSad by every one of tbe nations represented in the council...
...Some day, Ausman, all this-" but a sail .box coming inexorably toward him, like a guide post' pointing to duty, sent bim feverishly reaching for another packet...
...The dreamy and imaginative part of his nature waa drawn by tbe beauty of tbe countryside.' all ripe and warm in the soft glow of Indian summer...
...The publications which he read were never withouf fresh appeals for aid...
...His nose was that of a Viking, thin and beaked, the mouth waa hidden by a drooping gray mustache, fronv under which was thrust a good, firm chin...
...His voice waa gentle, and he spoke with a hesitating thoughtfulnees that suggested a desire, to be fairminded above all things, i thought of him as a fine old parchment that had been washed and bleached, used over and over, but was still pliant and fresh...
...because the negroes are not enfranchised...
...I simply sat and feasted my eyes with tbe delightful t chaos about me...
...Haiti and...
...I, a stranger to bim, came away from our first meeting loaded with tbe books that be had pressed upon me—and he had my subscription to the "Appeal...
...His generosity and firm adherence to his ideals were shown to the very last when he made a will leaving a substantial sum to the Socialist party...
...Every package that goes out of this shop Is a bomb, Ausman, loaded with ammunition to help destroy tbe system...
...One mellow October day I took him on a trip to scatter papers and leaflets along the country roads...
...As I was then new to Bethel I asked my grocer where I could get a pair of shoes halfsoled...
...The boys would come at night and throw bricks against the front door...
...AFTER the war, the deluge...
...From Mains north, the picture is every where the same...
...Tomorrow, they hope to resume the electric train service across the river...
...Norway and Sweden ml km* that are tar ln**advance of most of ue—are pot down on an equality with Liberia, Haiti, Dominican Republic and 81am...
...Where the League of Nations Fails Democratic and Effective Organization Can Come Only With a New Social Order ; By Jessie W. Hughan jhakor of "A Study of Intemai fond Government," "The Facts '•¦ of Present-Day Socialism," 44c...
...Now it is five years since the league camcinto operation, and I think their last report was something like this: that they would combine to think about the possibility of having a committee prepare an investigation which may be used in ease there is a conference to draw up plans for possible disarmament...
...In a town of 1,400 people be was tbe only person Interested in Ideas—the only person with whom a conversation, of more than five minutes was at all enlurable, I first met bim about 1920...
...Suppose Liberia or Haiti or tbe Dominican Republic opposed the great powers...
...If tbe cast was successful he settled back with a serenely childlike smile of triumph, if not he gazed backward for a wbUe and then drew bis head in with a hopeful "Somebody will pick it up—most likely...
...But there is a most careful provision for making them responsible to the governments...
...Heroic tola* are told of rescue, of attempts te salvage goofs and belongings, of efforts to get bread to the hungry...
...That Power ln that Laague How'absurd it I* to think of a new social order with ftfty-fivs, I think it is, nations governed by a council on which there are four permanent members I When we think of the international organisation of Europe approaching the organisation of the Ueited States, wo must imagine what it would have bee* like if, whan the United •tats* Constitution was founded, this provision had beam hi the Can- . stitution: New York, Pennsylvania, . Massachusetts an*} Virginia will forever hav* the vat* est everything that ie done by the United States Government...
...The First Meeting I found him at work in his shop, a thin, slightly stooped man ot about seventy...
...One could only surmise that they formed the border of a roedw^ 'q entirely Invisible...
...That is a League of Nations that may come under the new social order...
...books on Russia, on militarism, on labor...
...Why we used to have speakers here...
...Who knows what may come of tbe thoughts aroused in some farm boy's mind by reading one of these papers...
...That was the time of slowly ebbing .war fever in the small towns...
...Heaps of debris floating by, caught In buildings...
...After so much mobbing was done I got me this"—he showed me a high-powered, repeating rifle—"I made up my mind that If any pack of cowards came after me there would be more than one funeral in this town—I used to be a good rifle shot...
...Under the new social 'Order, however, pes re will come, because that order will «Jme by the rule of tbe people...
...Had I spent an hour there without first having met Mr...
...Of course, that could very easily and simply bo eliminated by changing that article, but I Believe that article will never bo ¦ changed until the new social order arrives, because It is in the Interest of tbe present capitalisation...
...There Is no provision to make them responsible to the people...
...They hav* mad* a fiction of equality among tbe nations In the assembly, which la very spectacular to the people wbo visited it...
...This slow letting down continued untn paralysis brought tbe end, January 17...
...I saw him tbe next day after the O'Hare lecture, for which be had acted as guarantor...
...Sims I should have come away with a fairly accurate Idea of bis personality...
...He looked at me with wild surprise, a Uttle hurt perhaps...
...Everything musy^be ratified by the governments, so much so that tbe few things they have* don* have still been unratified and have not gone into operation...
...bis vole* suddenly changed, from the tone of gentle aoliloquy u> that of deep, measured anathema—"they don't realise what a Goddamned system they're living under...
...That means that/ tor all time the League ef Nations Covenant can never bo amended with-1 SCt the consent of Great Britain...
...A slimy, dirty stream, whose smell forma a strange contrast to that of to* amok* issuing from every open door...
...On* could see the smarts and stains of to* devastating floods...
...OLD AOS COMES One day X waa Working for bun at papering and painting the shop...
...Daises flowing on tbe east aid* ot the street...
...The present Lieague of Nations is* net hi any sense a league of the people...
...We believe that representatives in governments should not bo according to the government but according to the' number of people, and I am quite sure that under the new social order tbe repremtaftS^t the world...
...He lent bis books with an open-heartedness 'that shamed me...
...The heavy...
...Of course, ft might be abased...
...And—there's Mr...
...His unique and Interesting personality and bis courageous Dhamploning of bis ideals, tbe high unselfishness that was tbe core of bis being, are worthy of record...
...Italy, { France and Japan...
...I kept right on telling them that the boys were fighting for Wall Street, that Wilaon was a hypocrite and that they were a pack of sheep...
...The last tew years ' of bis life were saddened by the thought that the war bad swept away everything he bad so painfully built...
...There is no democracy within it...
...The tracks have been for days under water...
...Tbe tragic thing about the League ot Nations la that such nations as Switzerland...
...Meet of the members were bluffed out and quit...
...Coming into Mains yesterday, one could Imagine oneself in the deltas of a vast tropical stream...
...The poor man bad been sneered at so often tor engaging ln things that yielded no profit that he hesitated to let me know the truth...
...Tbe soul of the man looked out from bis eyes...
...There's a fine young fellow two blocks down on this side that does good work...
...The immediate danger of stemming tbe surging tide Is followed by the urgent need of succor for the thousand* of homeless, hungry people...
...They hav* abeotutaty no power, and there Is a fictitious equality in the assembly Which has tbe effect of disenfranchising an the aas)a*bam1 powers...
...His body became frailer and the pale moving hand did not sweep so broadly as it used when he talked...
...The shop was as distinctive as tbe man...
...A word to the wise Is sufficient-'' I thanked bun and gave him an understanding nod, an assurance that I wouldn't think of having my shoes repaired/by a Socialist, and went in search ot Mr...
...I put leaflets and pamphlets in the shoes and then wrap them in "Calls" or "Appeals...
...New blood Is what we need...
...It will-allow progress4...
...The first is this: That the future League, the future international organization will-be a flexible organization...
...Rows of tree tops standing out In uniform regularity to the midst of a flowing torrent...
...I courted a girl In this same room, fifty years ago," he said musingly...
...He hesitated a moment, as if afraid' to speak, and then said, with a forced tune of triumph: *T onlr lost sixteen dollars...
...there are no shadows to relieve the highlights...
...books by Sinclair, Buskin, Mills...
...Hie gentle courtesy and distinctive features aroused my interest from the first and I quickly found that I liked tbe old man...
...In act, in the entire Covenant I think ' there Is not a' word of democracy or rUot a suggestion of democracy, even though it .came as a result of, the war that wss to "make tbe world safe for democracy.** i The representatives of the League of Nations'are not to be elected by tbe nation...
...On one side of tbe room bung a framed charter authorising the existence of a local Socialist party...
...It will not be a League to perpetuate its status quo...
...But during tbe war everything changed...
...I get all my work done by him...
...It la not a league of people, and, erven taking it as a league of governments, the League of Nations is not democratic enough as a league of governments for the new social order...
...Ships perched at curious angles in impossible places...
...Tbe mantel of the old-fashioned, closed fireplace displayed pictures of Debs and Marx, and several cartoons, cut from the '"Milwaukee Leader," kept them company...
...In the Covenant there Were two things that all the world rejoiced at: one was the provision that the council should formulate plans for the reduction of armament...
...He is worth writing of because there are tew like him...
...Certainly he was a rare nature and worthy of notice beyond hla village...
...Houses rising up unexpectedly in mid-stream...
...The whole Rhine district is again plunged into unspeakable suffering, famine and despair...
...But I didn't teal aa if I were called to save Bethel, and so kept silence...
...In the Coblens district alone more than lt.000 house* war* ravaged and more than 18,000 families were affected...
...jMHERETare three things that I the new social order will .**¦ demand of the League of Rations...
...be talked more of finding a young man to carry on the work he bad sfaxted and le"8 ot what he would do himself...
...But we could make the League of Nations do Just what wo could do in the United States...
...Just as It is hi tbe United States, where we know We bav*> representatives from the South who do not represent the colored population at all...
...snows of December, followed by almost incessant rains for nearly two weeks...
...The change of manner was so sudden, and so characteristic that I shouted with laughter...
...Then tbe Covenant provided, as we all know, for arbitration for the nations refusing te go-to war until three months after the notification and decision by tbe /Council, for an economic boycott in case any nation did go to war, and for possible military operalions, and so on...
...Mild, blue eyes they were—almost violet-blue, the gaze direct, frank and benevolent...
...It will not'begin with a League of Nations using force as weapons...
...Tbe water* hav* been falling steadily now for several days...
...and so I've bad to do bis portrait as beet I could without shadows...
...There 1* nothing Insurmountable at all in having the League of Nations the Learnt of People if we could get over this notion of sovereignty, this notion that each nation is proficient and owns its own territory and its own people...
...they fail in love and marry and think they'll be happy...
...I save 'em all and send 'em ail out...
...Of course, it would not be difficult under a new social order to arrange for a popular order in the League of Nations...
...when the Protocol .was proposed which would carry out the provisions of the Covenant, that Protocol did not go through...
...If Joe 81ms bad any vices worthy of the name he concealed them weU...
...I feel that we radical Americana canMtt advocate the League of Nations until Article M, at the end of tbe 'Covenant, is stricken oat...
...I've been in business here for fifty years and no man can say that I ever wronged nun —but tbey treated me as if I waa a leper...
...Nearing ¦ and...
...Tbougfe be oft on bored me with hla dj/tribe* against Wall street and the "system.'* still I venerated Joe Sims for tbe sheer loving kindness that was always to bim...
...London...
...Joe Sims: Small Town Socialist The Lone Socialist Worker Of Bethel Ends His Story By Samuel Ausman ££-f~\ LD JOE" SIMS, the...
...Her father owned this bouse then...
...Books and papers Swere everywhere...
...But like a brave old prophet he continued to cry out in the wilderness about him...
...As old age crept upon Joe Sims be realised more and more the vastnese of the fields ef Indifference and stupidity that lay about bim, and this thought spurred him to ever renewed efforts at making proselytes...
...SUFFERING IN THE RHINE By Nellie Seeds Nearing Coblenz, Germany...
...tbe new Dominican Republic on an equality with the representatives ot Great Britain, Italy and France...
...In Coblens the business street, immediately facing the river, wag under water to the height ot the second story...
...It will •fSome only by the triumph of Socialism in a broad sense, it will be a new social order without war, and therefore it will begin with disarmament...
...Such a* he are the salt of the earth...
...Tbe new social order ' will have to be an order of the people— ' of the people of the world...
...Tbe worst of the flood Is over, howaver...
...We could absolutely make the representation In proportion to tbe enfranchised population, so nations like India and so on would not have a large representation than tbey are entitled to and we could do what tbe United States also has a right to do—have certain committees to eee that the representation was properly carried out...
...And everybody said, Ptbat war has gone on sine* *V—terrible wars between 1 Greece...
...after that I noticed a gradual abating ot the moor-fires...
...From, a lecture before the League for Industrial Democracy...
...It does not abolish war and it Stems to give practically no hope of abolishing war...
...Neither Locarno nor the League of Nations will feed the hungry unem...
...imprisoned L W. W.'s, labor leaders and liberals, starving Russians and Germans, tbe Old "Appear* on its hurt legs, ail wrung bis heart and pocket to the limit...
...that the, League of Nations does not do what it was formed ted...
...But It is really absurd...
...He thought that in Urns tbey would return and that Bethel would again have 'a "local...
...but tbe young people seem so dead, so indifferent and empty headed...
...Then he would allow bis gase to wander over the fields while he speculated on the pleasure and benefit that would accrue to society when aU production would be on a co-operative basis...
...Defect .-' A second glaring defect of the Lieague \ fe Nations is...
...or piled up along the banks of the river...
...Trees, bouses, railroad tracks, everywhere submerged...
...I feel that that is something that is asbohitely incompatible within the so-1 rial order, because the new social order win demand progress...
...but his other self—tbe unseating propagandist—would not let bim relax...
...When that comes, I believe, and not before, that real Imperialism will disappear...
...only So* ¦ I ciaiiat In the little Ohio town V-* of Bethel, ia gone...
...Why Nmt Popular Elections It is very obvious we Americans have a few simple theories of democracy that work whan we let them work...
...I knew that be bad hoped to break even and I knew that be had lest money Instead...
...Hem Posses Will Coma \ -Under, the new social order a League of Nations must stop war, otherwise there will be no real excuse for it...
Vol. 3 • February 1926 • No. 5
