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[Page 64]

WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

Volume XII, May, 1933

Justice: The Link Between Mankind and Civilization Horace Holley

A Plan of Education to Develop International Justice and Peace David Starr Jordan

The Common Message of the World's Great Teachers Hugh M. Woodward

Social Science and International Organization Benjamin Ginzburg

Das Deutsche Auslandinstitut Stuttgart Minnie E. Allen

China's Changing Culture Kiang Kang-Hu

Wither Bound Religion? Frank Rawlinson

The Sole Remedy Paul R. Anderson

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Book Notes Joseph S. Roucek

Notes and Advertisements [Page 65]

JUSTICE

THE LINK BETWEEN MANKIND AND CIVILIZATION by HORACE HOLLEY

THE present state of the world has already been described as a complete break between humanity and civilization. The forms and institutions of society we call "civilization" no longer serve fundamental human needs. On the contrary, they have become a gigantic trap in which humanity lies struggling, caught between the grim vises of war and poverty. Our unrest, our revolution, our frantic efforts at anarchy, reveal the torture and the peril of this desperate plight. The entrapment is complete in that humanity itself forged the jaws in which its body is rigidly held.

For civilization is nothing but a projection of human will and desire. Our own ambition and terror, our own brilliance of mind and darkness of soul, produced these war-making and poverty-making instruments of a society that corresponds so fatally to the sum total of human will and desire. What traps us is our own past self, fulfilled in self-expression of factory, church, school and state. The depressions, the wars and the revolutions that fill the world—these are the image of man’s inner self, his historic reality, thrown back from the mirror of events that we may at last perceive and know what man has been.

Civilization stands apart from us now because we stand apart from what humanity has been. Humanity and civilization are no longer identified because humanity has been shocked into awareness of the law of moral cause and effect. While civilization rewarded and gratified our strongest passions and our most indomitable wills, civilization and humanity in our consciousness were

The Nature of World Unreat," World Unity. August, 1932; "World Unity Plan for Social Reconstruction," World Unity. April, 1933. [Page 66]one. But when humanity witnesses the collapse of its desires, humanity quickens in a desperation that evokes a new and higher degree of self-awareness. In recoiling from a lethal civilization we begin to assert the possibility of new and higher capacity in mankind.

As the destiny that created universe and man, gave man responsibility for his collective no less than his individual actions, so destiny has established cycles of history in which cause and effect come to full balance and resolution. Causes released throughout a long period have now their final culmination. In this present agony of mankind we discharge our human responsibility in full. To this generation has fallen the lot of witnessing the scales of justice balance in reward and punishment. By war, poverty, terror and death we meet the price laid down for knowledge of good and evil. One cannot say that the price is too great or too small. The price has not been exacted by jealous gods: it has been determined by our own human history. To offset the burden of the price we have received what is beyond price-the power to repudiate our own limited past and begin, as humanity, a new cycle of social creation. Trapped though we are in these vises of poverty and war, the very pain of entrapment compels us to sever ourselves as mankind from a civilization that so long has prostituted human capacity and power. By the release of a new intuitive awareness of life, we can rise above what we have been, and project purer attributes of a purified self into a society that at last will free mankind.

THE BOND OF HUMANITY

In drawing ever closer to our reality in humanity, we find the true nature of that mysterious bond which joins man to man in the eternal kingdom of mankind. e go back in spirit through time ⚫ and witness the evolution of the power of love.

Love is the bond that unites the human family; the love that so often has fallen short and given way to hate; the love that has been disguised and concealed in a thousand transient loyalties; the love that could never be completely resisted, that died not though slain again and again. [Page 67]

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We have loved the personal family and fought the tribe. We have loved the tribe and fought the nation. We have loved the nation and fought the world. After every war the area of love has increased. Now love has grown so potent that unless we love humanity we shall slay ourselves.

At the end of the cycle, humanity is crucified by civilization, since at the beginning of the cycle humanity crucified love. The circle of human destiny joins its ends. We confront what we have been.

Intuition is born from this final realization that, whatever civilization may be, humanity is native to a universe in which endless growth and infinite possibility give eternal, ceaseless movement to the flowing of the stream of life. If we be crucified for having crucified love, we had the capacity to worship love in spirit and in truth. The measure of responsibility is the measure of capacity.

A civilization violently overturned by revolution is restored in form more menacing and severe, for civilization is the lengthened shadow of man. Only by conscious love of something greater can a civilization be dissolved, and society be renewed from within. If civilization now appear in the light of a punishment, a penalty, set up in our human past, this appearance is but part of the intuitive awareness moving mankind. For if we respond to the conviction that a greater humanity can arise from our failure, as adult man arises from some supremely bitter experience in youth, in this conviction lies awareness of the fact that in perfecting himself, man must perfect civilization. Man must learn to create and control the reality outside himself, to balance the reality within. Our will and our action must give substance to thought and emotion before man's course of evolution on this planet is run.

But love, the bond between human beings, is not the link between mankind and civilization. In its human expressions, love is incomplete, undeveloped, allied too closely with self in its changing tempers and needs. By love, a human entity traverses its path of experience from the unconscious to the conscious, but the bond [Page 68]between individuals cannot control the movements of the social organism. The fatal defect of love as the basis of society has been revealed in every effort to found a “perfect community.” It is revealed even more plainly in the failure of every past organized religion upon earth.

To illustrate, a quotation is cited from a work* written in 1911: “For all that the Prophet was human nature made perfect, and for all that men in every age, of all classes and kinds, have recovered their own innate perfection in him, yet Christianity, as a civilization, is completely, conspicuously, a failure. It has worked out for individuals, but not for society. Why should that be? Why should it be that the church, in the vigor of its youth, could not retain its unity, but split into Roman and Greek?... Why is it that under the very shadow of the Cross, the national instinct of Europe developed into an overwhelming racial egotism and State selfishness? While Europeans all professed themselves Christians, why did they divide themselves into Germans; Italians, French? ...The facile reply to this indictment, throwing the fault upon human nature itself, or even upon ‘external irresistible forces, involves the deduction that either the Christian ideal is essentially impracticable and obsolete, or that religion itself really has no concern with daily life. But Christianity has always worked out for individuals, and is still working out for individuals with undiminished success. Its failure evidently lies in its lack of a social control.”

“Christianity, indeed, as all men dimly recognize, is religion in terms of the individual, not in terms of society. To understand the distinction fully, we must go back to Christ’s ministry and study its method. He met people singly, in groups, or in assembled multitudes. But the groups and the multitudes were only the individual man and woman multiplied. That is, the multitude who heard the Sermon on the Mount came and heard it in their simple capacity of human beings. Like any casual multitude which our civilization contributes to a public speech or exhibition, they threw aside for the time their accidental class distinctions, their political

• The Modern Social Religion. Sidgwick & Jackson, London, 1913.

[Page 69]

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opinions and connections, their trades and professions, and entered heartily into the spirit of the occasion. The same man-to-man unity and simplicity takes place today, under one condition, at every public meeting, whether it be the church, the theatre or the athletic field, and that condition is that the occasion offer interest enough to divest the individual of his accidental social attributes. Christ's conversations and addresses offered this interest in the most abundant measure. His personality possessed, and still possesses, the unique property of desocializing the individual and making him, for the time being, an elemental and eternal soul. He addressed himself to that elemental and eternal soul-thing inherent in every man and woman, summoning it from its often inactive and misdirected maturity—always and for ever devoting himself to the task of intensifying the spiritual activity of men. He found human nature a misunderstood, uncorrelated form of existence, and he gave our civilization the type of personality at its best.

"But it is only for the time that the individual man and woman can be desocialized. When the sermon is spoken, the drama played, the multitude separates, each man his own way to his own duty. Little by little the charm is broken; slowly but surely the fisherman finds himself a fisherman once more, the banker becomes the banker, the democrat the democrat, the philosopher the philosopher, and the fool the fool. Within less than a day the common social necessity has seized inexorably upon each man and woman, and all fall back into their former races, classes, occupations and temperaments.

"Yet all alike may carry away the Christ-given vision of his own perfection with the desire to attain that perfection in terms of daily life. But what happens? What did happen, historically? The individual found that the new gospel taught him precisely his proper attitude toward every other individual, but it said absolutely nothing as to his proper attitude toward other men and women as society. The Christian thus found, and finds today, that his religion succeeds wherever he deals with individuals, but fails wherever he deals with numbers. He is equipped to treat properly [Page 70]his father, his mother, his brother and sister, his wife, his children, his servants and his neighbors—in other words, he is equipped for life in the simplest of all societies; but in any society even by a little more extended and complex, he must depend upon the experience of men. That is, he goes to religion to solve his personal relations, but he goes to science to solve his social relations."

JUSTICE IS LOVED ABOVE ALL

A truth that could be dimly perceived twenty years ago has now, through war and depression, become a stark, self-evident fact. A civilization compounded of personal love among individuals and structural injustice in social forms is a chemically unstable compound.

That truth is even more starkly revealed in the irreconcilable plans of social relief and reorganization advanced by people having identical religious beliefs. There are considerable groups of Christians who sincerely believe that Socialism is not only the hope of the world but the only economic equivalent to the Sermon on the Mount. Not less considerable are the groups who identify that spiritual ideal with the principle of individual liberty underlying capitalism. Still other Christian groups maintain the standard of philosophic anarchy. They would dissolve society entirely and leave mankind without any structure of social form. On the other hand, it has been preached from more than one pulpit that Communism is the spiritual solution of all social problems.

In pointing out that men turn to science to solve their social relations, while believing that all human relations should conform to the principle of love, the duality of knowledge and love in human nature is plainly indicated. Love without knowledge tends ever to reduce life to anarchy; knowledge without love tends to develop society at the expense of mankind.

Turning to typical individuals to examine the consequences of this duality, we find only rarely that human being in whom these eternal virtues and characteristics are blended in stable solution. Just as in most cases love tends to exclude knowledge, so knowledge tends to exclude love. The separation of mind and [Page 71]

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heart in the human race is the ultimate source of the present chaos emanating from the collapse of civilization and the spiritual orphanage of mankind. All obvious divisions and conflicts, such as those between nations, between races, between religions and between classes, flow inevitably from that essential separation of the two great virtues in the human soul.

What the world needs most vitally at this time is a link between humanity and civilization, as valid, as fundamental as the bond of love between individual human beings. Without such a connection, recognizable to intelligence and acceptable to emotion, the world will continue its blind historic path, demonstrating anew the ancient saying, without vision the nations perish.

This link is Justice.

Justice alone can project a firm union and reconciliation of love and knowledge into that social structure which serves as the body for the soul of the race. Justice is the foundation of society as love is the foundation of our personal relations. Without justice, love consumes itself in blind loyalties and mistaken devotions. Without justice, knowledge asserts its power in tyrannies that pervert and oppress the mass of human beings.

Both love and intelligence are sacred attributes of humanity. The mind of man has been defined as that attribute which is alone above and beyond the visible natural order of mineral, plant and animal. Like masculine and feminine principles, they are co-eternal, co-equal and co-dependent. Each alone is sterile; mated they create.

After the first recoil of horror at awareness that a man-made civilization is crushing man, intuition (our capacity for survival) is able to perceive that only through conscious effort to establish justice upon earth can humanity grow into larger, fuller being, and balance its inner life with its objective responsibility. In a true standard of justice, firmly upheld, and only in this, will we come under an influence, an authority, empowered to re-educate and discipline love and at the same time supply useful channels for the expression of intelligence. [Page 72]But what is justice? Muhammad defined justice as that which makes for unity, in a passage which states that man will attain to abundance and plenty only when unity is achieved.

To attain capacity to promote justice, we must set aside our traditional views and beliefs which associate justice with the operation of fixed codes and political courts. The undeveloped aspect of religion itself foreshadows an age of justice as it foreshadows an age of peace. In this latent, passive element of religion—the words and phrases of Isaiah and other inspired prophets—the perfectibility of man as member of society is assured, and this assurance parallels and completes the assurance ordinarily sought in the Scriptures, that man is perfectible as an individual, immortal soul.

It is possible, therefore, to visualize a justice of a higher order and more dynamic purpose than that exercised by courts set up from time to time by tribes, clans and nations to maintain their own continued existence. It is possible to visualize law as a reflection of universal reality and not merely as statutes and decrees emanating from competitive bodies oppressed by the burdens of social strife. It is possible to foresee, and strive for, a justice which shall be the Guardian of love and the repository of knowledge, in place of that justice which has guarded the powers of an artificial state.

To realize that the world needs justice, and that neither masculine science nor feminine sentiment can solve the ills of mankind, is the first step forward on the path to the new day. After the end of all this frantic confusion and blind antagonism of peoples caught by the jaws of the trap they and their forefathers forged; after the end of an ultimate Armageddon the first battle of which opened in 1914; after these exclusive, irreconcilable social institutions have been shattered; then mankind, purged as by fire, will meet through its elect and chosen representatives to create a world order, and the court based upon world order will be a court of justice fulfilling the ancient prophecy of peace. Here is the end of that evolution that has gone on in man's inner life of love and worship, and the end of that evolution that has gone on in man's outer life of thought and work. [Page 73]

A PLAN OF EDUCATION TO DEVELOP INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE AND PEACE*

by DAVID STARR JORDAN

INTRODUCTION BY AUGUSTUS O. THOMAS

THE great virtue of Dr. Jordan's plan lies in the fact that it took no snap judgment as a basis for its conclusions, but a program of education calculated to develop a spirit of goodwill among the nations and a universal desire for peace. It was a definite procedure. Dr. Jordan anticipated that the World Federation of Education Associations, already a going concern, would provide a permanency of effort, would make proper investigations of actual conditions, and with expert advice seek to meet the needs of the world in developing international understanding and cooperation. The procedure called for the appointment of several fact-finding committees and upon their investigations would form the program of education.

These committees were necessarily world-wide, which made it difficult, somewhat expensive, and required a good deal of time. It was necessary to have meetings of the committee biennially only, as the members were widely scattered. From time to time reports have been made and, where possible, these have been put into form for use in the schools. The results of the work of the committee may be catalogued very much as follows:

1. The World Federation, through its work in these committees, has crystallized attitudes and procedures in the profession and brought about a new conception of the mission of education,--not

• The Raphael Herman $25,000 Award.

[Page 74]only in America but throughout the world. Teachers now feel that great responsibility rests upon the schools in bringing up the new generation with an appreciation of the new international point of view. Education must do its fair share in stabilizing the economic and social conditions of the world.

2. With the help of various organizations, these committees have checked up on the textbooks in history and the social sciences in several of the leading countries for the purpose of location and correction of misstatements, extraneous material, chauvinism and prejudice. The chief work of the committee lies in the fact that it set up plans and specifications for the writing of new history texts and the revision of old texts. These plans and specifications have been placed in the hands of the publishers and writers of texts to such an extent that the newer textbooks are in large meas- ure free from the objectionable material of the texts of a few years ago. Corrections are also being made in texts of other countries.

3. These committees have set up the attitudes of a great body of teachers in definite formation in regard to international rela tions, have prepared and published suggestive courses of study in social sciences calculated to bring up the development of the hu- manistic side of civilization as nearly as possible to the point of advancement of the natural and physical sciences. It is the tend- ency of civilization to run away with material things and allow the spiritual to lag far behind. Under these plans a special effort is made to bring the spiritual values up alongside of the material advancement.

4. At the Denver meeting the Herman-Jordan Committee No. 4 proposed a resolution that the Federation assure the govern- ment authorities of the several countries of the sympathy and co- operation of the educational forces of the world, now uniting through affiliated organizations about one-half the teachers of the world, and directing that materials be set up and made available to teachers in all lands for teaching facts of the Geneva conference on Reduction and Limitation of Armaments. [Page 75]

A PLAN OF EDUCATION

At the meeting held in Denver, July 1931, the chairmen of the five committees were appointed as a special co-ordinating committee for the purpose of putting the entire findings together, harmonizing them and preparing them for printing as a complete educational plan for international understanding and cooperation.

THE DAVID STARR JORDAN PLAN

As the history of the future shall be written in the schools of today, it is vital that the teacher lay in the minds of children the foundation of a sane and wholesome background from which to develop international amity and intelligent abhorrence of war.

The plan of Education for Peace foreshadowed in the organization of the World Federation of Education Associations, established at San Francisco in 1923, looks courageously toward the ultimate abolition of international war as a legitimate sequence of disagreements between nations or between individuals of different countries. Its central purpose is the mobilization of teachers in all lands, most immediately in America, in order that their combined influence and that of their pupils may be thrown solidly on the side of peace.

It is accordingly recommended that the World Federation make intensive studies of certain matters pertinent to world amity through the continuous operation of appropriate committees on education for peace, these to report at stated meetings to the Federation and to the various national organizations corresponding to and including our own National Education Association, indicating at the same time lines of action likely to contribute towards international concord. Meanwhile, however, one must admit that any specified procedure can be at best only a step towards the development of enlightened public opinion and cooperation in effecting mutual understanding among peoples.

Certain lines of hopeful activity within the scope of the World Federation are indicated as follows: [Page 76]

Education for Peace

I. The formation of a general world committee on education for peace, to function in connection with the several educational groups in the different nations, and to cooperate with many already-established organizations for peace in all parts of the world.

Teaching of History

II. A committee to investigate the present teaching of history the world over, reporting also on textbooks used, their virtues and their delinquencies from the standpoint of international amity, and stressing the need that history, whether elementary or advanced, should be just and true so far as it goes. Above all, history should not be perverted in the supposed interest of national "honor" or partisanship.

In this connection should be considered the teaching of intelligent patriotism with an attempt to define its true nature, expressing its values, its limitations and its perversions.

International Athletic Sports

III. A committee to consider special plans of promoting mutual international understanding on the part of students of various ages, including the possibilitics of better relations through the international use of athletic sports, especially those games which involve cooperative action or "team play," as distinguished from individual competition.

Bureau of Conciliation

IV. A committee to consider the possibility of a continuous effort to commit the visible influence of the government of the United States to definite activity in behalf of peace by means of a Bureau of Conciliation in the Department of State.

Military Preparedness

V. A committee to consider "Preparedness" in regard to its educational, economic and social aspects. Even admitting that a [Page 77]large and well equipped military force (land, water and air) will make for victory in case of an attack by jealous neighbors or other "imaginary enemies," to what extent does it also invite war?

Such committee should furthermore consider without prejudice the question of military training in school and college, its possible advantages to the individual and the nation, with the alleged accompanying drawbacks and dangers. This group should also deliberate on standing incentives to war, and the possibility of their abatement through legislation, the influence of public opinion or otherwise.

War as a Cosmic Necessity

VI. A committee to investigate and encourage others to investigate the current arguments for war as a cosmic necessity.

Court of International Justice

VII. A committee to study the Hague Court of Arbitration, also the present Permanent Court of International Justice, and the relation of these two judicial activities to world education.

General Machinery for International Cooperation

Such research would also involve a scrutiny of the League of Nations and the problems concerned in our acceptance or adhesion to that organization, with special reference to its bearings on international education.

The foregoing propositions may be reviewed in detail, as follows:

1. General Peace Committee

The educational groups of the world should be bound together in mutual effort to promote international amity and understanding. Furthermore, the Federation should be broadened and strengthened by cooperation with all the varied instrumentalities for peace throughout the world. It should keep in touch with religious bodies, scientific associations ("technocracies"), Women's [Page 78]Peace Parties, and the multitude of other organizations in society at large.

II. Teaching of History and True Patriotism

A. The ruling ideas of most men and women are largely fixed in childhood and youth. In nearly all textbooks of history and school readers war has been glorified, its braveries being set forth as the acme of heroism. The real progress of nations in science, art and intellectual development is scantily treated. Advances in conciliation, with the many triumphs in sanitation, transportation commerce and enlightenment, which gave a millennial aspect to the beginning of the twentieth century, are not dramatic. Even the Rush-Bagot Agreement to demobilize the Canadian boundary, our greatest diplomatic achievement of the last century, is scarcely brought to the attention of our own students.

In most lands the youth for generations have been taught to believe that wars are the chief realities in history, that "our country has been mostly victorious and always in the right, that war is in itself heroic, invigorating—at the worst only the "growing pains of a progressive nation"—that victory is a noble aim, that its "fruits" are sources of national strength as well as of individual profit, that the welfare of other nations, alien or inferior, is opposed to our own, and that they are persistently, arrogantly, insidiously or treacherously engaged in plotting against us.

The world war had its primary inception in fear of the loss of power on the part of dominant groups in more than one nation, but it owes its too prompt acceptance by public opinion in most cases to the wrong education of the people.

It has been asserted that next to avowed militarists teachers are most responsible for tolerance of war. In an eloquent passage, the late Professor Henry Morse-Stephens appeals as follows for a higher ideal in the teaching of history:

"Every generation writes its own history of the past. The historian is influenced by the prevailing spirit of the age, and he feeds the spirit of national intolerance today as his predecessors fed the flames of religious intolerance in days gone by. Woe unto us, [Page 79]professional historians, professional historical students, professional teachers of history, if we cannot see, written in blood, in the dying civilization of Europe, the dreadful result of exaggerated nationalism as set forth in the patriotic histories of some of the most eloquent historians of the nineteenth century! May we not hope that this will be but a passing phase of historical writing, since its awful sequel is so plainly exhibited before us, and may we not expect that the historians of the twentieth century may seek rather to explain the nations of the world to each other in their various contributions to the progress of civilization?"

While the past may have seemed to show that "history is one long bath of blood," its significance does not center in the record of brutal crudities. It is rather the "biography of man," the story of man's efforts to throw off the mental and moral shackles which, from out remote ages, have impeded his progress.

B. Patriotism is the emotional expression of nationalism. It involves love of country and devotion towards its interests. But patriotism has two aspects, quite distinct-often contradictory. Some twenty years ago a high school class was asked, "What is patriotism?" "Killing Spaniards," came one confident answer. True patriotism-love of one's country, and the desire to make and keep it worthy of love and honor-is in every way to be encouraged. But love of the fatherland does not depend on killing anybody, anywhere. The welfare of our country does not demand abasement or injury of any other. Ours is indeed "the land where hatred dies away"-a fact to be constantly kept in mind by the teacher of patriotism. It is well "to love the cities where we were born and the little hills that bear these cities up." It is evil to distrust and hate the people of other cities or other lands, or to endeavor by personal or official means to do them needless injury.

III. Special Arrangements for Training Youth in World Amity

Various plans or devices to this end appear possible. Children may be brought to sympathize with life in other lands through the promotion of correspondence between the youth of nation and nation. With students of more advanced age, international [Page 80]scholarships, exchange professorships, university departments of international relations, are active agencies for better understanding. Essays, orations, forum discussions of one sort or another serve a useful purpose, and other features of like character will be devised from time to time.

One particularly effective method of inducing thoughtful study of international problems by the youth of the world would be that of a series of competitive orations or discussions, its geographical extent being limited only by practical considerations of utility and expense. A plan to this end may be outlined as follows:

Students under twenty-one years of age, or of some specified grade of educational advancement would be encouraged to prepare competitive essays or orations of a definite length on some chosen topic or topics relating to international peace. Judges in every case should take account, perhaps equally, of composition and delivery on the one hand, and of mastery of the subject on the other. The winner from each school would then meet and compete with winners from similar schools comprised within a fixed geographical area; and so on, with progression from smaller to larger groups, up to a final nationwide or even international contest.

Specifically, the contest might be limited to the United States and Canada, or to English-speaking countries; or-if funds are available it might be made world-wide. In any case a definite and worthy prize should be awarded to each national victor. Preliminary contests would involve little outlay. For other trials, expenses of contestants should be met and at times those of judges also. Finals, whether held at Washington, London, or elsewhere, would necessitate a considerable expenditure.

To carry out such a plan, a general director with a secretary and temporary assistants would be required. Provision should be made for adequate publicity, also. The total outlay would, of course, depend on the territory covered.

The writer may add that the value of this suggestion has been emphasized by the marked success of a similar plan to promote study of the Constitution of the United States. This oratorical con [Page 81]test, completed at Washington on June 7, was inaugurated and promoted by various journals throughout the United States. In connection with it, 1,250,000 young men and women wrote essays or orations on the Constitution after weeks of more or less enthusiastic study.

The importance of such a contest lies in the education of the coming generation, and incidentally that of their parents and friends. Similar studies, taken seriously, would give the young people of the nation or of the world a background of knowledge and mutual understanding which might be of inestimable value in any future crisis of civilization.

Some results of importance can be secured through athletic relations, it being a notable fact that competitive games involving team work are among the influences which tend to bring young men of different regions into better mutual understanding. It is also true that the military spirit has been most active and virulent in countries where Cricket, Football, Baseball, Boating, La Crosse and the like are scarcely known. This matter certainly deserves careful study from the standpoint of Education for Peace.

IV. Pledging the United States to the Service of Peace

To this end I would suggest that a committee of American teachers should consider the propriety of using our collective influence in favor of an official "Council of Peace" or "Bureau of Conciliation" within the Department of State. A "Council of Peace," as recently proposed by William S. Culbertson ("Ways to Peace," Bok Prize, p. 89) would be a new but very desirable organization. That of a "Bureau of Conciliation" (suggested in the same work, p. 257) might involve mainly the addition to the department of an "Assistant Secretaryship of Conciliation," corresponding to the position of Solicitor on International Arbitration as maintained from July 1, 1910 to March, 1911 during the administration of President Taft, under the direction of Dr. James Brown Scott. It was at that time occupied mainly with perfecting the Court of Arbitration at the Hague. Such a Bureau or Council, however, might work to further world peace in a multitude of [Page 82]ways. Properly organized and continuously maintained, it should be commensurate with the General Staff of the Army or the parallel General Board of the Navy—not less influential than either because peace is beyond comparison the highest need of every nation. The existence of such an official group (one or both of them) would bring about two important results: first, positive achievements through official activities; second, furnishing a central axis for work for peace by committing the general government to its maintenance, a matter of the greatest importance in the formation and education of public opinion.

The proposed Bureau or Council should maintain close relations with the Bureau (or Department) of Education and its activities for peace, as well as with all other organizations throughout the world having for their purpose international understanding and cooperation. It should cooperate with similar official groups which may be developed in other countries. It should also constitute a clearing house for all international activities.

It may be further noted that while nearly every civilized nation has vast military and naval establishments, costing more yearly than the entire school system, and while the influence of these organizations as a whole (many individual officers excepted) is on the side of war-preparation, and, in a crisis, for actual war, there is not as yet in any country any official organization which stands for or pledges support for conciliation and peace.

A distinguished soldier, General John F. O’Ryan, himself an carnest advocate of peace, makes this graphic statement: “The world has never been organized for peace; it has always been organized for war.... While you are in this apathetic state of mind regarding peace, there are men in high command today who do nothing else except plan carefully, minutely, studiously, just how your manchild, born or unborn, shall be utilized in the next war, how he shall be clothed, fed, strengthened, shipped away, moved into the line of battle, replaced by your younger child if he falls, and just how his body can be disposed of most conveniently. All these details are being thoughtfully worked out, and it is about time you [Page 83]were doing something for yourselves.... Organization for war is a cold, accurate, disinterested business, that deals with facts and moves with mathematical precision. It has the strongest leadership possible. It has unified leadership. Is it any wonder that unorganized efforts for peace seem puerile in comparison?"

Suppose, however, that the huge war machine, instead of standing at the center of government, with thousands or millions of employees and holding a first lien on all the resources of the nation, were left out in the cold without official recognition, dependent alone on voluntary gifts of the few that believe its maintenance vital to national existence. Under such conditions how long would the organization endure? Would it not drop at once (as in Germany) to a matter of plots and counterplots directed against the government itself?

Suppose, again, on the other hand, that our nation were officially organized for peace, could it not only guarantee its own security, but through its example and influence maintain the peace of the world?

V. Preparedness; Military Drill in Schools; Standing Incentives to War

As to the first, many volumes have been written covering both sides of the question, which, with that of drill in schools, demands the careful attention of the teacher; the second, nevertheless, needs no special discussion here. Coming to the third, however, it must be emphasized that the united influence of the educational world should be bent on the abatement of "Standing Incentives to War." These are of many kinds, some removable by administrative action or by national legislation in one or more countries, others of a more complex character arising from unwholesome tradition or from faulty education beyond the reach of direct effort on the part of any single government. For these, as for most other great evils, the only final remedy lies in public opinion, "the court sitting supreme in the darkness, the heart and conscience of universal humanity." That this great court may be intelligently informed and directed is the loftiest purpose of public education and the public [Page 84]opinion of the many rests on the matured and enlightened convictions of the few.

In this connection we should commend to the teachers in all countries the study of the conditions and policies which made it possible to bring on the world war. In the same connection each teacher of history should endeavor to be accurately informed on those elements of danger which now surround Germany, Russia, the Balkan States, Turkey, India and China. The old veneer of stability is everywhere broken up, and it will demand the collective wisdom of the world to ensure the "safety to democracy" involved in its primary precepts-freedom, order and justice.

VI. Is War Necessary?

The lines of argument intended to show that war is a supreme necessity of man are in the main three, as given by General von Bernhardi, in 1912, and accepted by hosts of others. These are (a) the "historic argument" that "there have always been wars, and therefore wars must always be"; (b) the "psychological argument" that "war is ingrained in human nature," for man is a "fighting animal"; and (c) "Social Darwinism," the survival of the fittest among races and nations, it being the right and therefore the duty of great and strong races to extirpate or subdue the tribes that are weak, small or peaceful. But "Social Darwinism," as thus defined, is a gross perversion of the teaching of Darwin. This, in brief, asserts that individuals-plants, animals or men-who have successfully run the gauntlet of life, leave, in the main, descendants competent and adaptable like themselves. That fact, now obvious, in no way justifies national manslaughter or conquest. In any event, the importance of a sane answer to these problems demands the careful attention of every teacher with a forward outlook.

It is not the belief of the present writer that modern wars rest on man's pugnacity. They are matters of statute, and are forced on peoples by their rulers. War, as we know it, is not "ingrained in human nature." It is an acquired vice, a product of lust for power. Human nature changes very slowly, but the point of view [Page 85]may alter very suddenly when people are ripe for it. Education prepares for just such a new vision, and sudden changes in point of view have repeatedly taken place, every great collective wrong having been vanquished when enough men began to realize its true character, to see it nakedly for what it is.

Toward such final end and outlawry of war the teacher should contribute, directly in his relation to the young, indirectly in his relation as a scholar and patriot to the adult generation. For the world still faces a perilous emergency. The coming generation, even though better trained, is not yet here, and the men and women of today on whom we rely for the saving of civilization are the same people who allowed militarists and diplomatists to plunge them into war. The condition is critical; it admits of no delay. Every teacher should therefore do his part towards that mental and moral disarmament which must precede and accompany military disarmament. The present generation, however confused and exhausted, will determine the immediate future.

It is hopefully true, however, that no single generation can finally wreck or even finally save civilization, because in the long history of man we have built up an enduring organization for the common welfare. Yet no good result comes about of itself, only through the long concerted effort of good men and women.

VII. General Machinery for International Cooperation

The relations of the Court of Arbitration at the Hague, and those of the Permanent Court of International Justice, now functioning, should be understood by the teachers of the world. As to the League, the United States will doubtless ultimately enter the comity of nations-from which it has never been wholly isolated. The World Educational Federation should exert its energies to bring this about and on terms satisfactory to the treaty-making power of the nation. In fact, the necessary reservations have been practically obtained, and the features most objectionable-the propositions looking towards coercion of any kind, and those [Page 86]connected with the "sanctions" of the Treaty of Versailles-have met with general disapproval and are already virtually obsolete.

It will be noted that the League of Nations thus modified would differ materially from the Covenant included in the Treaty of Versailles. Being without "teeth" and not at all of the nature of a super-state, it is more nearly analogous to the Joint High Commission, a device used throughout history for averting war. It would constitute at Geneva a Joint High Commission in practically continuous session with virtually all nations represented, but having only power to adjust, not coerce. Such an organization should take the leading place in the many official forms of International Union, of which the Postal Union, the oldest and most indispensable, serves as the model and type.

Published by World Unity Memorial to David Starr Jordan. [Page 87]

THE COMMON MESSAGE OF THE WORLD'S GREAT TEACHERS

by HUGH MCCURDY WOODWARD Department of Philosophy of Education, Brigham Young University

THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE EMANCIPATION AND GROWTH OF THE INDIVIDUAL

(Continued)

PROBABLY no one of the great teachers has expressed so clearly the place which knowledge holds in the progress and emancipation of man as did Confucius. In Confucian Analects, he says: "Those who are born with the possession of knowledge are the highest class of men. Those who learn, and so readily get possession of knowledge, are the next. Those who are dull and stupid, yet compass the learning are another class next to these. As to those who are dull and stupid and yet do not learn;—they are the lowest of people."

"Every truth," says this great moral teacher, "has four corners; as a teacher I give you one corner, and it is for you to find the other three". . . . "Men of superior minds busy themselves first in getting at the roots of things, and when they have succeeded in this the right course is open to them"... "The cultivator of the soil may have his fill of good things, but the cultivator of the mind will enjoy a continual feast." At another time Confucius said: "The superior man honors his virtuous nature and maintains constant inquiry and study, seeking to carry it out to its breadth and greatness. He cherishes his old knowledge and is constantly acquiring new."

The Zoroastrian prayer found in the lesser Avesta and which for conciseness, comprehensiveness and depth of thought has [Page 88]probably never been surpassed, shows the importance laid upon knowledge by the Persian master: "Give us knowledge, sagacity, quickness of tongue, holiness of soul; that understanding which cometh not through learning."

The high plane of the philosophy of Jesus is due in part to the stress he puts upon the necessity of a constant search for knowledge and the improving of one’s talents. "Then Jesus said to those Jews which believed on him, 'If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. . . . Search the scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life and they are they which testify of me."

While knowledge is not synonymous with truth, it represents a vital part of it. The Great School of Natural Science, an American school of moral and ethical research, defines these terms as follows: "Truth is the established relation which the facts of nature sustain to each other and to the individual intelligence or soul of man. In our search for knowledge we are seeking to identify the facts of nature as they exist. In our search for truth we are seeking to know the established relation which these identified facts of nature sustain to each other and to individual human intelligence."

Knowledge of the physical laws of nature has enabled man to make a new world in which to live. The extensive physical conveniences in modern civilization represent results of knowledge. It has enabled him to do much in the existence of his physical health. In the realm of society and governments, knowledge is beginning to reveal to man certain underlying principles. It is in the realm of man’s moral and spiritual development and unfoldment that this century must find and apply the definite knowledge of the principles and laws involved. It is in this realm that the world’s great teachers have a message for all the peoples of all countries. [Page 89]All science, all philosophy, and all religion, are made one common quest by a golden thread of truth which runs through them all. It is the earnest search for this truth which brings individuals to a common understanding and unites peoples, nations and races.

An earnest and honest desire to know the truth, regardless of where it strikes, will enable the members of different cliques, classes, and creeds to sit down without prejudice and reason and study until they have separated the kernels from the chaff.

Truth makes brothers of us all. The hope of a common brotherhood of man rests upon a sincere and persistent search for the truth. It is the deep rooted faith in the idea that truth once discovered will make brothers of all men that constitutes an element in the message of the great teacher of this century.

The twentieth century is characterized by a tendency to bring together all people in their vision and understanding of the fundamental problems of life. The extensive travel in many lands made possible by the marvelous development in transportation has made of every nation a next door neighbor to every other nation. Because of this search for truth through scientific investigation communication has reached a stage of development where it is now possible for every nation to hear simultaneously the spoken word of one man.

The close contact and extensive exchange of ideas is stimulating in every individual a desire to know the life of all the peoples of the earth. In fact, this desire to know the truth regardless of former ideals or prejudices is becoming so pronounced that it might be said to constitute the common religion of mankind. In essence it is a desire to know the facts of nature and to know the relation that these facts bear to one another and to the well-being of the individual.

The attitude of these masterminds toward knowledge is exemplified in the spirit of modern research. In fact, this search for truth through the scientific method is a fulfillment of part of their Philosophy. In this the twentieth century mind will not turn back. [Page 90]It has put its hand to the plow and is determined to follow a straight line to the end of the row. It has declared to nature and to God that it is willing to know the truth. Whether this century will be able to live the rest of the philosophy of these masters to the extent that it makes a right application and a right use of knowledge is quite another story.

Jesus said unto the Jews: "Know the truth and the truth will make you free." It is well to remember at this point that truth has been defined as something more than the mere awareness of the facts of nature. It is the established relation that the facts of nature sustain to each other and to the individual intelligence or soul of man. Know the truth and the truth will make brothers of us all in one common quest for life and light. Know the truth and the truth will help all factions and all creeds to examine together the weak as well as the strong points of their own positions.

It is fast dawning upon the enlightened conscience of this age that there cannot be one set of facts for one individual and an entirely different set for another; that there cannot be one relation which these facts of nature beg to one life and an entirely different relation which they bear to another. That the laws of nature and the relation they bear to the development of individual intelligence are fixed and immutable is fast becoming the working assumption of this age.

Truth will make man humble like a little child. Man must, Newton-like, be made to feel as the little child playing upon the sea shore—have picked up only a few pretty pebbles with the whole ocean before him unexplored. The spirit of this search is therefore not one of intellectual vanity, nor scientific dogmatism, nor religious bigotry. It is a thirst to know the facts with the desire and purpose to adjust one's life to those facts when they are delivered.

The truth will point out man's relation to the fact and laws of the physical world, to the facts and laws of the world of biology and psychology. It will include his relation to his fellow man and to his God. In fact, it will include every relation which concerns [Page 91]man's adjustment to the established facts of science, philosophy and religion.

This humble search for the truth sounds at once the death knell of arrogance, domination, dogmatism, and bigotry. It is the one religion to which all men can belong, and, at the same time, know that they are on the surest road to life and light. All great students of philosophy can and will subscribe to it. It is the very essence of science. It is the basis upon which all true religions have built their systems and their plan of salvation. It is one of the most important elements in the common mesage of the world's great teachers. [Page 92]

SOCIAL SCIENCE AND AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION

by BENJAMIN GINZBURG Author and Educator

CLASSICAL political theory, as it was crystallized in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries in the conception of the democratic national state, left us with two unsolved problems of war and peace between nations and the problem of economic organization. The two problems were never completely unconnected, but in modern times they have become closely interrelated. The same forces—the industrial revolution and the capitalistic method of production—which complicated the economic problem far beyond the dreams of the democratic political theorists transformed the problem of war and peace almost into a reflex of the economic problem.

The interrelations can be seen if we study concretely the causes of modern wars. Undoubtedly the material cause of most recent wars is the struggle for markets and trade outlets. When does this struggle arise? If economic exchange rested on a natural harmony of interests, as the eighteenth century economists believed, there would be no need for colonies and there would be no need for preferential trade outlets. But modern economic exchange and production rests only slightly on this harmony; for the most part they rest on inequitable exchange and conflict of interests. Thus foreign trade with undeveloped countries represents an attempt on the part of business men from a more developed economy to exploit the profits that flow from the inequity of exchange in trade with a less developed economy. Business men inevitably seek the aid of their national governments in forcing this trade upon the natives and in keeping off traders of other countries from their [Page 93]preserve. Nor does the intervention of the national government proceed altogether from the base motive of pledging the interest of a whole nation in order to protect the profits of private adventurers. Under conditions of domestic production and domestic distribution of economic goods, there is a chronic tendency towards overproduction. New markets are thus a national necessity. In a paradoxical sense they are even necessary for the proletarian worker, whose exploitation by the capitalist is the cause of overproduction. For if the country does not get new markets, there is unemployment and the worker loses what little bread he has in normal times.

If the struggle for markets is a cause for wars, it is obvious that we could not abolish wars without changing the economic system which results in a struggle for markets. A cooperative domestic economy in the various countries would at once remove the tendency to overproduction by making it possible for the working and propertyless classes to buy back and consume the goods that are produced.

But would a cooperative economy, socialism, completely abolish wars? Not if we understand socialism in the purely national sense. Socialism would remove the situations which are today made conflicts of national interest but which really rest on an unintelligent national economy. But there would still remain any residual conflicts that are inherent in the political individuality of the national states themselves. If two nations want the same possessions, or if the people of each country organized as a national unity feel that it is to their collective national interest to have a certain possession, they will fight for it, exactly as two individuals will fight over the same desire when there is no superior authority to restrain them. There will even be wars over the psychological manifestations of national egoism-questions of national honor and prestige. In a word socialism would remove the conflicts of national interest which are not real but illusory, but would leave untouched whatever core of real conflicts wcald remain.

This core of national egoism is of course operative in the [Page 94]present conflicts waged over economic imperialism, and it gives to these conflicts the formal juridical stamp of an armed conflict of national sovereignties. For this reason it is often made the universal and sole cause of war, and all our peace efforts are concentrated around it. This is a mistaken procedure, for if the conflict of national egoisms is a universal cause of war, it is only so in the formal sense. As a formal cause it expresses a reality and a problem of its own, but no solution of the problem by itself can be expected to be effective except in a world where there would be no other situations to serve as material causes. To illustrate, let us suppose that we abolished national egoism by some form of an international state, leaving our economic problems more or less as they are at present. This would mean that the present conflicts of national capitalists would become conflicts of regional capitalists without the support of national sovereignties. Their conflicts would thus be reduced to the peaceful level of domestic economic conflicts. But does anybody imagine that under such circumstances the world state could long survive?

The present national state has a hard time existing as an entity in the face of turbulent class struggles and conflicts of interests within, and its existence is made possible by the fact that it is backed up by the propertied classes. But in the case of an international state, there would be no world class that would unanimously back up the political institution. It would therefore inevitably break up into component national fragments. On the other hand, if the capitalists of the whole world united into a single class, which would support the political structure of the world state, this would mean that they would come face to face with the problem of world-wide overproduction as a result of the property and capital privileges of their class. They would be forced into some form of socialism—not necessarily a complete equalitarian socialism—if only to assure their class interests of dominance. In other world, the question of a world state could not be solved completely or satisfactorily without at the same time attending to the problem of social-economic organization. [Page 95]But let us consider abstractly and on its own basis the problem of national egoism as the cause of wars. The first thing that such a consideration rules out is the thought that we can eliminate wars by treaties, moral sanctions and peace sentiments among individuals. Nations as collective entities are not governed by moral considerations because they are not conscious beings; nor are they bound by legal considerations (as are corporations, for example) because there is no positive law over them. Treaties and the whole apparatus of international diplomacy have indeed a function, but their function is to register the balance of forces as it exists at any moment, not to override a conflict when the balance of forces shifts. By registering the balance of forces, treaties make for peace to the extent that they show that it is momentarily useless for the vanquished to carry on war. But the moment that conditions change they are inevitably broken. There is no governing group that is consciously attending to its charge of the national interest that would not break treaties when the conditions demanded it.

Nor can we gain anything by opposing the moral sentiments of the individual citizens to the egoism and war sentiments of the governments. The individual citizens in so far as they are organized in a national government are directly involved in the competitive and combative relation of their nation with every other nation. Too many people seem to think that they can accept the benefits of the state its function as a unifying, ordering force for the life of the citizens within-and reject the seamy side of its activity-its war-making powers. But it is one and the same relationship which is responsible for both sides of the state’s activities. It is because the state is a transcendant unity that it orders the domestic life of its citizens and that it involves them in wars with citizens of other states.

Were war an impersonal necessity of life in the state-were it a case, for example, of sacrificing the lives of citizens in defense of the community against a "natural enemy," it would not be a moral evil. The sacrifice for the common cause would be regarded as heroic, and there would be no moral pity for the lives lost on [Page 96]the other side. But as things stand, it is a case of brother fighting brother, and the moral pity for the foe goes hand in hand with the sense of the uselessness of the sacrifice of self. Could the brothers understand one another, could they be united, there would be no need of sacrifice, there would be no need of killing...

The moral tragedy of war is real and genuine, and it is part of the tragedy that it is not a case of the evil being on one side and the good on the other, but rather two goods, two moral loyalties fighting in the individual's conscience. For the state which compels war is not a diabolical institution, but one that commands the individual's moral loyalty. The individual is torn between his moral loyalty to the state and his moral loyalty to humanity.

Is this civil war of conscience a permanent and unalterable tragedy incapable of solution? No. For if we examine the nature and evolution of the state and its relation to the movement of the moral life, we shall find that we are not given an unalterable entity called the national state but rather a movable political institution. In the beginning the state was the family, and the family bond corresponded to the limits of the moral consciousness of the individual. But as the moral consciousness of the individual broadened, the state underwent an evolution into the territorial state—an evolution in which the family bond was kept but became subordinate to the higher but more abstract territorial bond. And there are numerous instances where various territorial communities enjoying a certain kinship of culture became amalgamated, either through peaceful federation or through conquest, into a more inclusive state, in which the older groupings were kept as subordinate functional relationships. The government of the United States may be taken as a case in point: the states once sovereign lost their general sovereignty to the federal government, which though far less close to the daily life of the people is yet supreme in its authority.

From this point of view the transcendence of the state with regard to individual wills—the fact that it exists as a reality over and above the individual citizens—does not stand in the way of [Page 97]its development in line with the movement of the moral consciousness as reflected in individual minds. Ultimately, the state and the moral consciousness must both meet at a common point which is the human race. And if we keep in mind the fact that both the moral consciousness and the political develop along "federal" or organic lines, we may see that it is not at all necessary to await the time when all the bonds of local patriotism have been dissolved in order to make a world state practical. As long as there is a basis of common moral interest on matters of world concern, a world state becomes feasible, and it becomes feasible without the sacrifice of any of the legitimate claims of patriotism, or the ties of sentiment and interest, which bind an individual to the people of his locality closer than to his people in remote regions.

It is absurd to suppose that a world state so conceived is contrary to human nature and that it would run counter to the basic instincts. Life in the world state would be no more opposed to human instincts than life in the national state. Indeed it may be se that in both cases the political organization is designed precisely to take into account the human-all-too-human character of human nature. Human nature rises from the level of appetite to the level of moral reason, but it is because human nature cannot stay on the level of moral reason that the state functions as an instrument of physical coercion, training men by a system of rewards and punishments to do what their unaided moral sense would not be sufficient to make them do.

No, unlike the dream of anarchism, the conception of a world state is intensely practical, based precisely on the needs of human nature as we find it at present and not upon an ideal human nature of tomorrow.

But how may such a regime of a world state be achieved? When we raise this question we must descend from the abstract realm, where it has been possible to analyze war and nationalism in complete formality, and we must enter the concrete world where formal nationalism is inextricably involved with economics, capitalism, and similar phenomena. What political or economic forces [Page 98]can be counted on to work for the creation of a world state? The answer is none! The diplomats, the national governmental officials, are too much involved with the defense of capitalistic trade interests to have either the courage or the vision to break away from their national function and act as midwives of an international government. The capitalists, although they concentrate great money power in their hands, are themselves slaves of the instinct of acquisition and do not and cannot see any further than their noses. One thinks of the bankers—"the international bankers"—who, because they deal in international acceptances and foreign exchange, are supposed to have an international point of view. Alas! one exaggerates the power, the cohesion and the intellectual ability of the banking fraternity. And one also misunderstands their point of view. A banker is a merchant, and the fact that his business interest may momentarily coincide with a moral or social purpose does not mean that he is going to conduct his business along the lines of realizing that purpose...

There was a moment when a promising start might have been made towards realizing the ideal of an international government. This was at the close of the World War. But the greatest tragedy of the war was not the war itself, but the Peace of Versailles which ruined all possibility of redeeming the cataclysm of blood by a genuine League of Nations. The League of Nations, as organized by the treaty of Versailles and as combined with the peace settlement, was from the very beginning nothing more than an instrument of the victorious powers operating in a pretended international guise. At best the League would have been only a step forward in the direction of a world state, but it might have promoted a growing surrender of national sovereignty to international administration, had it rested on a peace settlement founded on justice. But to expect that the mere international form of the League of Nations would evolve into a more effective international organization when it functioned in connection with the Versailles settlement was to expect the impossible. It was the connection of the League with the Versailles treaty that brought about the [Page 99]abstention of the United States, and it is the same connection that has made the League in the last few years the passive instrument of French national policy.

Thus we may say not only that the problem of war can not be solved permanently apart from the solution of the problem of eco-nomic organization, but we cannot even expect a start to be made under the present economic regime. The reasonings which lead to the necessity of a world state as a permanent substitute for war remain valid, but advantage cannot be taken of them until the present capitalistic regime has been replaced by a collectivistic or-ganization of economic life. This will not only do away with the imperialistic struggle for markets as the material cause of war, but it will also put men in power who can meet the problem of na-tionalism. Social cooperation and social justice, will inevitably bring in its train international cooperation and the universal brotherhood of man.

The seventh article in a Symposium on THE SUBSTANCE OF WORLD COOPERATION-the contribution of the scientist and engineer to international unity and peace. [Page 100]

DAS DEUTSCHE AUSLANDSINSTITUT, STUTTGART

by MINNE E. ALLEN Investigator for The Social Science Research Council, Columbia University

THE Swabians, in spite of deep love for their home, have always delighted to wander, and thus have brought a rich stream of German blood into other lands. In Russia and in the Banat, in North and South America, great numbers of Swabian immigrants are to be found. It is then, natural that it was in charming Swabia that the thought ripened of creating a center for the German element in foreign countries, a center through which the emigrants could maintain living ties with the mother country. On the tenth of January, 1917, this idea was realized by the opening of the "Museum and Institute for the Study of the German Element Abroad and for the Furthering of German Interests in Foreign Lands."

Though the name has now become shorter and clearer, and though the place of the "Museum" has changed from time to time, it has always been true to the ideal of its founder, Consul Theodor G. Wanner, it has remained a center for the study of all questions on German culture beyond the borders.

Thus there was from the beginning a rich field of work. There had first to be an investigation as to where and to what extent there could be found closed communities of Germans abroad. Impressive are the maps of various kinds, which show how German settlements occur over almost the whole globe. Word and picture, models of buildings and landscapes, even reproductions of whole rooms show clearly where and how Germans live elsewhere. A collection of old documents tells of centuries of cultural work. On the first of March, 1930, the Institute had 30,330 pictures, of [Page 101]

DAS DEUTSCHE AUSLANDSINSTITUT

which 24,736 are reproduced in lantern slides, and are lent gratis for popular lectures; part of these are arranged in series, with ex-planatory text. The map collection numbers 8,800, with especial emphasis on regions of German settlements. Furthermore, there is a card catalog of those maps of foreign countries which are not available here. In the extensive, well-ordered newspaper archives are over 320 foreign papers in the German language, 21 in other tongues, and 59 from the Reich; also 1,093 periodicals, of which 578 are German publications printed abroad. A card index gives information on German societies, schools, churches in other coun-tries, on sources of information concerning German affairs beyond the borders, and on organizations of foreigners in Germany-altogether 33,371 organizations, whose constitutions, programs, and communications of every kind are gathered in a special collection. Through a subject and name index it is possible to discover and make use of the material collected in newspapers and periodicals.

The library, which is administered as a reference library, col-lects, not only new publications on the German element abroad and on foreign affairs in general, but also all writings of Germans in foreign lands and all those of foreigners concerning Germany. There are already over 48,000 items accessible to those who hun-ger for knowledge. Furthermore, work on a bibliography of all the literature concerning Germans abroad, from the end of the seventeenth century on, has been progressing for years. The In-stitute itself publishes scientific writings in its special fields on cultural, legal, political, and economic subjects, as well as biog-raphies and descriptive material. A semi-monthly, "Der Auslands-deutsche," tells of the Institute's work and of the most valuable of its rich experiences. Besides this, there is a press service giving to 4,000 German papers, in Germany and elsewhere, the most im-portant news in the field of its interests; this service is furnished free of charge. By means of traveling exhibits, many are enabled to have the lives of their fellow Germans abroad brought before their eyes. For example, twelve large German cities have enjoyed extensive exhibitions relating to Danzig and the Baltic states. [Page 102]The close connection between the scientific tasks of the In- stitute-research, collection, cataloging, presentation on the one hand and the adaptation of the knowledge acquired to the needs of practical life on the other is very characteristic of the Auslands- institut. Alongside of the work of demonstrating to Germans of the home land and abroad their value to each other, there is the tremendous work of the Information Bureau. Archives, library, map and photograph collections form the natural basis for this task. Here the German emigrant comes for information and ad- vice. Pictures, maps, and newspapers, information on schools and societies in the locality chosen for settlement give him a feeling of acquaintance and security and help him to make the most practical preparations. On the other hand, it may happen that, when it has been pointed out, to no avail, how insufficient would be the basis for a livelihood in the chosen new world, a visit to the museum or to an illustrated lecture is sufficient to hold a too hasty man back from his dangerous undertaking. Close cooperation with the official world has brought about the provision that no girl may ob tain a passport before attaining her majority, unless she can show a statement from the Auslandsinstitut that the destination she has chosen is a favorable one. Numerous investigations as to relatives and friends who had long been given up for lost have resulted in reestablishing the interrupted connections.

Recently a German family, which had long since emigrated to South America, ap pealed to the Institute for worthy German wives for the six sons who had now grown up; I may say that happy weddings resulted.

Another field of work deals with economic affairs,-e. g., the procuring of foreign representatives, either German or friendly to Germany, for home industries, and giving information abroad on good sources for German products. Students and teachers who in- tend to work abroad receive valuable preparation through courses in the Institute. It would be well if such courses were available to other professions, such as diplomats, ministers, engineers, mer- chants, members of the merchant marine. The wealth of material which the Institute has gathered could, of course, be used to [Page 103]

DAS DEUTSCHE AUSLANDSINSTITUT

deepen civic education, and could be of great scientific and perhaps practical benefit to institutions of higher learning.

The Deutsche Auslandsinstitut is a private undertaking for the common good, but it is recognized and aided by the nation, the states and the cities. Its aims are "to maintain and strengthen the ties between Germans in the mother country and elsewhere. and to this end to serve as an adequate center for knowledge concerning the importance of Germans and German culture abroad."

In thorough-going recognition of its task, it strives "by word and deed to help all those who wish to go abroad or to establish economic or scientific contact with foreign lands." Thus it obtains and distributes such a knowledge of other nations as is a necessary tool for every thinking person in these times of close world relations.

When I left the fine director and his excellent staff, in happy enthusiasm and with warm thankfulness, I was not only keenly aware that the community of German culture had here found a home, a source of continual stimulation, but also filled with the hope that other nations might similarly serve their peoples. Then the cooperation of these cultural centers could do much for mutual understanding and for fruitful intercourse.

The thirty-sixth modern movement presented by WORLD UNITY in its department "The Wild We Live In." [Page 104]

INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

KIANG KANG-HU McGill University

Na primitive stage of civilization any individual or group, if strong and unscrupulous, may attack and even murder any Lother individual or the members of another group, either for the sake of plunder or the mere display of their prowess: thus, as the Chinese proverb says, "The flesh of the weak is the food of the strong."

After such practice had continued for thousands upon thousands of years, during which the general peace was solely dependent upon the balance of power maintained either by the armed preparedness of individuals or by the united protection which groups afforded one another, a device was initiated to establish a mutual agreement or contract binding individuals or neighbouring groups. This was the first step in arbitration. The agreement or contract gradually became recognized as law to deal with all disputes before fighting began and, if possible, to prevent war. But law, merely as law, was for practical ends ineffective: interpretation of the law and the pronouncement of a formal decision were in each case necessary. So the second step in arbitration was to set up a court with a judge. The judge had to be a person respected by both parties and in no way involved with or interested in either party, for the court was the sacred symbol of justice. This, however, was still not enough, because neither could the judge personally execute his judgment nor could the court prevent a further dispute over its decision. Besides, a voluntary unanimous submission of all concerned was almost impossible, and a judgment, no matter how righteous and benevolent, might often require some measure of compulsion for its execution. Behind every judgment [Page 105]

INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

there had to be some kind of force, even though that force might not be called upon for actual service. This was the third step in arbitration, a police force to back the judgments of the court. It was only with this last step that any arbitration could be effective.

Now important questions arise: who should make the law, who should appoint the judge, and who should control the police force? Here political theories and governmental systems differ very much. In an absolute monarchy the king is vested with all this power, while in a constitutional or a republican state the people or their representatives are entrusted with these functions. The writer believes that the latter form is preferable and that the trend of history supports his view.

The development of international relations has followed the same path as that of individual or group relations and by almost the same steps. In ancient China, when the glorious Chou dynasty was decaying, during the Spring-Autumn Period (722-484 B.C.), a hundred or so feudal states of various size and rank, left without an effective central government, had to struggle among themselves for supremacy or even for existence. A form of inter-state law was drawn up and a court of arbitration was proposed, but they were unworkable until the successive rise to power of the Five Conquerors in the persons of Duke Huan of the Ch'i State, Duke Wen of the Chin State, Duke Hsiang of the Sung State, Duke Chuang of the Ch'u State, and Duke Mu of the Ch'in State. Each usurped the power of the then declining dynasty, assumed the leadership of all the feudal princes, took the inter-state law into their own hands, and employed their allied troops as a police force to render effective all arbitration decisions. During their reigns China enjoyed two and a half centuries of comparative peace and order. The two greatest philosophers of China, Lao Tzu and Confucius, lived during this Period.

Our modern world has witnessed similar progress only on a larger scale. Long before the World War a code of international laws for peace time and for war time was drafted and presented by private scholars to the world and afterwards received the [Page 106]gradual sanction and adoption of many governments. Then, in the latter part of the last century an International Court of Arbitration was established in the Palace of Peace at The Hague. It is since the Treaty of Versailles that the League of Nations has come into being and has been provided with a permanent court and a body of regular judges to try international disputes. Despite the generous spirit of the member nations in this compact and the good offices of the member judges in this court, its success has so far been very limited and short of what was desired and designed. In the last few months, since the Japanese invasion of Chinese Manchuria, the League has appeared powerless and without hope of settling this difficulty: its advice unheeded, its decisions disregarded, and its orders ignored. This is indeed not only a question of life and death for the League but it threatens the very existence of the arbitration court and the sanctity of international law, as well as the usefulness of such solemnly pledged international agreements as the Versailles and the Washington Treaties and the Briand-Kellogg Pact. All nations are viewing this affair with deep concern and from its outcome they will determine their future international policy: they will decide whether they also should risk their national integrity and interests through their faith in the League or should in self-defense compete in building more armament. If the League fails to weather this storm civilization will have been set back five hundred years, and the many bitter lessons the nations have learned since medieval times will have been in vain.

It is clear, therefore, that the world cannot afford to let the League fail and that all nations, whether in the League or not, should do their utmost for its success. In the writer's opinion the inevitable step the nations must take is to furnish the League with an adequate police force. In order to maintain this Force in a true international spirit and form and to prevent it from falling into the hands of any ambitious nation or individual, this Police Force, together with the Court of Arbitration and the League itself, must be organized on a modern democratic basis. [Page 107]

INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

The following are some of the most important points for the organization of the International Democratic Government with complete functions, namely: (1) Legislative; (2) Executive; (3) Judicial; and (4) Police Force.

1. The International Government shall have a Parliament of Two Houses. The Upper House is to represent the individual nations. Regardless of the size of territory or population, each nation will be allowed in the Upper House one member and one vote. These members of the Upper House, or International Senators, shall be appointed by their respective governments. To permit each government to recall or re-appoint its Senator at will, the term of office shall not be fixed. The Lower House is to represent the voting population of each nation. Each nation may have different regulations as to the qualifications for voting, but the size of the voting population only will be taken as the basis for representation in the Lower House. Thus, though China has the largest population of any nation, the fact that the majority of her people are unable or not allowed to vote, would create a condition whereby the size of her voting population might not be larger than that of any Western Power and so the number of her Representatives in the Lower House would be limited. Representation should be arranged that each nation, no matter how small or large its voting population may be, shall have at least one representative and not more than ten. Each representative shall have one vote. These members of the Lower House, or International Representatives, shall be elected by their respective national parliaments and their term of office shall be fixed at from three to five years with privilege of reelection. Both the houses shall be so constituted as to be able to continue in session throughout the whole year.

2. The International Government shall have an Executive Body consisting of various Committees. All the members of this Executive Body must be elected by the International Parliament from the qualified candidates, and those candidates may or may not be members of the Parliament. One of the qualifications for the candidates is that on election they must pledge their allegiance [Page 108]to the International Government only and not to their respective national governments. During their term of office in the Executive Body all members cease to be citizens of any single nation and must sever all official and political relations with their own or any other countries. The length of the official term shall be fixed, but the Parliament shall be given the power to recall at any time any member of the Executive Body. The Executive Body shall elect its own president and vice-president and regulate their official terms, duties and rights. The appointment of Committees for various purposes and the selection of their members shall be initiated by the Executive Body and approved by the International Parliament. The Executive Body is responsible to the International Parliament and under its control and inspection.

3. The International Government shall have a Court of Arbitration and its judges shall be elected and appointed for life by the International Parliament. The judges also must pledge their allegiance solely to the International Government and not to their respective national governments. They will be citizens of the world and will retain no official or political relations with any nation. They will try all international disputes referred to them by the International Parliament or presented by the disputing nations, and give their decisions without the consent of the parties involved. Appeals for a second trial may be made to the International Parliament and through that body referred again to the Court of Arbitration whose second decision shall be final. Its decisions shall be backed by the International Government as a whole and, if necessary, enforced by the International Police. The International Law, on the basis of which the Court proceeds and gives decisions, must, however, first be formally passed upon by the International Parliament in a specially appointed Committee. The International Parliament or its special Committee shall have the sole power to make, amend, repeal or otherwise alter any part of the International Law. When any question or doubt as to the meaning of the law arises, the right of interpretation shall rest solely with the Court of Arbitration. [Page 109]

INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

4. The International Government shall have an adequate Police Force of army, navy and air corps. This is the vital and essential part of the International Government, for without this Police Force all its other functions will be impractical and useless. This proposition of a Police Force is the most difficult to be realized or even to be attempted, for national pride and international jealousy often blinds reason and disrupts most carefully laid plans. The writer offers the following suggestions: that the International Police Force must be more powerful in every phase of armament than the fighting forces of any one nation; that this Police Force must be strictly under the command of the International Executive Body and its call to arms for active service must on each occasion be sanctioned by the International Parliament; that each nation's contribution in men to the Force shall be in proportion to the size of its representation in the International Parliament, but the appointment of officers shall be made regardless of nationality; that all the officers and men in this Force must renounce their original citizenship and pledge their allegiance to the International Government only; that in military operations against any nation or nations, should such occasion arise, all officers and men originally of the nation or nations involved to be admonished shall be excluded; that all expenses involved in the maintenance of this Force shall be paid from the common treasury of the International Government; that this Force shall be trained and equipped as a regular and permanent military organization with fixed terms for active service and for the reserve; and that this Force shall be stationed at the various strategic points of the world and, as need arises, transferred and concentrated.

In the above proposal we see three outstanding improvements on the League of Nations as now constituted. The first is to provide a strong police force of a strictly international type. The second is to divide the legislative, executive and judicial functions and to form an organization true to the spirit and to the letter of international government. The third is to mold this international government after a most democratic fashion: (1) Both the nations [Page 110]as individual units and also the people as an intellectual whole are equally represented. (2) The Executive, the Judicial Department and the Police Force are controlled by the Legislative Parliament so that there can be no danger of autocracy or abuse of power. (3) The Legislatures are distinctly nationalistic, but the members of the Executive, Judicial and Military Departments are absolutely internationalistic or non-nationalistic. Thus, and only thus, can universal justice and peace be made possible.

Further, the writer is confident that after the establishment of the International Government all diplomatic services could be much simplified or even eliminated: in fact, no exchange of ministers and consuls between nations would be necessary. The International Government could dispatch a commission to each member nation and a sub-commission to each important city to handle all international affairs which are of special interest to the places concerned. The money thus saved by abolishing the embassies, legations and consulates of the member nations would suffice to support the central world government, not to mention the reduction of budgets through disarmament. From this central world government the best minds would work out universal, non-aggressive plans for education and economic cooperation. Immigration and customs services also could be much more simplified or eliminated Passport visés and tariff walls would cease to exist. Nations and States would remain only as geographical and administrative divisions, while patriotism would be directed to more constructive work. All member nations, large or small, strong or weak, would be under the protection of and equal before the world law as citizens are before the national law in a civilized country.

It is true that nothing is perfect and nothing permanent. Any form of government has its shortcomings and disadvantages. After all, government itself is probably only a necessary evil. But any form of government is better than anarchy. By the introduction of state government the evolution of human society has succeeded in overcoming the primitive condition of anarchy in individual or group relations, and its next stage is to conquer international an [Page 111]

INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT III

archy by the introduction of a world government. This is the national tendency of human progress, and, if mankind is to survive, we shall sooner or later reach this goal. Through a willing and careful assistance to this natural course and by going in a more direct path we may save much time and many human lives. The recent Sino-Japanese conflict has opened the eyes of many a statesman and many a scholar to the realization that the present League of Nations is in urgent need of reorganization and strengthening. If the nations are unwilling to go back to the old days of secret diplomacy and competition in armament, the only way out of the dilemma is to cooperate and form an efficient international government on democratic principles.

In conclusion: if after the Manchurian affair such an international government should be introduced, the writer, as a Chinese, hopes that all the present sacrifices and tribulation of his people, like the bleeding lamb before the world altar, will not have been in vain but considered as part of the price necessary to bring so precious a gift to mankind. [Page 112]

CHINA’S CHANGING CULTURE

by FRANK RAWLINSON Editor, The Chinese Recorder, Shanghai

IV. SOME OTHER TRANSITIONAL CULTURAL CHANGES

(Continued)

The older Chinese political philosophy gave attention to social welfare as an obligation of governments. The Nationalists have definitely accepted this obligation and tried to meet it by promoting programs for peasants and laborers. They have, it is true, utilized these movements for political ends also. Having in this way started something beyond their control they now tend to suppress them. Their attitude has, however, stimulated the popular desire for economic betterment. This has become one of the chief modern Chinese challenges to Christianity.

China’s chief problem is poverty. At least fifty percent of the Chinese exist below any accepted standard of economic security. It is natural, therefore, that in the minds of both governments and people economic needs should loom large. An outstanding need is some workable plan that would move towards a reduction of this primary social menace. It not only makes the masses easy prey to radical agitators it also reduces their vitality and initiative in the support of constructive measures. In any event China is alive to her economic problems as never before.

(d) Legislation.

We have already noted the beginnings of labor and industrial legislation. All legislation, however, suffers from an inadequacy of the means and powers of enforcement. The situation as regards legislation illustrates strikingly the present tendency to fusion of indigenous and exotic ideas and methods. Since 1914 a Law Codification Commission has worked steadily and has prepared a number of modern codes which are in operation in modernized com- [Page 113]

CHINA'S CHANGING CULTURE

munities. Real progress has been made in the modernization of China's legal system and courts. But at the same time the old Ta Tsing Lu Li is still in use. This is looked on and used in legal practice as the great body of fundamental law, custom and precedents. This old code the promulgators of the new codes accept, with the exception of those parts not in accord with Nationalist ideals of government. To illustrate, the Peking Government made invalid nine of the ten "crimes" specified in the Ta Tsing Lu Li. The one dealing with filial piety was, however, retained by it. The Nationalist Government has since made all ten void. The latter, for instance, has relieved a married woman from obligation to show the parents of her husband any higher respect than she would show to any other elderly person. That is intended to enhance the equality of women before the law. This promotion of equality before the law is another aspect of China's present cultural situation.

The legislative system is, however, much complicated by the still incomplete political unification in China. The attitude of the Nationalist Government to the law worked out by the Law Codification Commission is to accept them except when inconsistent with Kuomintang aims and when in conflict with the laws and orders of the Nationalist Government. Legislation is, in consequence, subject to constant change. The Nationalist Government has issued a new penal code of its own.

All modern Chinese courts look askance at using analogy in their judicial and legal interpretations. This is due to its abuse under the Manchu regime. They tend to depend more on legal principles and custom, where no specific law can be cited. The main lines of modern legislation are criminal and civil with a relatively lesser amount dealing with commercial matters and obligations and contracts, except in connection with those laws which treat of succession and marriage. Capital punishment is unquestioned though the manner of execution has been changed from a number of barbarous methods to shooting. Militarists, however, often execute alleged criminals summarily and sometimes by bc-heading them. [Page 114]Existing law is not as definite on the problem of prostitution as one might wish. It is of course punishable for any one to induce any woman of "respectable family" to have illicit intercourse with any person for hire or to make a profession thereof. There has been discussion of the necessity of making the age of consent to sexual intercourse high. Divorce in accord with modern law is on the increase. Much progress has likewise been made in court and prison reform. There is, however, only about one modern court of first instance to 4,400,000 Chinese.

It is evident, therefore, both China's legal system and the courts for the application thereof, are rooted in a modern and an old culture at one and the same time.

The new tendencies in legislation and court practice will win over the old in time. In the meantime lawyers have no easy time keeping up with the changing situation. The old and the new legal systems sometimes fuse in interesting ways. One illustration of this must suffice. The modern code declares that reputation and virtue are not the same. This legal distinction refers primarily to the case of a widow contemplating remarriage. According to modern law she can do this and her reputation remain intact. But the question of her virtue as viewed by her family is quite another matter. Legally she might, therefore, remarry. But if her family viewed it as an unvirtuous act she might suffer morally by so doing Old Chinese customs, therefore, still play a large part in China's present legislative situation.

Women's Movements

There is, as I have noted, a strong tendency to make women equal before the law. In modernized circles there is an equally strong tendency to give them general equality. They have educational equality also for all practical purposes. In 1923 the Society for the Study of International Education issued a report. This report declared that "the importance and benefit to society of education for women was demonstrated and proved by the Christian schools." Women have gone abroad to study also. This same report declared that in the examination for those going [Page 115]

China's Changing Culture

abroad, as set by the Ministry of Education, the women proved that their ability is equal to that of the men.

When their attitudes are modernized the Chinese seem to find it easy to recognize the equality of women by appointing them to positions held by men if they are qualified by training therefor. Within the churches there is little difficulty in appointing women on controlling committees or boards when they are so qualified. Of course the number of available educated women is less than that of men. In 1922 the proportion of girls in Christian schools of the lower grades was a little less than one third; the proportion was much less in government schools. All schools are now open for the training of women for most careers. In 1923 about twenty-one percent of the students in government normal schools were women. This is a new vocational outlet for women. A few Chinese women have even taken training for the ministry. In the larger cities they are quite prominent in business houses, both Chinese and foreign. Shanghai has a successful women's bank.

As early as the beginning of the nineteenth century a Chinese advocate appeared urging equality between the sexes in China, especially as regards moral standards. The party of reform under Kwang Hsu was also in favor of such equality. In 1901 a magazine was published in Tokyo advocating the rights of Chinese women. After the Revolution of 1911 women presented a petition to the Nanking Government asking for equal rights in government education and marriage and urging the abolition of the slave trade and concubinage. Their demands were not then heeded. In 1922, however, the women students of Peking organized the Women's Suffrage Association and the Women's Rights League. These two associations spread quickly. They aimed at equality in government, education, marriage, property and inheritance and equal pay for equal work. Hunan first gave women equal rights and in 1921 elected a woman to the Peking Parliament.

During recent years women's organizations have increased rapidly. These have achieved most in Canton. In March, 1927, for instance, 25,000 women joined a public parade in that city. To [Page 116]these women's movements the Nationalist Movement gave great impetus. This fact explains why women's organizations have made more rapid progress in Canton than elsewhere: the Nationalist Government has been at work longer there. Women, indeed, threw themselves enthusiastically into the Nationalist Movement. A few Nationalist cadet schools for girls were also established in which girls received the same training as boys, and some girls were sent to Russia for training. The Y.W.C.A. cooperated with these women's movements in a number of ways. Some reaction against and within these movements has appeared. But women in China are moving into a new social position. They are becoming articulate. The consciousness of their own solidarity has grown.

V. THE OUTLOOK

For about a generation, then, China has been responding, in the main psychologically, to the impact of the West upon her life and culture. At first this psychological response headed up in resentment and opposition. It has now reached the stage of the utilization of western cultural values and international cooperation. Once China thought of the West, mainly though not exclusively, in terms of military force and material utilities. Now she is beginning to conceive of the possibility of international cultural sharing and cooperation. China is beginning to assimilate the world's best values through indigenous psychological forms and programs. A search for China-centric programs has begun.

Every transitional cultural change noted above is a keynote to the outlook for China's future. Politically China is moving towards the setting up of new ideals. Economically China has a new awareness of her complicated difficulties and is making some ameliorative experiments. Aggressive reconstructive efforts have been most persistent in connection with education and legislation, which, taken together, have perhaps the most important bearing on her cultural future. The first calls for the training of the individual to take his proper place in society: the second embodies the experience of a people with regard to the rules that should govern their social relationship. Women likewise are moving into a new [Page 117]

CHINA'S CHANGING CULTURE

position and relationship to society and the home. Religion, which should unify the social spirit, uphold the highest ideals and stabilize and invigorate the soul, is moving into a new position also, though its progress is not as marked as that in some other lines. The general attitude towards it is either negatively critical or indifferent. Nevertheless the revolutionary influences of the last generation have awakened the Chinese mind with regard to re- ligion as well as every other aspect of Chinese life. Such an awakening is the necessary prelude to a revival of interest in religion.

All these transitional cultural changes taken together make a new element in the cultural life of China. They are a challenge to everything old. They are the beginnings of a new culture. They are being guided by a new type of leadership. This new type of leadership is one of the most significant results of the response of China to the impact and culture of the West. In such leaders lies the hope of China's future. It is significant to note that all the cultural changes noted in this article are in the main under leaders whose educational experience is a combination of both Chinese and western culture. In their experience the two cultures are interwoven. This interweaving of cultures is the core and cause of the cultural fusion mentioned carlier. Such leaders are not looking at China's cultural problems through any exclusively chauvinistic or Chinese experience. They are pioneers of a new culture which is in some sense international. They are facing China's needs from a new cultural angle. Even such practical problems as highways are under consideration. A good road's movement has been started. Some 30,000 miles of roads are in use with about an equal number of miles projected. A year or two since there was published an elaborate scheme for national highways prepared by a Chinese. Such leaders are also doing research work along many lines. For instance the 1925 report of the China Medical Board shows that of 112 research articles, published by the staff of Peking Union Medical College, 32% were by Chinese. In spite of China's polit- ical chaos much reconstructive research and experimental work is going on. At this point and in such ways the reconstruction of [Page 118]China’s cultural life is in evidence. To the above may be added the beginnings of articulate public opinion.

All these cultural changes are beginnings only. Effective reconstructive plans on any sufficiently large scale have yet to emerge. The masses of the Chinese people have been and will continue to be hard to move forward. Yet reconstructive aspirations are the order of the day. No aspect of Chinese life is untouched by them. All but the most remote and isolated sections of China’s hinterland are stirred by them.

It is, therefore, true to say that as a result of China’s response to non-Chinese cultures a cultural revolution has begun in China. New dynamic influences are at work in her life. New difficulties and demands have roused the mind of China to new effort. The end of the goal cannot be foretold. But the Chinese mind is not complacent. Something new must be the result. The beginnings of a new culture are clearly seen.

(Concluded) [Page 119]WHITHER BOUND RELIGION? A SYMPOSIUM Collected and Edited by PAUL RUSSELL ANDERSON Columbia University

JOSEPH GHANIMA

Patriarch-elect, Chaldran Church, Mosul, Iraq

The Chaldean Church, of which Joseph Ghanima is the patriarch-elect, is one of the smaller branches of the Eastern Church. It broke away to join the Roman fold in 1681, when the patriarch of Diarbekir, having quarrelled with the catholicos of the Nestorian Church, appealed to the Pope who consecrated him "Patriarch of the Chaldeans." There have been repeated attempts all through history to lure the anathematized castern churches back to the papal family but the Chaldean group is one of the largest single bodies to accept papal authority.

The Nestorian Church has one of the most vigorous histories among oriental groups. The council of Ephesus condemned the Nestorians in 431 A.D., but the condemnation did not crush but rather inspired the powerful heresy. The Nestorian Church rose and grew to be the strongest Christian force in the Orient. Its greatest foothold was in Persia where it provided a basis on which Christian followers might unite and gain recognition of the existing rule as an independent church with no political ambitions. Thus the new blood stimulated the Christian population into vigor and the Nestorian Church became a great missionary body.

Successive quarrels, persecutions, and schisms led to the gradual break-up of the church and while Mar Shimun, twenty-two [Page 120]year old catholicos, heads the church from his home in Mosul today, its vigor, zeal, and energy are no longer apparent.

As far as constructive leadership is concerned, the Chaldean Church is in the same position. The fire and enthusium of the early leaders has long since simmered away. Syriac is still used in the services, ancient ritual persists, but the early zeal and devotion are but hazy memories. Joseph Ghanima stands at the head of the Chaldean Church as a man of kindly temper, keen judgment, and studious ways. He takes the position that religion must recognize some system as the only ultimate source of its vitality. Individualism in religion he considers to be the precursor of spiritual extinction; collective belief is alone stable enough to assure perpetuity. The Roman Catholic Church provides this, he says, on the basis of its long-continued history and its adequate understanding of human nature. He is not bigoted, recognizes that other groups are serving particular constituencies well, but feels that religion, to be vital and permanent, must be united along the pattern of the Roman Catholic mold.

"The future of religion is not as dark as some people imagine. people who base their religion on the animosity of religious principles and the ignoring of religious traditions which they see around them.

"The shunning of religion and the discarding of its principles and of its redeeming restrictions is characteristic of only a part of humanity. Logic does not jusify that we should base our prediction regarding the future of religion on this point alone. But on the other hand with our scrutinizing eye we should envelop the whole globe and take in all classes of people, giving due consideration to circumstances and time as well. Then alone can we (without recourse to divine revelation) express a right opinion about the future of religion. So if we consider all that has been mentioned with scrutiny, assiduity, and impartiality, we cannot help saying that religion has a great future. The present attitude of many people towards religion is nothing but one of hesitation which is bound to disappear. Thus I believe that righteous principles will [Page 121]ultimately reign supreme and all people will realize that the only way to enjoy life is by conforming to religious principles. It is these alone that can regulate the life of the individual, of the family, and of society so as to guarantee to them peace, happiness, and progress (even in social and material things, for there is a close connection between human life and religious principles).

"Likewise, we do not hesitate to declare that the greatest future belongs to the Catholic Faith over against all the Christian sects which have arisen in the course of history. For, laying aside the divine promises on which Catholicism is based, we know that system is at the basis of progress and that a stable system is the foundation of permanent progress. Everyone concedes that the Catholic system is stable in its fundamentals, conforming to the internal needs of man in his individual, family and social life, this being true of all ages and of all classes of society. Neither persecutions nor the vicissitudes of time have been able to change this system. Indeed it has been and still is steady and unshakeable, and the past and the present are the best guarantors of the future. At the same time we can observe (and history is our best witness) that other Christian sects are being influenced, shaken, and even eliminated in the course of the transformation of human affairs." [Page 122]

THE SOLE REMEDY

by ‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ

YE lovers of truth! O ye servants of mankind!*

As the sweet fragrance of your thoughts and high intentions has breathed upon me, I feel that my soul is irresistibly prompted to communicate with you.

Ponder in your hearts how grievous is the turmoil in which the world is plunged; how the nations on earth are besmeared with human blood, nay their very soil is turned into clotted gore. The flame of war has caused so wild a conflagration that the world in its early days, in its middle ages, or in modern times has never witnessed its like. The millstones of war have ground and crushed many a human head, nay even more severe has been the lot of these victims. Flourishing countries have been made desolate. cities have been laid level with the ground, and smiling villages have been turned into ruin. Fathers have lost their sons, and sons turned fatherless. Mothers have shed tears of blood in mourning for their youths, little children have been made orphans, and women left wanderers and homeless. In a word, humanity, in all its phases, has been debased. Loud is the cry and wailing of orphans. and bitter the lamentations of mothers which are echoed by the skies.

The prime cause for all these happenings is racial, national, religious, and political prejudice, and the root of all this prejudice lies in outworn and deepseated traditions, be they religious, racial, national, or political. So long as these traditions remain, the foundation of human edifice is insecure, and mankind itself is exposed to continuous peril.

Now in this radiant age, when the essence of all beings has been made manifest, and the hidden secret of all created things

• A letter dated January 28, 1920, Halfa. Palestine, and apparently never before published.—Editor.

[Page 123]

THE SOLE REMEDY

been revealed, when the morning light of truth has broken and turned the darkness of the world into light, is it meet and seemly that such a frightful carnage which brings irretrievable ruin upon the world should be made possible? By God! that cannot be.

Christ summoned all the peoples of the world to reconciliation and peace. He commanded Peter to return his sword unto its scabbard. Such was His wish and counsel, and yet they that bear His name have unsheathed the sword! How great the difference between their deeds and the explicit text of the Gospel!

Sixty years ago Bahá’u’lláh, even as the shining sun shined in the firmament of Persia, and proclaimed that the world is wrapt in darkness and this darkness is fraught with disastrous results, and will lead to fearful strife. In His prison-city of ‘Akká, He apostrophized in unmistakable terms the Emperor of Germany, declaring that a terrible war shall take place, and Berlin will break forth in lamentation and wailing. In like manner, whilst the wronged prisoner of the Sultan of Turkey in the citadel of ‘Akká, He clearly and emphatically wrote him that Constantinople will fall a prey to grave disorder, in such wise that the women and children will raise their moaning cry. In brief, He addressed epistles to all the chief rulers and sovereigns of the world, and all that He foretold has been fulfilled. From His pen of glory flowed teachings for the prevention of war, and these have been scattered far and wide.

His first teaching is the search after truth. Blind imitation, He declared, killeth the spirit of man, whereas the investigation of truth frees the world from the darkness of prejudice.

His second teaching is the oneness of mankind. All men are but one fold, and God the loving Shepherd. He bestoweth upon them His most great mercy, and considers them all as one. "Thou shalt find no difference amongst the creatures of God." They are all His servants, and all seek His bounty.

His third teaching is that religion is the most mighty stronghold. It should be conducive to unity, rather than be the cause of enmity and hate. Should it lead to enmity and hate better not have [Page 124]it at all. For religion is even as medicine, which if it should aggravate the disease, its abandonment would be preferred.

Likewise, religious, racial, national, and political prejudice all are subversive of the foundation of human society, all lead to bloodshed, all heap ruin upon mankind. So long as these remain, the dread of war will continue. The sole remedy is universal peace. And this is achieved only by the establishment of a supreme Tribunal, representative of all governments and peoples. All national and international problems should be referred to this tribunal, and whatsoever be its decision that should be enforced. Were a government or people to dissent, the world as a whole should rise against it.

And among His teachings is the equality in right of men and women, and so on with many other similar teachings that have been revealed by His pen.

At present it has been made evident and manifest that these principles are the very life of the world, and the embodiment of its true spirit. And now, ye, who are the servants of mankind, should exert yourselves, heart and soul, to free the world from the darkness of materialism and human prejudice, that it may be illumined with the light of the City of God.

Praise be to Him ye are acquainted with the various schools, institutions and principles of the world; today nothing short of these divine teachings can assure peace and tranquillity to mankind. But for these teachings, this darkness shall never vanish, these chronic diseases shall never be healed; nay, they shall grow fiercer from day to day. The Balkans will remain restless, and its condition will aggravate. The vanquished will not keep still, but will seize every means to kindle anew the flame of war. Modern universal movements will do their utmost to carry out their purpose and intentions. The Movement of the Left will acquire great importance, and its influence will spread.

Wherefore, endeavor that with an illumined heart, a heavenly spirit, and a divine strength, and aided by His grace, ye may bestow God’s bountiful gift upon the world... the gift of comfort and tranquillity for all mankind. [Page 125]

BOOK NOTES

by JOSEPH S. ROUCEK Centenary Junior College

Can Nations Be Neighbors? by David Lavingston Crawford. The Stratford Co., 1932. $1.50. Dr. Crawford, President of the University of Hawaii, is an able, intellectual surgeon, who probes the wounds of the world with his ruthless but steady logic. Instead of seeking to abolish nationalism, to be replaced by some one of the current ideals of internationalism, he postulates the practical necessity of continuing nationalism, in spite of its evils and threats to world peace; on that premise he develops the idea of an internationalism to grow out of the present situation, as the next stage in the evolution of our social order. It is evident that the author is a trained biologist. His residence in Hawaii where several racial groups live has provided him with the practical background. We might not always agree with his vigorous writing, but we have enjoyed his presentation. A short citation, proving it, will suffice: "Some who call themselves internationalists are merely international busybodies obsessed with the notion that their particular mission in life is to solve the problems of other nations and peoples." (P. 2).

The New Balance of Power in Europe, by Valentine de Balla. The Johns Hopkins Press, 1932. $2.00. Dr. de Balla's fundamental viewpoint is that the European Powers are realigned into two groups: (1) those Powers that want the peace treaties revised, and (2) those that want the status quo maintained. He sees the future in black colors only—another war. In view of this fact, that Europe of today is rapidly drifting to such division, the book is of interest to us. It is true that the author is hard on the victors, and favors the "revisionist" group. His partiality does not prevent us from stating that his presentation is sincere and that his pessimistic predictions might even come true. We therefore must not miss [Page 126]this opportunity to state that the whole idea of the "balance of power" is obsolete (and the author seems to think so) and that we had better give our thoughts to the good points of internationalism before another "big parade" will definitely bury our civilization.

The Economic Factor. Its Rôle in Life and Civilization

The Economic Factor. Its Rôle in Life and Civilization, by Ray H. Whitbeck and Olive J. Thomas. The Century Co., 1932 $2.25. There is no doubt that human behaviour and international relations are conditioned by geographical environment. The authors, both of the Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin, have developed this thesis, showing the underlying connection between the natural environment and the development of life and culture, and explain many of the ways in which the geographic factor operates. For that purpose they have utilized all the available material on that subject in English. The approach is very conservative and within its own limits and as a popularized treatment of the subject we can consider the book as a suggestive introduction to our understanding of nationalism and internationalism.

League of Nations, Review of World Production, 1925-1931

League of Nations, Review of World Production, 1925-1931. World Peace Foundation, 1932. $1.25. The present volume is a continuation of the Memorandum on Production and Trade, of which the first edition was published as one of the preparatory documents for the World Economic Conference in 1927; four editions have since been issued. The period 1925-1929 has been adopted as base period for all the indices of production and for purposes of comparison with the course of events in the subsequent years of depression. Thus we have here a general survey of the development of production, international exchange and prices of goods in the world during recent years. The conclusions, set forth in the introductory chapter, are of inestimable value to the careful student of international affairs, as the political side of this question cannot be understood without its economic foundations and trends. [Page 127]

NOTES ON THE PRESENT ISSUE

The reprinting of David Starr Jordan's "A Plan of Education to Develop International Justice and Peace," the Raphael Herman Award, will be regarded by readers as a valuable contribution to current peace efforts and not merely as a memorial to one of America's greatest educators.

Truth is contemporaneous until its content has been assimilated by the body of society. While a powerful and progressive organization, the World Federation of Education Associations, has become trustee of the Jordan Plan, its ultimate success as a guiding principle must depend upon widespread public knowledge and support.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to Dr. Augustus O. Thomas for the special prefatory statement he prepared at the Editor's request.

Dr. Allen's description of the "Deutsche Auslandsinstitut" may evoke an ironical response from readers who feel that recent developments in Germany have destroyed that nation's liberal tradition. But social revolutions can destroy no basic human qualities; after giving due emphasis to some needed factor in a general situation, revolutions subside and take on the character of the race chiefly affected. Every revolution, except those that are spiritual, is a Manchu invasion of a China into which it is eventually absorbed.

World Unity's symposium of scientists and engineers this month, in the contribution by Dr. Ginzburg, crosses the highway of our chief preoccupation, the discussion of world order. Readers will not fail to note the underlying agreement among three representatives of different cultural traditions: David Starr Jordan, Kiang Kang-Hu and Benjamin Ginzburg.

"The Sole Remedy" gives publication to one of the last letters written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, then seventy-six years old, from Haifa, Palestine. It reads today like a prophetic forecast of the present condition of the world. [Page 128]

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