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Show oo , FOR A HOPEFUL OUTLOOK. With a deep understanding of the problems which are ahead, Robert Herrick makes an appeal that the nations na-tions get away from the old provincialism, provincial-ism, and begin to reconstruct on the lines of firmness. He likens the old diplomats to the drug fiends who havo no faith in regeneration and who go back to their habits after each attempted attempt-ed cure. Mr. Herrick gives us this hopesful meBsaKe on Christmas dnv: Pessimists and materialists havo little lit-tle faith In what optimists and tho sprltiually minded call "regeneration." Thoy do not believe in "cures." Givon tho same conditions, thoy think tho human beiug will return invariably to the same stimuli, obey tho same law of his nature. Optimists and the spiritually spir-itually minded believe, on. the contrary, con-trary, that thore la a. point of equilibrium equilib-rium reached where new impulses of the submerged will, and subconscious reconstruction, may take effect, by conscious effort on the patient's part. It Is they, needless to say, who effect "cures." The world theso days Is entering such a period of convalescence and reconstruction. re-construction. There is a terrible pull backwards to tho old associations and the old habits of thought and notion. Thero arc the pessimists and the materially mate-rially minded who have no faith in leagues of nations, universal peace, open diplomacy, International co-operation, and other hopes of tho world, They talk wisely, in terms of history and human nature. Specifically, here in the United States thoy are counscl- - " I I II I ""I l.-UMI " ling a return to narrow nationalism, national armaments, and trade wars. Opposed to them are those who seek to improve this psychological moment after aft-er the agony of war to imprint upon human relations something of the nobility no-bility for which so many millions of men have sacrificed their lives, for which so many other millions of meg, women, and children have suffered unto un-to death. These did. not die so that the world might remain afterwards as 11 w r r.X unf ...v. ., r.. ........ might quickly "get back to business at tho old stand once more," so that this nation or that might accumulate the biggest trade balance! In so far. therefore, as men permit themselves to think the old thoughts and surrender to the old habits of personal per-sonal and national greed, the great war j will havo been a" failure. In so far as it , has freed men's minds from the obses-isions obses-isions of selfishness and the prejudices 'of custom, freed them to think new thoughts for the future, plan new methods of national and international activity, it will have been a success. Few seem to realize, fully how much the success or the failure of the bloody war will depend upon them as individ uals, upon the influences which they can bring to bear on the destiny of j their world, at this most fluid and most .recreative moment of history. Shall we in the Untied States, content con-tent with the splendid exhibition of our material power which we nave displayed dis-played in the past eighteen months, with the noble behavior of our soldiers, sol-diers, with the spontaneous efforts of all classes of our citizenship under the j crisis, lapse back into slovenly habits ( of political thinking? Shall wc try once more to hide behind our Atlantic i barrier and go about our own business I of money getting, feeling sure of our-I our-I selves in any emergency? Or shall we j try to draw out the obvious lessons of ithc war, at home and abroad? Lessons I of deficient education, wasteful dlsor-jganization, dlsor-jganization, bad hygiene; also, lessons 'of tho dangers of national self-absorption and isolation, of international coni-j coni-j petition instead of international co-op-I oration. j The forces of reaction and disintegration disinte-gration work silently and persistently, while the forces of health and aspiration aspira-tion seem to -work sporadically and intermittently in-termittently Now is the time to convert con-vert the profits of our war devotions and enthusiasms into enduring habits and forward looking deeds. Before it Is loo late! - oo |