Community Civics and Rural Life

by Arthur William Dunn

CHAPTER VIII

A WORLD COMMUNITY

Is there a world community? A world torn by war, as our world was from 1914 to 1918, may not seem to give much evidence of it, and many would at once answer "No" to our question. And yet such phrases as the "brotherhood of man" and the "cause of humanity" are familiar to us all. We may briefly discuss the question in this study, because if there is such a community, we are all members of it, and our membership in it affects our lives as individuals and as a nation.

WHAT THE WAR DISCLOSED WITH REGARD TO A WORLD COMMUNITY

The world community is certainly very imperfectly developed, but while the war emphasized its imperfections, it also furnished evidence if its reality. Its existence depends upon the presence of recognized common purposes and of organized teamwork in accomplishing these purposes, as in the case of any community. The war disclosed conflicting interests among the nations; but it united for a common purpose a larger part of the world's population than had ever before acted together in a common cause. It disclosed an interdependence among the nations and the peoples of the world that we had not thought of. And while it disclosed the weakness of the world's organization for teamwork, it aroused us to the possibilities of such organization, made us long for it, and brought us, as many believe, a step nearer to its accomplishment.

AMERICA'S DETACHMENT FROM THE WORLD

Separated by wide oceans, from the rest of the world, our nation grew and prospered with a sense of security from the conflicts that from time to time disturbed the Old World. We early adopted a policy of avoiding entanglements that might draw us into these conflicts. In his Farewell Address, Washington said:

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. … Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and posterity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world.

A few years later, President Monroe issued his famous statement, known as the Monroe Doctrine, which, recognizing the principle that Washington had stated, also denied the right of European powers to interfere with the free growth of the republican nations of North and South America. The United States has steadfastly held to this doctrine from that day to this.

NATIONS HAVE BECOME CLOSE NEIGHBORS

But great changes have come to the world since the time of Washington. The use of steam in navigation, the submarine cable and wireless telegraphy have brought all the world into closer relations than existed between New England and the Southern States in the early days of our national life. Our government at Washington may send messages to European capitals and receive a reply within ten minutes. The Atlantic has been crossed by airplane. The nations of the world have become very close neighbors. The murder of a prince in a little city of central Europe drew from millions of homes in America their sons to fight on the soil of Europe. We entered the war because our interests were so closely bound up with those of the world that we could not keep out; because "what affects mankind is inevitably our affair, as well as the affair of the nations of Europe and Asia."

The war did not create this interdependence; it only emphasized it. But now that we are aware of it, it will probably influence our lives to a much greater extent than before the war.

WHAT THE WORLD WAS FIGHTING FOR

The nations that were associated against Germany, occupy, with their dependencies, two-thirds of the earth's surface and include more than four-fifths of its population. The governments of these nations declared that they were fighting primarily, not for selfish interests such as "ports and provinces and trade," but "for the common interests of the whole family of civilized nations—for nothing less than the cause of mankind." [Footnote: Stuart P. Sherman, American and Allied Ideals, p. 14.] Even if some of the governments were influenced to a greater or lesser extent by selfish motives, they still recognized a common interest of the peoples of the world, a "cause of mankind," and based their appeals upon it. The prime minister of England said, "We must not allow any sense of revenge, any spirit of greed, any grasping desire, to overcome the fundamental principles of righteousness." Faraway Siam declared that she entered the war "to uphold the sanctity of international rights against nations showing a contempt for humanity." And little Guatemala proclaimed that she had "from the first adhered to and supported the attitude of the United States in defense of the rights of nations, of liberty of the seas, and of international justice." Our President said that "what we demand in this war is nothing peculiar to ourselves. It is that the world be made fit and safe to live in for every peace- loving nation. … All the peoples of the world are in effect partners in this interest."

The avowed purpose for which the United States entered the war, and for which "all the peoples of the world are in effect partners," is the same as that for which the American Revolutionary War was fought, which was proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence, and for which America has always stood—the equal right of all men to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and to self-government. Nearly the whole world was united against a few autocratic governments that denied these rights.

AMERICA HAS FOUGHT FOR THE FREEDOM OF OTHERS

At the time of the American Revolution the colonists had no desire to fight the English PEOPLE, but revolted against the autocratic English GOVERNMENT of that time, which refused to recognize the rights of the people. The English people had many times fought for these rights, and many of them sympathized with the American colonists, The winning of American independence was a victory for free government in England as well as in America, and the government of England today is as democratic as our own. This understanding about the American Revolution throws light upon what the President of the United States meant when he said that we fought Germany for "the ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples, THE GERMAN PEOPLES INCLUDED." Another writer said, "We are not fighting to put the Germans out but to get them in."

THE GROWTH OF HUMAN SYMPATHY

It has taken a long time for the peoples of the world to develop a sense of their common wants and purposes. Differences in language, in race and color, in religious beliefs and observances, in forms of government, even in such matters as dress and other habits and customs, have tended to obscure the common feelings of all. This lack of sympathetic understanding is suggested by Shylock, in Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice:

Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same Winter and Summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? if we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.

Increased opportunity for travel, better means of communication, and more widespread education have greatly increased the understanding among peoples and nations, and have disclosed to view common purposes and ideals in spite of differences. The fact that large numbers of people from every part of the globe have come to the United States to live together as one nation has contributed to the same result.

Give illustrations from your own experience and reading to show that differences in dress, language, race, and customs make sympathetic understanding difficult.

What is meant by "America, the melting-pot"?

INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

As the peoples of the world have become better acquainted, individuals and groups have tended to associate themselves together, regardless of national boundaries, for the promotion of common interests.

One example of this is the common movement of organized labor which has overstepped national boundaries.

There is an International Institute of Agriculture, with headquarters at Rome, and representing 56 countries, the purpose of which is to promote better economic and social conditions among agricultural populations of the world. Some of its publications are published in five languages.

Literature and art bind all the world together, and science knows no national boundary lines. Christianity is one of the greatest influences for a "brotherhood of man." Differences in religious belief have presented most difficult barriers to overcome, but there has been a steadily increasing tolerance of one religious faith toward others.

These are only a few of hundreds of illustrations that might be given.

SERVICE OF THE RED CROSS

We have all become familiar, during the war, with the work of the Red Cross. No other organization has done more to extend the feeling of common brotherhood in the world and the spirit of world service. During the war a Junior Department of the Red Cross was organized, enrolling in its membership about twelve million American boys and girls and organizing them for practical service to war-stricken Europe and Asia. Since the war, the Junior Red Cross, whose headquarters are at Washington, D. C., has undertaken to use its organization to promote correspondence among boys and girls of different lands, and an exchange of handiwork, pictures, and other things illustrative of their interests. The American School Citizenship League (405 Marlboro Street, Boston) is encouraging the same idea, and there is a Bureau of French- American Education Correspondence for a similar purpose, with headquarters at the George Peabody College for Teachers, Nashville, Tenn.

THE MOVEMENT FOR WORLD PEACE

Numerous INTERNATIONAL PEACE CONGRESSES have been held, the first one as early as 1843, and in the United States and other countries organizations exist for the promotion of friendly relations among the nations, and especially for the substitution of arbitration for war as a means of settling international disputes.

Among such organizations in the United States are the League to
Enforce Peace, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the
American Peace and Arbitration League, the American Peace Society,
the World Peace Federation, the Church Peace Union.

What may be gained by correspondence between the young people of different lands?

Report on the following (see references):

The work of the Pan-American Union.

The work of the Red Cross in war and peace.

PAN-AMERICAN UNION

One of the most successful experiments in international cooperation is that of the North and South American republics. The first Pan-American Conference, attended by delegates from the twenty-one American republics, was held in Washington, D.C., in 1889. As a result of this Conference the Pan-American Union was established, with permanent headquarters in Washington. Its purpose is "the development of commerce, friendly intercourse, and good understanding among these countries."

INTERNATIONAL GOVERNMENT

To secure anything like effective teamwork among the nations for the common interest and to substitute arbitration for war as a means of settling differences, there must be some kind of international organization, and rules to which the governments of the nations will agree. Civilized nations have always had their official means of dealing with one another through their governments, such as the diplomatic and consular services. Alliances have, from time immemorial, been made between nations, treaties have been solemnly agreed to, and a body of international law has gradually grown up. But treaties and international law have frequently been violated, and no international government has existed with sufficient authority or power to force nations to observe the law or to keep their agreements. As a result of two peace conferences held at The Hague in Holland, in 1899 and 1907, an international Court of Arbitration was established at The Hague (The Hague Tribunal), before which disputes might be brought by nations if they desired to do so. But there was no way by which a nation could be compelled to appeal to the court.

NATIONALITY AND SOVEREIGNTY

Nations have a strong sense of their NATIONALITY, and are extremely jealous of their SOVEREIGNTY, which is the supreme power claimed by every nation to form its own government and to manage its own affairs without interference by other nations. It is this that has prevented the development of anything like a real international government that could control the conduct of national governments, or that could require a nation to submit its grievances to any judge other than itself. This has perhaps been the chief weakness of the world community.

A LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Many people have long believed that the self-governing nations of the world must sooner or later unite, in the interest of world peace, in some kind of federation or league, with a central organization to which all would agree to submit their differences. The war made it seem even more necessary. Accordingly, the Peace Conference at Versailles at the close of the war included in the treaty of peace a Covenant (or constitution) for a League of Nations. The treaty, including the Covenant, has been ratified (March, 1920) by four of the five great nations associated against Germany (France, England, Italy, and Japan; the United States being the exception), besides several other nations. While the President of the United States strongly advocated the treaty with the Covenant, the Senate did not approve of its ratification. Those in our country who opposed the Covenant did so for a variety of reasons, but chief among them were: first, the fear that the Covenant would cause us to depart from the principles laid down by Washington and Monroe; and, second, the fear that the powers conferred upon the international government would deprive our national government of some of its sovereign powers. The friends of the Covenant denied that either of these things would be true.

Whether or not the United States should enter the League [Footnote: The Council of the new League of Nations held its first meeting January 16, 1920, the United States, of course, not being represented.] we shall have to leave for the statesmen to decide; and whether or not the League will accomplish the desired ends, time alone can prove. But two or three things may safely be said with regard to any really effective world government.

MIGHT DOES NOT MAKE RIGHT

When people live together in communities, each person has to sacrifice something of his personal freedom in order that all may enjoy the largest possible liberty. The same is true of families in a neighborhood, of communities in a state, of the states in our nation. There is no reason why it should not be true of nations which are neighbors to one another. No nation has any more right to do as it pleases than a person or a family has, IF WHAT IT PLEASES TO DO IS UNJUST TO ITS NEIGHBORS. The only thing, however, that a nation can properly be asked to give up IS BEING UNJUST TO ITS NEIGHBORS. We saw in Chapter IV that government and law increase rather than decrease the individual citizen's freedom, and that it is only the "ill-mannered" who feel the restrictions of a wise government. So, when we finally get a world government that is good, it will be one that will increase the freedom of all "good-mannered" nations, restricting only those that are "ill- mannered."

WHAT "AMERICA FIRST" MEANS

Moreover, when we finally get a league of nations that will really secure friendly cooperation among the nations for their common interests, it will be brought about, not by sacrificing nationality and national patriotism, but by STRENGTHENING them.

What is required is not less loyalty to one's nationality, but more sympathetic understanding of nationalities and national ideals different from one's own, combined with a recognition of the fundamental interests … which unite them to each other. [Footnote: "Thoughts on Nationalism and Internationalism," in History Teachers' Magazine, June 1918, p. 334.]

The only way to be sure of a perfect neighborhood is first to see to it that the homes of the neighborhood are strong and whole some. No person can really be loyal to his neighborhood who is not first of all loyal to his home. Thoroughly efficient townships and counties and cities are essential to a thoroughly efficient state; and no citizen is loyal to his state who is not loyal to his township, county, and city. The strength of our nation depends upon the strength of the states that compose it, and real national patriotism cannot well exist in the heart of a citizen who is disloyal to his state. The first essential step toward an effective WORLD government is to see that our national government is efficient and at the same time JUST. The first and best service that a citizen can perform for the world community is to be loyal to AMERICAN IDEALS, which are becoming the ideals of an ever- increasing part of the world's population.

THE NEW TYPE OF PATRIOT NO LONGER CRIES, "MY COUNTRY AGAINST THE
WORLD," BUT "MY COUNTRY FOR THE WORLD." [Footnote: Stuart P.
Sherman, American and Allied Ideals, p. 14.]

Topics for investigation:

The Hague Tribunal. Disputes that have been settled by it. Why the dispute that led to the recent war was not settled by it.

The meaning of "nationality." Of "sovereignty."

Has a government any more right to be dishonest than an individual?

Both sides of the argument over the ratification by the United
States of the treaty of peace with the Covenant for the League of
Nations (see references).

The truth of the statement that "the only way to be sure of a perfect neighborhood is first to see to it that the homes of the neighborhood are strong and wholesome."

The meaning of the statement in the quotation at the end of the text above.

READINGS

In Long's AMERICAN PATRIOTIC PROSE:

Washington, "Farewell Address," pp. 105-124.

Washington, "Proclamation of Neutrality," pp. 143-146.

"The Monroe Doctrine," pp. 148-149.

John Quincy Adams, "The Mission of America," pp. 149-150.

George F. Hoar, "A Warning Against the Spirit of Empire," pp. 244- 247.

Woodrow Wilson, "Spirit of America," pp. 266-268.

Franklin K. Lane, "Why We Are Fighting Germany," pp. 282-283.

Carl Schurz, "The Rule of Honor for the Republic," pp. 342-343.

Woodrow Wilson, "War Message of April 2, 1917," pp. 351-361.

In Foerster and Pierson's AMERICAN IDEALS:

Washington, "Counsel on Alliances" (Farewell Address), pp. 185- 189.

"The Monroe Doctrine," pp. 190-193.

Henry Clay, "The Emancipation of South America," pp. 194-199.

Robert E. Lansing, "Pan-Americanism," pp. 200-296.

A. Lawrence Lowell, "A League to Enforce Peace," pp. 207-223.

George G. Wilson, "The Monroe Doctrine and the League to Enforce
Peace," pp. 224-232.

Woodrow Wilson, "The Conditions of Peace," pp. 233-241.

Woodrow Wilson, "War for Democracy and Peace," pp. 242-256.

Various books and pamphlets have been written relating to the League of Nations and world relations following the war. Among these are:

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, edited by Henry E. Jackson (published by Prentice-Hall, Inc., 70 Fifth Ave., N.Y. Paper, 50 cents; cloth, $1). "A document prepared to stimulate community discussion and promote organized public opinion." This book contains, at the end, a list of titles of books and pamphlets on the subject.

The Lodge-Lowell DEBATE ON THE COVENANT OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
(World Peace Foundation, Boston). President Lowell, of Harvard
University, argued for, and Senator Lodge against, the Covenant as
contained in the treaty of peace.

Taft, William Howard, WHY A LEAGUE OF NATIONS IS NECESSARY (League to Enforce Peace, New York).

Sherman, Stuart P., AMERICAN AND ALLIED IDEALS (World Peace
Foundation, Boston).

The complete official record of the United States Senate debate on the treaty of peace is to be found in the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, a file of which SHOULD be in your public library.

THE JUNIOR RED CROSS NEWS, American Red Cross, Washington, D.C.

For the work of the Pan American Union and the Red Cross, consult your public library; and write to the Pan American Union and the American Red Cross, both in Washington, D.C., for descriptive publications.

For the Hague Conferences and the Hague Tribunal, consult any good modern encyclopedia, and your public library. Write for materials to the American School Citizenship League, 405 Marlboro St., Boston, and the World Peace Foundation, Boston.