World Unity/Volume 13/Issue 3/Text

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WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

Volume XIII, December, 1933

World Unity is World Faith ..... Editorial

The Path to Peace .......e+.-. Quincy Wright

World Citizenship. ......... Carl A. Ross

Ernest Fremont Tittle ........ R. E, Wolseley

World Advance .......24+42828- Oscar Newfang

Why a Federated World? ....... Dudley W. Woodbridge The World of Reality ........ Ruhi Afnan

Notes on the Present Issue Advertisements

129-134 135-148 149-160 161-170 171-177 178-179 180-189 190

191-192 �[Page 129]WORLD UNITY IS WORLD FAITH EDITORIAL

u. The Quality of Life

the rise of the scientific mind and the technical aptitude during

the eighteenth century, its final termination in the outbreak of

fatal war was predictable even from the beginning. For the so-called conflict between science and religion has represented far more than a difference of opinion as to essential facts; in reality it has revealed a cleavage in the very substance of human conscious- ness. The stream of life has been divided in its flow, and from this profound and calamitous division the outer conficts and divisions of society have been inevitably projected.

It is necessary to realize that a great public event like war does not take place until it has been fully prepared in the inner realm of thought and feeling. Just as fruit does not fall before its season unless the process of inner decay has eaten from core to skin, so a civilization can not crash in ruin unless its spirit has already been destroyed, its morality perverted and its vital life fatally consumed.

The separation of science and religion revealed outwardly the degree ‘to which the civilization based upon Europe had even in the eighteenth century become impaired. What has happened since is no more than a visible and external evidence that the foundation | of human existence, its very integrity, has previously. undergone hidden decay. When the hour came that the foundatio& could no longer uphold the vast superstructure, the towering edifice fell to tuin. To regard the war as a sudden and unexpected blow de- livered from outside is sheer ignorance. War came because it was invited, summoned and made inevitable.

Those who understand that war, and likewise economic catas- trophe, is no mere occasional incident but part of the whole social

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I: this “modern” age was inaugurated, or rather signalized, by �[Page 130]130 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

process, will feel now the overwhelming need for a reuniting of the two sundered streams of life, the merging of the religious and the scientific capacities into one integrity of being. Until that spiritual consummation takes place, the constructive quality of war will re- main inherent in our existing society.

From the point of view of the fulfillment of this historic tragedy, it is only too easy to retrace the consequences of the con- flict between science and religion upon the modern age.

A science separated from religion has instigated a series of “imperatives” assumed to control individual and also social life in the manner of unquestionable cosmic laws. One of these impera- tives has been the assumption that some kind of mathematical ne- cessity dictates the modes of existence upon the biological plane: that stone, plant, animal and man alike are slave to the same un- escapable necessity which keeps the planets in their undeviating course. Another imperative established a new history of the human species in which man descends from a higher ape which in turn descends from something a little lower, until the origin of man is traced to the senseless dust of earth, separating man from his ancient dream of a divine origin and denying i.e validity of any and all superbestial aspiration. These two imperatives, rejected by countless individuals but accepted by many influential social institutions, prepared the way for the modern claim of the state upon the citizen as soldier sent forth to slay his fellow man.

As the trend of thought turned from the biological to the economic problem, more imperatives were established under the auspices of science, the mechanical formula having by then become fully developed. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, European society came under the influence of “economic law” which, whether nurtured by capitalist or Marxian, tended to make human beings subservient to the realm of materialism.

By 1914, the spiritual decay had proceeded far enough and the crash came.

But a religion separated from science was no less hostile to human welfare and rendered no less service to the process which �[Page 131]THE QUALITY OF LIFE 131

has brought humanity to its present abject condition.

The glory that was lived and taught by the prophets of old— the glory that, when faith is born, raises man above the beast and gives his inner spirit a path to God—this precious leaven had been prostituted by the churches long before the atheistic scientists of the modern age appeared. For the entrance of the sinister germ of decay had been forced centuries earlier by those who declared themselves vicars of God upon earth. Medieval theology, with its psychological imperatives, created a predisposition throughout European society to project those same imperatives outward upon the physical world. Medieval ecclesiasticism, with its sale of indui- gences, making a mockery of holiness, gave a certificate of legit- imacy to the infant commercialism which preserved it to attain its adult state in the industrial order of today.

Had the church in those pre-scientific centuries lived holiness instead of organizing privilege, the modern man would have been so filled with vital spirit, so imbued with true righteousness, that the materialistic scientist would have been laughed to scorn. But the disease of atheism had already penetrated the western world; wherefore the rise of false science marks not the beginning but the end of the age.

Betrayed by the conflicting claims of a false science and a false religion, the quality of life has degenerated and become vulgar to the degree of bestiality. Nothing escapes the taint of that commer- cialism of which Judas is the founder and patron saint. On the religious side, aspiration is darkened and its soaring flight stopped by the arrow of superstition. On the scientific side, the capacity of mind to ponder the essential meaning of life, to seek God in all things, has been destroyed by the dagger of unfaith. The modern mass consciousness, moving restlessly between appalling cruelty and no less appalling sentimentality, reveals the mold of spiritual servitude in which the human spirit has become confined. If we would know the true origin of contemporary dictatorships, political and economic alike, look to the fact that practically every able man of the adult generation in Europe underwent army discipline �[Page 132]132 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

during his most formative years, an artificial experience which crushed the ideal of liberty, stifled individuality and prepared the way for collectivism and tyranny.

Against this blinded and doomed society ‘Abdu’l-Baha stood, solitary and alone, asserting the claims of the spirit so long betrayed and denied. He exemplified once more the true quality of life, the pure, clear radiance of an inner being severed from the demands of the animal heart and free of the conventions of the darkened world of human thought. Through fifty years of imprisonment and exile he had lived one unceasing prayer, that he might serve his fellow man.

To Europe, three years before the outbreak of war, he brought the gift of a wisdom, a passionate devotion, that would share his vision of reality with a generation brought to the very abyss of’ degradation and collapse. “The banner of the Holy Spirit is up- lifted,” he said in his first public address, delivered at City Temple, London, in September, 1911, ‘and men see it, and are assured with the knowledge that this isa new day. This is a new cycle of human power. All the horizons of the world are luminous, and the world will become indeed as a garden and a paradise. It is the our of the unity of the sons of men and of the drawing together of all races and all classes. You are loosed from ancient superstitions which have kept men ignorant, destroying the foundations of true hu- manity.... There is one God; mankind is one; the foundations of religion are one. Let us worship Him, and give praise for all His great prophets and messengers who have manifested His bright- ness and glory.”

A year later, in Chicago, he said: ‘That which is the cause of perfect unity and amity in the world of existence is the oneness of reality. If reality enters the arena, the fundamental reality can con- serve the states, and that reality—the oneness of humanity—is a oneness which can only come into being through the efficacy of the Holy Spirit, for the efficacy of the Holy Spirit is like unto the spirit in the body; it dispels all differences and ushers all beneath the same solidarity and unity. Regard how numerous are the parts �[Page 133]THE QUALITY OF LIFE 133

and members of the human organism, but the oneness of the spirit animating it keep its various parts and elements together in perfect coordination and solidarity. It brings such a unity into the organism that were any member to be subjected to any injury or were it to be- come diseased, all the other members would suffer in sympathy, due to the existence of their perfect unity. Hence, it becomes evident that the oneness of reality—perfect amity amongst man- kind—can not be accomplished save through the power of the Holy Spirit; for the world of humanity is likened to the body and the Holy Spirit is likened to the animating power of the body. Just as the human spirit is the cause of the cohesion of the various parts of the human organism, likewise the Holy Spirit is the cause of the unity and amity of all mankind.

“Hence we must strive in order that the power of the Holy Spirit may become effective throughout all humanity, in order that it may confer a new life upon the body politic, that the entire body politic may be ushered beneath the shelter of the same Word. Then the world of humanity shall become the angelic world, the ethereal darkness shall pass away and celestial illumination take its place; the defects of the human world shall be erased and the divine virtues become resplendent; and this is unobtainable save through the power of the Holy Spirit. Hence the greatest need of the world of humanity today is to receive the efficacy of the Holy Spirit. Until the Holy Spirit becomes effective, interpenetrating the hearts and spirits, and until perfect, reasonable faith shall obtain in the minds of men, it is impossible for the social body to be in- spired with security and confidence. Nay, on the contrary, day by day enmity and strife will increase among men and the differences and divergences of the nations will augment; day by day additions to the armies and navies of the world will be made, and great is the fear of the great pandemic war, the war unparalelled in history; for armaments which heretofore have been so limited are now be- coming amplified on a grand scale. It is becoming severe, drawing nigh unto the degree that men will war upon the seas, war upon the plains, nay, rather, will war in the very atmosphere; and such

�[Page 134]134. °° WORK? INBRE QEAGATINE * conditions of warfare never obtained in bygone days. The dangers of war grow equally with the growth of armaments.

“Therefore we must endeavor so that the Holy Spirit will peacefully influence the minds and hearts; so that the bounties of God will surround; so that all the divine effulgences will become continuous; that human souls may advance, minds expand in lib- eralism, souls become more holy and the world of humanity be rid of this great peril.”

As this faith endured under an oppressive imprisonment last- ing longer than the average life spent upon earth, so it endured through the bloody period of the war and the fatal terms of peace. A worldly woman afterward described ‘Abdu’l-Baha as the greatest statesman she had ever met; a Socialist considered him an expert economist; but they saw but their own facet of life reflected back from that luminous mirror of reality. ‘Abdu’l-Baha drew from the deepest springs of being. He embodied joy, tenderness, compas- sion as well as a rockl#Re faith and a lion courage. The varied ca- pacities of the human soul and mind in him seemed reconciled and perfectly blended. The memory of his presence, the clarifying power of his words, renews still the essence of life, its quality, its potentiality in this and the spiritual world, at a time when the masses are cut off from the pure wells of faith. Sooner or later mankind will have to make a new beginning, building for the fu- ture instead of vainly striving to salvage the dead past. Our age has no guidance out of its ruined civilization so assuring, so reliable as the wisdom of ‘Abdu’]-Baha.

H.H. �[Page 135]THE PATH TO PEACE by QUINCY WRIGHT

Norman Wait Harris Foundation in International Relations

MERICANS are again confronted, as they were at the close of the World War, with a situation wheretheir attitude regard-

ing the systems for conducting international relations is of

more than temporary significance. The collective system for preserving peace, which has developed in spite of the initial abstention of the United States, has received rude blows during the past year and its fate may in a large measure depend upon the attitude of the United States. It is this fact which gives unusual sig- nificance to the opinion recently expressed by John Bassett Moore, dean of American International Lawyers, historian of International Arbitration, and first American Judge in the Permanent Court of International Justice, that these efforts to build up a collective system are futile and perhaps worse than futile. While Judge Moore did not use these words they seem to fairly express the im- pression conveyed by his article entitled, “An Appeal to Reason” published i in the July issue of the New York quarterly, “Foreign Affairs.” A contrary opinion by former Secretary of War, Newton D. Baker, was published in the October issue of the same quarterly under the title ‘The New Spirit and its Critics,” but the importance of the subject seems to warrant a further consideration of Judge Moore’s position, particularly from the legal and historical point of view which he himself assumes.

Judge Moore begins his article by discussing “‘a certain type of mind and thought with a belief in methods and measures” which

- he profoundly distrusts.

This type of mind he illustrates by profuse quotations from addresses made by former Secretary of State Stimson in October, 1932, and April, 1933. Judge Moore distrusts these doctrines “not only because they have no visible moorings in earth or in the sky,

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but also because they have infected many of my countrymen with confused notions of law and of conduct.” These notions, he in- forms us, “endanger our own most vital interests,” and “hold out hopes of partisan intervention that encourages European govern- ments to deter the adjustments which only they can make and which are essential to peace and tranquility in that quarter.”

According to Judge Moore this unfortunate type of mind dis- covers in the world today “‘a new will to peace such as the world has never seen before,”—a discovery which Judge Moore finds contradicted by “the daily demonstration throughout the world of a frenzied state of mind rampantly manifested in armed hostilitites and in a spirit of intolerence such as is rarely seen.” To the present writer conditions such as these, evidence of which is certainly not wanting, would appear the natural cause of a new will to peace of which there is also ample evidence. This will to peace, manifested in the creation of the League of Nations and the World Court, the al- most universal ratification of the Kellogg Pact, the continuous labor of international conferences to achieve military, moral, and econom- ic disarmament, the repeated declarations of statesmen and legisla- tures in favor of peace and disarmament, the multiplication of peace societies and institutes of international relations in all countries may or may not be greater than the will to peace manifested at other times in world history. At any rate, it seems reasonably clear that the major manifestations of an interest in peace in the past have been the direct result of “armed hostility and a spirit of intoler- ance” of the type which Judge Moore sees around us today.

The excessively brutal civil and imperial wars which charac- terized the last century of the Roman republic were followed by such a will to peace that most of the western world submitted to the Pax Romana of Augustus and his successors for two centuries. So also that extraordinary peace effort of the tenth and eleventh centuries manifested in the numerous proclamations of the peace of God and the truce of God supported by ecclesiastical sanctions, arose from “‘a joint effort of churchmen and laymen, societies, in short, to reestablish peace and decency out of the brutal chaos �[Page 137]THE PATH TO PEACE 137

into which Europe had been thrown by the civil wars of Charle- magne’s descendents and the simultaneous raids of Norsemen, Saracens, Hungarians, and Slavs,” (Krey, “The International State of the Middle Ages,” American Historical Review, October, 1922, vol. 28, p. 2). Grotius informs us that he was inspired to write on the law of war and peace, which in stimulating the development of international law surely manifested a will to peace, because “throughout the Christian world I observed a lack of restraint in relation to war such as even barbarian races should be ashamed of,” (Prolegomena, paragraph 28). It was the spirit of intolerance and the incident wars among the states of America, which had re- cently acquired their independence, that led to the “more perfect union” of 1788 “to insure domestic tranquility,” and the excesses of the quarter century of war inaugurated by the French revolu- tion led to the intensive efforts toward peace and disarmament of the sovereigns of Europe under the so-called Holy Alliance and to widespread popular peace organizations both in Europe and in the United States. (See Beale, The History of Peace, New York, 1931, and Curti, The American Peace Crusade, New York, 1930.)

It is common observation that exclusively bad conditions tend to stimulate a will to reform, although it is regretably true that sometimes the heads of the reformers do not meet the demands of their hearts. That the world war and the excessively bad conditions of international relations which followed it should have stimu- lated more intensive interest in peace seems an occasion for no surprise, unless, indeed, one is still capable of being surprised at the sight of individuals and groups of individuals bending their efforts towards the achievement of utterly incompatible objectives at the same time.

Perhaps Judge Moore intends less tn. deny the existence of a new will to peace than to deny the efficacy of the manifestations of this will. Among these manifestations he discusses particularly the Kellogg Pact, the League of Nations and the proposals for modi- fying the law of neutrality, for embargoing arms, for defining aggressors and for consultative pacts. �[Page 138]138 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

The Kellogg Pact, we are informed, is useless because nations reserve the right of self-defense which it is futile to attempt to define (p. 26) but which without definition leaves the signatories “the right to fight out their differences in peace,” (p. 9). Prac- tice under the Covenant and the Pact has made it clear that hostili- ties can often be stopped if the unanimous opinion of the world can be brought to insist upon it immediately without any consideration of the merits of the controversy or the legal position of the two parties. The “‘stop fight” order is addressed to both alike. Where this procedure has failed, as in the Chino-Japanese dispute, it has been less because of difficulty in defining ‘‘self-defense” than be- cause the “stop fight” demand lacked unanimity and immediacy.

At later stages in the crisis, whether the initial “stop fight” is successful or not, it may become important to distinguish the legal position of the parties. The writer has elsewhere discussed some of the precedents which appear to make reasonably clear the concept of self-defense as understood in international law—a task which was rendered easier by the excellent digesting of many of these precedents in Judge Moore’s own Digest of International Law, (see Moore’s Digest, vcl. 2, section 215-219; see also J. Reuben Clark, “The Right to Protect Citizens in Foreign Countries by Landing Forces,” United States Department of State, 1912; Wright, “The Meaning of the Pact of Paris,” American Journal of Inter- national Law, January, 1933, vol. 27, pp. 44ff, 53ff; Convention defining Aggression, signed July 3, 1933 by U.S.S.R., Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Rumania, Turkey, Persia, and Afghanistan, in U.S. Treaty Information, Bulletin No. 47, August 1933, p. 39-)

The writer is inclined to agree with Judge Moore that neither self-defense nor aggression can be so defined that their application is “clear and practically automatic” but that is true of many prin- ciples of law. National governments and courts in dealing with crime and domestic violence have been able to distinguish legiti- mate defense from wrongful conduct. International organizations and tribunals can also do a great deal to prevent aggression with- out jeopardizing defense. They can and have assessed damages �[Page 139]THE PATH TO PEACE 139

for injuries which have occurred through hostilities found after due deliberation not to have been in pursuance of necessary self- defense. (See for example, “Arbitration of 1902 by the King of Sweden between Germany, Great Britain, and the United State: respecting military operations in Samoa,” Malloy, United States Treaties, vol. 2 p. 1591.) While the state or the individual re- sorting to defense necessarily in the first instance, has to decide upon the propriety of such measures, no community claiming to be governed by law can exclude review of such a decision by the ap- propriate procedures established or recognized by the community for determining its law. Certainly there is nothing in international law, in the League of Nations Covenant; in the Kellogg Pact, nor in the notes preliminary thereto, which excludes such review by diplomatic discussion, arbitration, judicial decision or other pro- cedure available between the interested states for deciding ques- tions of international law. The League organs have had no doubt of their competence to review the conclusion reached by Japan that her recent military operations in China were justified by a necessity for self-defense.

The writer would also agree that the Kellogg Pact has not been the first manifestation of the peace ideal. That ideal, as has been noted, is as old in human history as the practice of war and has been most emphasized when the menace of war has been most obvious. The fact, however, that the law, the prophets and the Sermon on the Mount emphasized the-peace ideal does not depreci- ate the value of the evidence, provided by the wide acceptance of the Pact, that this ideal is alive in our generation and is for the first time incorporated in general international law. Whatever may be their authority, the sacred documents referred to by Judge Moore are not of the type customarily relied on by tribunals ad- judicating that law. Treaties, on the other hand, are the first source of international law referred to in Article 38 of the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice and while an obli- gation not to go to war has been provided in numerous bilateral and multilateral treaties of the past it has never been accepted in �[Page 140]140 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

such comprehensive terms in a treaty so generally ratified as in this case.

No intelligent observer will deny that serious conflicts of in- terest are inherent in a system of states, that disarmament schemes are often proposed by statesmen with a view to keeping the balance of power in their favor, and that it is difficult to reconcile demands for security with demands for international change as recently explained by Sir John Fischer Williams, (International Change and International Peace, Oxford University Press, London, 1932). These conditions have produced serious tension and even hostility in the past ten years as they have in the preceding ten years and ten centuries, but it seems safer to assume from this fact that past and present devices for preserving peace have been inadequate than that they have been useless.

Judge Moore particularly deplores “the exultant cry” with which “the law of neutrality, because it blocked a new channel to peace, has been torpedoed.” A good many pages of the Proceed: ings of the American Society of International Law during the past three years have been devoted to th. effect of the League of Na- tions Covenant and the Kellogg Pact upon the law of neutrality as’ it existed in 1914. A large number of international lawyers have expressed the opinion tuat the pre-war law of neutrality either has been or ought to be modified. The details of this somewhat technical controversy can not be discussed in this place. Let it suf- fice to note that the law affecting the legal position of states which do not participate in a war has varied tremendously in the past three centuries. The corception that such states were under an invariable duty to be impartial was unknown to Grotius who write in 1625: “It is the duty of those who keep out of war to do nothing whereby he who supports a wicked cause may be rendered more powerful or whereby the movements of him who wages a just war may be hampered. .. . In a doubtful matter, however, those at peace should show themselves impartial to either side in permitting transit, in furnishing supplies and troops, and in not assisting those on the seas,” (Bock 3,chapter 17,section 3). Impartiality was, in fact, little �[Page 141]THE PATH TO PEACE I4.I

known in the practice of non-participating states until the passage of the American Neutrality Act of 1794, and while it was the basis of the recognized law of neutrality during most of the roth cen- tury and is implicit in the conventional exposition of that law in the V and XIII Hague Conventions of 1907, the preamble of the lat- ter of these conventions recognizes that impartiality is subject to exception when necessary to protect the neutral state’s own rights. Furthermore, “legal impartiality” has always fulfilled the require- ments of the law of neutrality however much, under given situa- tions, this might run counter to actual impartiality.

Judge Moore appears to assume that the branch of interna- tional law dealing with non-participants in war had arrived at a stage in 1914 which precluded further development, (p. 19). He also seems to believe that discrimination by a state in the applica- tion of its regulations to belligerents, according as they have or have not violated their international obligations in engaging in hostilities, and participation by such states in collective action to stop the hostilities, is equivalent to making all wars universal, (pp. 20, 21). Certainly, neither the Covenant nor the Pact have had the effect of spreading hostility but rather of preventing its spread and in several cases stopping it in early stages. In the present writer's opinion, certain articles in the Covenant pin too much faith on the practicability and efficacy of physical sanctions, but even in their extreme interpretations none of these articles requires mem- bers of the League to enter an existing war. Subsequent practice and interpretation has reduced the obligation to take part even in economic sanctions to a minimum. (Wright, “The Outlawry of War,” American Journal of International Law, January, 1925, vol. 19, pp. 97-102: “Collective Rights and Duties for the Enforce- ment of Treaty Obligations,” Proceedings, American Society of International Law, 1932, pp. r11ff; “The Future of Neutrality,” International Conciliation, 1928, No. 242, p. 368.)

The League’s sanctions as now interpreted consist of three pro- cedural stages: (1) to bring the moral influence of all members of the League to bear upon stopping hostilities without attempting �[Page 142]142 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

‘ determine who was responsible for starting them; (2) to as- certain after detailed investigation the party legally responsible for starting the hostilities; and (3) to prevent such a party from benefiting by his wrongdoing. These objectives have been fully endorsed by American statesmen who have found them to be necessary deductions from the .”ellogg Pact. States bound to pursue such objectives in the presence of war have discovered that some of the duties of impartiality prescribed by the old law of neutrality are no longer applicable. This is not abandonment of any part of international law but recognition of the efficacy of international legislation as a means for modifying that law according to new conditions.

There are, doubtless, conditions as, for instance, where it has not been ascertained which of the two belligerents is responsible for initiating a war, when much of the old law of neutrality would be applicable. There are also a few states which are parties neither to the League Covenant nor to the Kellogg Pact and consequently have not accepted the modifications to the old Law implicit in these instruments. It is to be noted that the international conference with respect to the activities of aircraft and radio in time of war, cited by Judge Moore as evidence that the law of neutrality had not changed, occurred in the winter of 1922-23, long before the Kellogg Pact was in existence and when there were several im- portant states not members of the League of Nations. Furthermore, its very object was to change the law of neutrality in certain re- spects. It is certainly not correct to say that the members of the League of Nations have at any time regarded their obligations in case of war between two members of the League as unaffected by the provisions of the Covenant.

A general policy of withholding arms from a state engaged in hostilities in violation of its international obligations is one of the natural modifications of the pre-war law of neutrality suggested by the Covenant and the Pact. There is no evidence that the general ° application of such a policy would tend to spread the area of wat. In fact, such a policy might stop fighting of the most destructive �[Page 143]THE PATH TO PEACE 143

variety by depriving would-be belligerents of modern weapons. It would also tend to eliminate the private interest of arms manu- facturing corporations in promoting war scares. The inconsistency of a national policy which while “condemning recourse to war for the solution of international controversies” permits national arms manufacturers to profit by assisting other states in conducting war contrary to their covenants, does not feed to be commented on.

No one denies that unwise exercise of this power to embargo arms to an aggressor nation might under certain circumstances tend to involve the country ir. wai. This, however, is true of the unwise exercise of many powers vested in the President. He now has power as commander-in-chief of the army and navy to move the fighting forces anywhere in the world and, as Judge Moore points out, he has frequently used this power to move them into places such as Vera Cruz, Nicaragua, Haiti, etc. If the President wishes to get the country into war his powers are ainple to do so. The delegation of power to embargo arms has been given to the President already in case of domestic violence in American countries or countries in which the United States exercises extraterritorial jurisdiction and its constitutionally has not been contested.

The writer agrees with Judge Moore that law is usually more effective when it attempts to regulate than when it attempts to prohibit. But is not the requirement that disputes be settled only by peaceful means a regulation rather than a prohibition? All legal regulation is designed to facilitate the fulfillment of the in- terests of the members of the community with a minimum of fric- tion and violence. If the elimination of violence is looked upon as the prohibition of a natural interest, and Judge Moore’s analogy between war and procreation suggests this, then we must assume either that states fight for the sake of fighting or that war is the only means of effecting important political changes, neither of which propositions is necessarily true.

The League of Nations receives Judge Moore’s censure be- cause it is “chiefly characterized by warlike devices.” There has, it is true, been much discussion of the warlike sanctions of the �[Page 144]144 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

League in the United States; more, in fact, than in Geneva. During the Manchurian episode there appears to have been no direct dis- cussion of the application of physical sanctions by any official or- gan of the League prior to the Assembly’s adoption of its report in February, 1933. (Wright, “The Manchurian Crisis,” American Political Science Review, February 1932, vol. 26, p. 53; Proceedings, American Society of International Law, April, 1932, p. r12ff). As has been noted, there is no explicit requirement for the use of military sanctions in Article 10 or 16 or in any other Article of the Covenant. Economic sanctions are, it is true, obligatory under Article 16 if a state has gone to war contrary to its covenants under Articles 12,13,15, but no such circumstance has arisen in the League’s history and is not likely to arise unless the League itself recognizes de facto hostilities as legal war. Article 11 has, in fact, become the basis for the major peace work of the League and it imposes no obligation other than that of consulting in case of war or threat of war with the object of taking action “that may be deemed wise and effectual to safeguard the peace of nations.” In short, it merely imposes an obligation to consult for the preservation of peace—an obligation which the United States has officially found to be im- plicit in the terms of the Kellogg Pact. In this connection, it might be observed that institutions should always be judged by what they become, or are continually becoming, and not by what partisan strife labels them at their birth.

The argument that a consultative pact is dangerous because both American party platforms in 1932 were for it (p. 26), because the British entente with France may have a part in the origin of the world war (p. 28), and because, it has figured in disarmament discussions with an eye to American participation (p. 29), is un convincing. Judge Moore’s more substantial objections are that such a pact “encourages the co-partner to do what he might other- wise refrain from doing, and it fails by reason of its indefiniteness, to deter the co-partner’s antagonist from what he might not other- wise attempt.” No one has suggested, however, that the United States consult with one party or faction and not the other. The �[Page 145]THE PATH TO PEACE ¥45 ‘

United States would be, under any proposal which has come to the writer's attention, a co-partner with both parties to any dispute.

Judge Moore also fears that “when nations come to determine through théir political authorities questions of legality, morality, and good faith raised by acts that have happened or seem likely to happen, and to impose prohibitions or punishments, . . . they are moving and breathing in an atmosphere of force and of war.”’ La- ter, we are informed, the League’s ‘‘warlike devices” are based on

“the fantastic assumption that the members of the League would, in making use of these devices, divest themselves of their indi- vidual interests and prepossessions, of their historic and instinctive antagonisms, and altruistically unite in enforcing the ideal of im- partial justice.” Allusicn is then made to the insistence upon im- partiality in common law juries. Does Judge Moore believe that the constitutional fathers, in giving Congress power to legislate, to declare war, and to provide for calling forth the militia, assumed that the members of congress would be divested of individual and state interests and united in the ideal of impartial justice?

The League Covenant provides for judicial settlement or arbi- tration of disputes in which the parties have accepted or are bound by common principles, but it does not envisage the application of such procedures for adjustment of fundamental differences where one or both parties ask not the application of law but a change of law, nor for decision upon appropriate action in grave situations threatening the peace. Such questions are obviously political. They are of the type consigned by all national constitutions to the polit- ical organs of the government and the desideratum in political organs is not impartiality but such representation of all the interests involved that consultation may produce a conclusion not too un- satisfactory to any of those interests and so wise that it will be ap- plicable for a considerable period. In the art of statesmanship it is no less necessary to recognize the.limitations upon the applica- bility of judicial procedures than to realize their very great value in appropriate circumstances.

The atmosphere oy pessimism which pervades Judge Moore’s

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article is manifested not only in his depreciatory treatment of all of the recent devices and treaties by which peoples and statesmen have sought to reduce the frequency and violence of war, but also in the expression of a basic despair with reference to all possible efforts in this direction. “The existence of war is co-evil with the his- tory of man; and, whatever may be its merits and demerits, it has been believed to be to some extent inevitable.” ‘Human nature has not changed . . . the struggle for existence still continues and it will go on.” (p. 43). It is not necessary wholly to deny these aphorisms in pointing out that the frequency and destructiveness of war has varied greatly among different states at different periods of history and in different parts of the world. This variability, found on examination to be correlated with differences in social and political conditions, suggests that whatever roots war may have in human nature the development of these roots depends upon conditions amenable to human control and invention.

The only constructive suggestion Judge Moore offers is that “every nation, every people, every individual should aspire” to the ideal of justice through “reconciliation of conflicting views and conflicting interests.” Most people would find this easy to accept but would point out that this is precisely the objective asserted by the League of Nations Covenant, the Kellogg Pact and the declara- tions of American presidents and secretaries with respect to con- sultation. Fortunately, Judge Moore has in other of his writings been more explicit ia regard to the positive steps which should be taken. In his distinguished address on Law and Organization given as President of the American Political Science Association in 1915 he describes “the capital defect of international law at the present day” as the practice of forcible seif-help which may result in “‘forci- ble resistance ending in war; and in that event we may have the incongruous results that the aggressor without submitting to the ex- amination of any tribunal as to the justice of his cause, may, in the exercise of the ‘rights of war,’ conquer or destroy the injured power which he has by his own wrong driven to become his ad- versary. This principle. . . is perhaps to be explained as a survival �[Page 147]THE PATH TO EACE 147

of the superstitions that preserved in municipal law for so many centuries the process of trial by battle” and is “flagrantly at vari- ance with all conceptions of human rights, and can be effectually got rid of only through further organization. . . . The essential features of such an organization would be somewhat as follows: It would set law above violence (1) by providing suitable and efficacious means and agencies for the enforcement of law; and (2) by making the use of force illegal except (a) in support of a duly ascertained legal right, or (b) in self-defense. ... (2) It would provide a more efficient means than now exists for the mak- ing and declaration of law. . . . (3) It would provide more fully than has heretofore been done for the investigation and determina- tion of disputes by means of tribunals possessing advisory or judi- cial powers, as the case might be.” (American Political Science Review, February, 1915, vol. 9, pp. 12-14).

With this the present writer entirely agrees and he finds in the Covenant, the Pact, the Stimson doctrine, the modifications of the law of neutrality, the arms embargo and the consultative agree- ments steps in precise conformity with these principles. These ad- vances toward world organization have not been sufficient. A world devastated by war and the inevitable aftermaths of war, violent po- litical changes and economic depression, presents unusual difficul- ties in preserving peace. An organization is never perfect. Unless it develops with changing conditions it will become less perfect and it will not develop unless human intelligence is continually applied to it. Such an application is not to be expected unless states- men keep the opinion of the community interested in its purpose, in this case the will to peace.

Judge Moore insists that “the annihilation of space and time” by modern devices has not decreased the power of states to enforce neutrality (p. 18) nor increased their power to apply military pres- sure at a distance (p. 34). The latter of these generalizations sezms more probable than the former but in any case these modern de- vices have increased the influence of the masses on government, the consciousness of peoples that different conditions of life exist �[Page 148]I 48 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINB

elsewhere, and the demand of the worse off for revision of and the better off for maintenance of the status quo. Every part of the world has become more nearly propinquitous to every other part and as Judge Moore properly observes ‘“‘where congeniality is lack- ing propinquity does not tend to create affection. On the contrary, it tends to breed hatred.”” Modern inventions have increased both the danger of war and the destruction of war and hence have im- posed upon man the necessity to perfect international organization or else to witness the decline of his civilization.

Grotius, Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln were statesmen each of whom devised political changes in conformity with the needs of his time. Their example should be followed not by in: discriminately duplicating the devices which they found useful, but rather by duplication of their skill in adapting law and organi- zation to changing conditions. Today, as Judge Moore told us in 1915, conditions rendering war, civil and international, probabie “should by no means lessen our estimate of the importance of or- ganization for the maintenance of law, either international or in- ternal. They should, on the contrary, serve to emphasize not only the necessity of organization but also the importance of extending its scope and increasing its efficiency. Meanwhile, they also indi- cate the futility of relying upon any single device, such as a coutt, as an all-sufficient means of presetving peace and order. Expe rience has demonstrated that, even in comparatively small areas, local conditions must be consulted in order that the administration of law may not produce discomfort and discontent and that as long as discontent and ambition continue to play, in the affairs of the world, a conspicuous part, so long will it be necessary to be pre- pared either to satisfy or to resist them.” (American Political Sct- ence Review, February, 1915, vol. 9, p. 15).

�[Page 149]WORLD CITIZENSHIP by

Car A. Ross Lawyer

V. THE HIGH SEAS AND TAXATION

HE High Seas and Taxation are two topics that few people

would consider related, but we believe they have been vi-

tally connected ever since nations have waged war on money

borrowed either at home or abroad. With a public debt to maintain by good credit, each nation so borrowing learned that a sound currency and a balanced budget were indispensable. Good public credit and a sound national currency have always depended on a favorable balance of foreign trade. However, after a war is over, through some form of taxation, nations always seek to shift the burden of war taxes on some other country and foreign trade is usually the instrument used to effect such shift. The success of such a policy depends largely on the Sea Power of the nation seek- ing to shift the burden, as is shown by the following paragraphs from Admiral Mahan’s book, “The Influence of Sea Power upon History.”

“The history of Sea Power is largely, though by no means solely, a narrative of contests between nations, of mutual rivalries, of violence frequently culminating in war. The profound in- fluence of sea commerce upon the wealth and strength of countries was Clearly seen long before the true principles which governed its growth and prosperity were detected. To secure one’s people a disproportionate share of such benefits, every effort was made to exclude others, either by the peaceful legislative methods of mo- nopoly or prohibitory regulations, or, when these failed, by direct violence. The clash of interests, the angry feelings roused by con- flicting attempts thus to appropriate the larger share, if not the

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whole, of the advantages of commerce, and of distant unsettled commercial regions, led to warts.

“In these three things—production, with the necessity of ex- changing products, shipping, whereby the exchange is carried on, and colonies which facilitate and enlarge the operations of ship- ping and tend to protect it by multiplying points of safety—is to be found the key to much of the history, as well as of the policy, of nations bordering upon the sea.”

Admirai Mahan follows this theory through the conflicts between Great Britain, Holland, France and Spain for the con- trol of the High Seas. Great Britain finally won and we often meet the statement that the cramped and isolated position of the British Isles forced this policy on Great Britain, but this is just another way of saying that England was in debt and the only way she could . liquidate her debt and retain prosperity was by making profit out of her trade on the High Seas, she had no other national resources to tax.

Since 1918 production, shipping and colonies, as pointed out by Mahan, furnish the key to much of our history regarding debts and taxes. Are we not told every day that the nations in Europe cannot pay us their war debts; that they might levy and collect the taxes, but they cannot transfer the money here except through trade on the High Seas? Great Britain has an enviable record for paying her war debts, no one doubts her desire to pay her present debt; she says, “show me how I can pay, how the United States will ac- cept payment,” her tariffs and the mutual gold reserve requirements of sixty nations will not permit the trade on the High Seas neces- sary to accomplish payment. However, in earlier articles, we have shown how the payment of all national war debts—even including the debt of Russia to France—could be effected in spite of exist- ing tariffs by three reforms inaugurated by the joint action of the sixty nations involved in the World War; doing away with national currencies by establishing a joint currency, creating a joint Reserve Banking Systcm, and refunding jointly all national war debts. We have shown more, we have pointed out not only what is necessaty �[Page 151]WORLD CITIZENSHIP 151

to be done, but we have pointed out ow these reforms are to be accomplished, that World Citizenship supplies this how-to-do-it. As previously noted, we should remember that this leaves the World Union saddled with the problem of levying the taxes to liquidate this refunded debt and maintain the Union government, —a task the League, having no power to tax, is incapable of per- forming,—and it is this tax problem we are confronting now and endeavoring to show is still linked up with the High Seas.

We have quoted Mahan and it may not be unwise to ask what teaching he has on this question. However, Mahan’s teaching seems rather to apply to conditions before the world war than to conditions today. Who controlled the High Seas before 1914, who controls today? Before 1914, under the war system in vogue, the nation with the strongest navy could honorably demand and assume control of the High Seas and there was a resultant armament race for this prize. Since the war, the inquiry may well be, who should con- trol the High Seas under our current peace institutions inaugurated by the joint action of nearly sixty nations? The armament race is still on, but no nation that has joined either the League or the Kellog-Briand Pact can honorably lay ciaim to be mistress of the Seas without stultifying these international obligations. Though the World Court has not decided this important question, some maintain that the Covenant of the League of Nations gives the League full control, and if we are to be guided by the spirit of the Covenant, this would be true. But in practice no such thing has happened and cannot happen consistently with the allegiance all nationals now owe their fatherlands, respectively, without ow- ing a similar allegiance to the League. Any such allegiance to the League in exterritorial matters is negatived by the express league provision that all nations retain their sovereignty. In turn this reservation leads to unsound thinking, we would contend, since it presuppposes that sovereignty resides in the nation whereas we would join the school that believes that sovereignty resides only in the individual, and consequently we advocate the vitalizing of the League undertaking by giving the World Union the allegiance �[Page 152]1§2 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

of the citizens of all nations as a basis for the power to tax, this allegiance to be defined and limited to exterritorial matters by a written constitution to be interpreted by the judicial department of the Union.

Before we go far in discussing our subject, it may be wise to review some facts about present taxes. Professor Slichter— whom we have quoted in an earlier article—presents very suc- cinctly some information and figures that will be of use to us as we proceed.

“The tax collections in the United States in 1928 amounted to $77.39 per capita. This was over $180 per gainfully employed person. Many of our taxes we pay without knowing it. Taxes, as some one has said, are in our grocery bills, our house rent, in the price we pay for tobacco, clothing, and a multitude of other things that we purchase. Approximately 12 per cent of the natural in- come is taken by the state in the form of taxation. But the tax burden of the United States is substantially less than in European countries. In Great Britain, it is about 22 per cent of the national income; in France about 17 per cent; in Italy, about 19 per cent. The amount taken by the government in taxes has been growing rapidly. In 1890, tax collections in the United States were about $13.88 per capita and constituted about 7 per cent of the national income. In 1924, the state of New York collected under its gen- eral property tax more than 230 times as much as in 1840. ***Nor is it necessarily to be deplored that a larger and larger part of the national income is being spent by the government today than formerly. The essential question is: Does the money bring a larger return when it is spent by the government that it would if it were spent by the individuals? It is not improbable that many of the expenditures of the government (for education, roads, public health, recreation, security) yield more satisfaction than most of the expenditures by individuals. Nevertheless, it is obvious that, the larger proportion of the national income which is taken by the government, the more important it becomes that the burden be fairly distributed. Likewise the more important become the ef- �[Page 153]WORLD CITIZENSHIP 153

fects of taxes upon industrial activities. If unfairly and unwisely levied, heavy taxes may be exceedingly harmful to the economic life of the community.”

We would pause to observe that when the community in- cludes numerous and otherwise conflicting nations, this problem of the fair distribution of taxation is out of control. However, these figures refer to the gross taxes of the United States and hardly apply to a World Union functioning only in exterritorial matters and leaving education, road building, municipal finance and many other activities to be supported by the separate states or nations according to their “separate administrations, legislatures and local patriotisms.” We realize there never has been a World Union functioning in exterritorial matters whose experience in dividing taxes between itself and its component nation members we can rely on; but, unfortunately, the United States has had a parallel federated government, the American Union functioning only or largely in matters exterritorial from the point of view of ve forty- eight states or nations and Slichter shows us how our total tax bill is split and what part of the total revenue the federal government levies and collects to handle these exterritorial matters.

“Practically half of the taxes in the United States are collected by the local communities, that is by municipalities, counties, and school districts. About one-sixth are collected by the states, and slightly more than one-third ty the federal government. The money is not always spent by the authority which coliects it. Part of the federal revenues, for example, go to the state to subsidize road building, education, and other activities.”

This division gives us a basis from which to estimate the pro- portion of taxes that would be levied and expended by the World Empire and devoted to exterritorial affairs. In correcting this figure as an estimate, we should remember that the “foreign territory” of the World Empire would have shrunken greatly from the ex- tent of the territory that is “foreign” to the United States and we would expect that the expense of administering the world govern- ment would thereby be materially reduced; also we should remem- �[Page 154]154 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

ber that the charter members would not greatly exceed the forty- eight states of our American Union and the cost of administering internal relations would thereby be increased only a little. As we continue from Slichter we shall learn how other economies we have mentioned would be reflected in taxes.

“The largest single expenditure of the government is the re- demption of the public debt and the payment of interest on the debt. Of the total disbursements of the nation, the states, and the local governments in 1927, nearly one-fourth were for these pur- poses. Nearly one-fifth (19.2 per cent) were for education, slight- ly less (17.8 per cent) were for protection—police, military and navy—and about one-seventh (14.0 per cent) for highways. Only one-fourteenth (7.1 per cent) of all expenditures were for general administration. The outlay of the national government for re- demption of the debts represents almost entirely payment of the cost of war. If these are included in the expenditures for protec- tion, as they should be, 26.7 per cent of all disbursement went for protection.”

In other words, in the two items comprising the major portion of our federal disbursements—payments on account of the public debt and on account of armaments for protection—the World Empire would be in a position to effect large savings. We have several times pointed out that the rate of interest on the public debt of many nations which would likely join the World Union, was around eight per cent of par—much higher based on current market value—so that the World Empire with a sound budget might expect to cut this rate in half. We have also pointed out that the joint navy, the navy of the World Empire needed to police the High Seas, would be only a fraction of the aggregate navies of all sixty nations, so that this enormous protection cost of 26.7 per cent of our gross taxes might be cut to around 15 per cent. This is the extent of the cooperative spending of our money which the representatives we would elect to our World Parlia- ment need indulge in, leaving around 85 per cent of our taxes to be spent by our respective national representatives elected to our

�[Page 155]WORLD CITIZENSHIP 155

different local taxing units such as school districts, cities, counties, states and the like. Why should we hesitate to join the people of other nations in raising and spending this 15 per cent of our gross taxes needed for our world affairs? Could we not trust our repre- sentatives elected to such a World Parliament as well as those we elect to spend the 85 per cent of our taxes?

For Americans a different presentation of this tax situation may be interesting, since we have a divided allegiance and a divi- sion of taxation to correspond. There are many estimates of the way the American tax dollar paid the federal government is split up. Some, agreeing with Slichter, estimate that nearly 80 cents out of each dollar is spent by our Congress because of wars, past or future, that is in paying the debts of past wars and pensions and in armaments. Others would raise this estimate of 80 cents to over 90 cents out of each dollar. Under World Citizenship, were our United States a charter member, our Congress in Washington would no longer need raise this 80 or 90 cents, this duty would devolve on the World Parliament which would furnish us ‘“‘pro- tection” but at reduced cost of 40 or 45 cents instead of 80 or 90 cents per dollar. Under such circumstances our Congress, relieved of raising 80 or gu cents of each tax dollar, could easily balance our budget. A like relief would be given all nations joining as charter members so that the national credit of the sixty charter members should be promptly restored. This would create a finan- cial soundness of the 60 nations heietofore unrealized.

Before proceeding further with the problem of taxation under the World Empire inaugurating our three reforms, let us consider the question of the High Seas or the control of the High Seas under such a world government. As we have seen, both the League Covenant and the Kellogg-Briand Pact contemplate that no na- tion shall continue as mistress of the Seas, but neither institution effectively provides for the control of the High Seas, so that in practice all nations continue to maintain their navies as formerly and the race of armaments, while suppressed by lack of taxing capacity, is still on. We maintain that it is logical that under the �[Page 156]I 56 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

World Empire, when it comes, the control of the High Seas should be given into its hands by the people of the world. The citizens of those nations participating as charter members could not complain that their elected representatives were to Rule the Waves and citi- zens of those nations that voted to remain aloof as “foreign” nations could not complain if we grant that the majority is to rule in world affairs. All nations have a “realm” and it is commonly thought tat the world is pretty well divided up, no space being left for a new government; but the High Seas have not been included in this search for an extension of the national realm, the High Seas have been common ground, no man’s land, and still a source of great friction in the past as disclosed by Admiral Mahan. The contribu- tion to history made by Admiral Mahan should not be minimized. He established that competition for the control of the High Seas was an inescapable product of nationalism, that the High Seas is the jousting arena for armed nations and our peace institutions now favor limiting the deadliness of the weapon that may be honorably used in this sovereign sport; on the other hand, to what position does World Citizenship relegate this imperial sport, what becomes of the struggle for Sea Power, the glorious struggle so ably depicted by Mahan? World Citizenship cuts deeper than limiting the size of battleships and reducing the cost of this sover- eign sport to the degree of extravagance the taxpayer can afford. World Citizenship practically abolishes this sport of national naval armaments; the High Seas as a jousting arena is transformed into an international realm of ship canals devoted to the pursuit of peaceful commerce for the majority nations of the world, and it is to be hoped that the minority nations refusing to join the Union will not be discriminated against in their use of these ocean canals of commerce to such an extent that they would resurrect Admiral Mahan’s Sea Policy, but let it remain what it now is, a valuable contribution to history. The World Empire coulu and should settle the control of the High Seas once and for all, because settled in the right way, since the High Seas would belong to the people �[Page 157]WORLD CITIZENSHIP 157

of the world and remain under the control of their elected rep- resentatives.

Other benefits would result from the High Seas becoming the realm of the World Empire. It would mean that in this realm, international law would become domestic law, defined by a con- stitution and backed by a government. No longer would the lay- men be misled by the nomenclature of the international law inte believing it on a par with national law. International courts would also become domestic, defined and limited by a written consti- tution and backed by a powerful government. These Empire courts would have jurisdiction over all world citizens who got into any quarrel on the High Seas since all alike would owe an allegiance to the government whose agent the court was. No longer would the deck of the ship be subject to the law of the na- tional flag it floated, because atop the national flag of any charter member would be unfurled the World Empire flag, signifying the world citizenship of its owners and that world law governed its decks. As a result of such benefits from these reforms the citi- zens of all sixty nations would alike be proud of the top flag, and, as national citizens also, they would be no less proud of their respective lower national flag. Spread eagle oratory on patriotic holidays would surely be given a boost: “I speak for the United States, I also speak for the World.”

With this new conception of the World Unity, we are ready to reconsider the tax problem and it would be pertinent to inquire whether this new governmental set-up and the taking over of the High Seas as the realm of the World Empire would not open the door to some new taxes, or taxes not frequently relied on by our nations today ? In turn this leads to the classes of taxes now relied on for the revenue needed to liquidate national public debts, to main- tain armaments and to maintain foreign relations. In parliamentary countries it is hard to trace any specific expenditure back to the source of the income, but in the United States it is easy to find the source of revenue used to liquidate these items. Professor Slichter presents the information in convenient form. �[Page 158]158 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

“The federal government derives practically all of its tax revenue from various forms of income and sales taxes, including in sales taxes the customs duties. Corporate and personal income taxes form nearly two-thirds of the total federal tax revenue, with the corporation income tax yielding 34.8 per cent of the total in 1928, and the personal income tax 30.9 per cent. Customs receipts, which for many years were by far the largest source of income for the federal government, yielded in 1928 only 17.2 per cent of the revenue. Sumptuary excises, such as the taxes on spirits, fermented liquors, tobacco, oleomargarine, opium, and other narcotics, yielded 12.7 per cent. Various other taxes—the estate tax, the corporation stock tax, and others—yielded 4.4 per cent of the revenue.”

Generally speaking these taxes are among those relied on by most other nations to balance their budgets. These are the national taxes that would be greatly reduced by the world government taking over war debts and the control of the High Seas and thus effecting such drastic reductions in interest and armaments. At the same time we must recognize that unless some new form of taxa- tion can be found, the World Empire might have to resort to these same taxes and adjust the rates to yield about half the revenue now necessary. Income taxes, either corporate or personal, have little direct connection with world affairs, with exterritoriality, the field in which the World Union would function. Customs duties on trade between charter members could hardly be levied by the par- ent government. Likely the charter members should also abandon them. Sumptuary taxes could still be resorted to with better grace, especially on the High Seas, in this new realm of the World Em- pire. In fact the High Seas provide the chief point of contact for all charter members and any tax closely related to the High Seas would be the logical tax for the World Union to levy for these world expenses. One way to look at this entire matter is that the World Union has bought the High Seas from the nations of the world and is making payment by taking over war debts, so that the High Seas, these lanes of international traffic, these ocean canals, are the source of the debt which the World Union must liquidate �[Page 159]WORLD CITIZENSHIP 1$9

by taxes, and surely it must police its realm with an adequate navy. Here we have cost and operating expense of thousands of miles of ocean freight canals, canals wide enough for many boats to pass each other, canals where there is no danger of a land slide filling up a Culebra Cut as in the Panama Canal. Per mile these ocean canals would cost commerce less than the Panama Canal and there would be no Gatun locks or Miraflores locks to operate or main- tain. The Panama Canal has proved profitable, commerce has not found it burdensome to liquidate its cost and we can say the same of the Suez Canal. Why not adopt the financial policy of these canals? In fact, the World Union, while taking over the High Seas might well take over and operate the Panama, Suez, Kiel and other like canals and build a few more that are sorely needed. If anyone should complain that such tonnage would hurt trade, our answer is that they would work no greater hardship on trade than our current tariffs. Are nations not trying to curb trade today by excessive tariffs? What is the financial policy of the Panama Canal, how does commerce pay the cost and upkeep? Almost wholly by a tonnage tax, or tolls. A recent Year Book gives the following Panama Canal Tolls.

“Merchant vessels carrying passengers or cargo, per net vessel

ton (each 100 cubic feet) of actual earning capacity.............. $1.20 “Vessels in ballast, without passengers or cargo, per net vessel ton (each 100 cubic feet) of actual earning capacity............ $0.72

“Naval vessels, other than transports, colliers, hospital ships and supply ships, the vessels to be measured by the same rules as are employed in determining the net tonnage of merchant vessels, DRE TIE CG, ca stitreninerrerrnceresnncrnannnetinaiaiateniemrcrenrconracnennnnints $1.20

“Tolls may not exceed the equivalent of $1.25 per net regi- stered ton, as determined by United States rules of measurement, nor be less than the equivalent of 75 cents per net registered ton.”

Tolls on the Suez Canal do not vary widely and commerce is glad to pay the tax. Why should not like tolls on all ships using these ocean canals be levied by purchaser of the High Seas to liquidate their cost and provide for their supervision? Here is �[Page 160]160 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

a service rendered by the High Seas in common for all people of the world, these tolls would be shifted by the ship owners through increased freight rates to the ultimate consumer of the goods com- posing the cargo and spread as evenly and equitably as any tax.

While statistical estimates of world trade appear showing that its dollar value has shrunk from 68 billions in 1929 to around 30 billions in 1932, we have found no statistics on the aggregate ocean borne freight tonnage of world trade; but the magnitude of the revenue from tolls on such ocean tonnage can be appreciated by reading a quotation from the Commerce Year Book for 1932, cover- ing the United States traffic.

“During 1930 the net weight of cargo handled by water car- riers in foreign and domestic trade, excluding many duplications, was 520,300,000 tons. This represented a decline of 10.9 per cent from 1929 and the smallest tonnage since 1925, although it was near- ly 8 per cent larger than in that year.”

While estimates of foreign debts owed the United States indi- cate that they now aggregate over eleven billions we have not found any statistics on the aggregate war debts on the nations of the world and it is not our purpose to conjecture what part of this debt would be taken over and refunded by the world government nor to conjec- ture what tolls on ocean borne commerce would aggregate. We re- alize that the budget requirements of the World Union would be large and that some other taxes than tonnage tolls on all High Seas trade would likely be necessary. We also concede that tonnage tolls might give way to some more desirable kind of new taxes made pos- sible by the control of the High Seas. The main points we would stress are that World Citizenship principles may be so applied to the world today as to soundly remodel not only our financial structure of currency, foreign exchange and banking, but also to effect a substantial reduction in taxes, liquidate our war debts by payment, not by repudiation or inflation, establish public credit the world over, reduce armaments more than one half and finally solve the riddle of the control of the High Seas. What other current program has the like historical justification for claiming these benefits? �[Page 161]ERNEST FREMONT TITTLE by R. E. WoLsELEY

HEN a skeptical young radical berates the church for

not leading the way in the fight for a better social

order, it is possible to point to Ernest Fremont Tittle

as not only a man who is making the pulpit an im- portant factor in the struggle to create a better world in which to live, but also a man who derives his insight into social problems from his religious experience.

A young American liberal who shared his insight but not his religious experience wrote of him: “I do not believe he can be classified with any special sect or denomination. He is an indi- vidual thinker, and, to my mind, one of two or three real leaders in the church today. I shall not attempt to discuss at present his ideas, with which I am in complete agreement. The only thing I wonder is why Rev. Tittle limits himself to the church. He is too big for that institution. He could accomplish more in the field of statesmanship—both political and economic. After all, his reason- ing is so strong that it can stand by itself unaided by any incanta- tions of mysticism, whether Christian or otherwise. I feel that the latter detract rather than add to the logic of his ideas. This is not an age for religion; it is one demanding solid thinking and emo- tional restraint.”

Tittle’s answer to this was, in effect, that we shall have a great gain when men learn that such insight might not only be strength- ened by but is actually born of religion. Had he taken time, he might have gone on to say that belief in a universe which is “on the side of the angels” is al] that gives a man courage to work for a more just and happy social order.

The story of his career, from pastor of a tiny Methodist church

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at Christianburg, Ohio, in 1908, with no more influence in his chosen work than the average seminary studeat who has a charge or two in rural communities, to pastor of one of the great churches of the United States while still in his forties and a liberal leader of national importance must be encouraging to the thoughtful divinity student or young preacher of today who is yearning for wider fields and more sympathetic hearers.

A native of Onio, he has had churche. at Christianburg, Day- ton, Delaware, and Columbus, in that state, and at Evanston, II- linois, where he is at present. Evanston is a large suburb of Chicago, and it was in 1918 that he went there, to the First Methodist Epis- copal Church. Since then he has become the outstanding liberal preacher of the mid-west and shares with Harry Emerson Fosdick, Ralph W. Sockman, Charles Gilkey, John Haynes Holmes, Rein- hold Niebuhr and other famous preachers a corresponding position in the church in general.

Tittle speaks with such force and eloquence that his manner, coupled with a ruggedness of visage, has been described by some as that of a “spiritualized prize-fighter,” much to his amusement. But this minister is not at all ministerial. From his pulpit he speaks normally and with a calm reasonableness that leaves no doubt about his clarity of thought and logic. There is no ranting of unctuousness in his manner. He is of moderate height and deceiv- ingly athletic in build, deceivingly because his trimness covers the results of physical and mental strain. A deep, mellow voice is probably his greatest physical asset, approached only by the sin- cerity and depth of brown in his eyes.

Let it be noted that Tittle came to Evanston after the World War. It was that catastrophe which unloosed gradually increasing convictions. Combined with his reaching maturity, they have since led him to fight a great fight for such causes as world peace, equal- ity of the races, better economic conditions, clarification of the relations between science and religion, and greater harmony be- tween the younger and the older generations.

Obviously it was the war, his service for eight months in the �[Page 163]ERNEST FREMONT TITTLE 163

army Y.M.C.A. for two months in this country and for half a year in France, that gave him his conviction about peace. He took part in the St. Mihiel offensive and it was during that, he says, that he made his vow to work everlastingly for peace. And he has.

His methods have been many. Of lasting value are those of his sermons which deal entirely with the subject. Many of his dis- sertations on other questions mention this ideal of international peace as a goal for which we should strive. Like the newspaper that has a powerful editorial page, Tittle hammers at his objective telentlessly.

Those sermons, in pamphlet form, and sometimes in liberal magazines, as well as in his books, have been important in the literature of peace, and seized upon by peace organizations for wider distribution.

In addition are his addresses and lectures. He fulfills annually engagements on the campuses of Yale, Harvard, and Princeton Universities. He was the 1932 Lyman Beecher lecturer. Each spring he is deluged with requests to give commencement orations. He seizes these opportunities to speak to young persons, often unwisely, considering the none-too robust condition of his physical self, and carries to the young minds of the country the words that give them the will to peace from which future generations will benefit. Nor does he pussyfoot because he may be addressing audiences not naturally so sympathetic as are many of the members of his Evan- ston congregation.

Naturally it was in his church that the disarmament caravan members spoke last fall. He supports and works eagerly with such organizations as the Committee on Militarism in Education, the League for Industrial Democracy, the Fellowship of Reconcilia- tion, the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in Amexica, the No War Movement of England, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the War Resisters’ League, the Civil Lib- erties Union, the National Council for the Prevention of War, and the now extinct World Peace Commission of the Methodist Epis- copal Church. �[Page 164]164 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

He was a creator and member of the World Peace Commission and his work in behalf of that organization, killed by the cautious nationalists who are the bane of the church, alone assures him the admiration and gratitude of those who look to the church for leader- ship in effecting world peace.

In the survey made at one time by The World Tomorrow he was with those men who will not sanction any future war or par- ticipate in one as an armed combatant. He believes that the church should by no means sanction a war of any kind and now has come to the conclusion that he could not conscientiously serve as an off- cial army chaplain on active duty in wartime. Obviously, then, he is a pacifist and as such has gained the disfavor of local Legion- naires, members of the D.A.R., redbaiters, patrioteers, as he would call them, and professional enemies of all that smacks of anything short of 100 per cent Americanism, as they conceive Americanism.

A moment’s inspection of his ideas on disarmament will show that his thinking goes beyond that of the average anti-war worker, intent on the abolition of war implements.

“But does anybody believe that even complete, universal dis- armament would of itself secure permanent, universal peace?” he asks in The Religion of the Spirit, one of his earlier books.

“You may have no ships and no guns; but so long as you have factories and raw materials and the will to fight, you can fight. If you have no ships, you can build them; if you have no guns, you can manufacture them. . . . So, when one begins to think soberly about this greatest of all problems, he can hardly escape the con- clusion that peace rests, at last, upon a spiritual foundation—the minds and hearts of men.”

Observe that phrase: “this greatest of all problems.” Until the depression this was to Tittle the greatest of all problems. Who could doubt his sincerity when Sunday upon Sunday he rarely feels free not to mention peace in his sermons. Who could doubt it when he uses an expressive gesture from the pulpit or sounds in his deep and stirring voice a note that reveals how great is his de- sire for peace on earth. �[Page 165]ERNEST FREMONT TITTLE 165

As he has marshalled his talents in the fight for peace, so has Tittle done for the other causes close to his heart. Take, for ex- ample, his defense of the Negro. Evanston has a large Negro pop- ulation and Tittle occupies a solid position in the affections of those thousands of black men and women. He was foremost in obtain- ing a hospital for them, because Evanston, despite its reputation as the ‘Athens of the Northwest,” and its high degree of liberalism, gives Negroes but short shrift in its hospitals and for years the dark- skinned citizens were dependent upon Chicago for anything but emergency treatment.

He supports their projects, attends their meetings, speaks to them at times as the only white man in the gathering, and has con- structed upon this theme a number of challenging and straight- hitting sermons.

We see from this his typical procedure in approaching the current problems and may gather that his conception of religion is far from the conventional and the commonplace. Religion, as he points out in another book, The Foolishness of Peaching, has more of a duty than to be of comfort to the afflicted, although it has that function, to be sure. But he insists that the preacher, “‘has the perfect right to discuss from the Christian standpoint the ethics of industry or of international relationships.” And he adds that it is “undebatable that the Christian pulpit should not neglect to address itself to the intimate personal needs of individual men and women. . . . It is also, I should say, incontrovertible that whenever a man stands in a Christian pulpit and delivers a message that message ought to have a religious flavor.”

It is Tittle’s awareness of the function of the pulpit that ex- plains much of his hold upon the hundreds of restless students, the aged residents, and the wealthy professional men and women of Evanston and surrounding cities who crowd his church. He is so well-informed, so eager to be understanding, and so courageous that even those who cannot agree with his pacifism or his cham- pioning of certain socialistic ideals come to hear him Sunday after

Sunday. �[Page 166]166 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

For courage, it must be admitted, is required to attack the unethical actions which are commonly condoned by the business and professional men and women who come to hear him. His church has one of the wealthiest congregations of the mid-west. It has an annual budget of $100,000. Recently improvements and additions to the properties were made at a cost of $600,000, converting the church, from the artistic standpoint, into one of the most beautiful and inspiring in the country, as well as one of the most useful struc- tures in the city. Much of this money has come from wealthy mem- bers. But there is no check rein on Tittle in the shape of purse strings. Low wages, long hours, seasonal employment, hiring of children, overworking of women, disrespect for personality by em- ployers, yellow dog contracts, the use of the militia in fighting strikes, and similar common offenses of the employer receive the same vigorous lashing as the Jim Crow law and bayonet drilling for college and high school students.

Despite this frankness and fearlessness in hitting many of his richest friends where they mignt feel it most, hundreds of these same men came out to hear William and Powers Hapgood last year when they explained the operations of their socially owned Columbia Conserve Company of Indianapolis.

This brings us to the point which some persons reach and cannot pass. How, they ask, can Tittle associate with capitalists when he champions so staunchly the cause of the underdog, the working man? He can because he believes that the message of Jesus must be brought, not only to the Africans, the Japanese, the Chinese, the panhandlers of West Madison Street in Chicago or the members of the rickety wooden church in a desert town of Arizona, but also to those powerful and influential men and women who, sometimes out of choice and sometimes as victims of a mis- guided economic system, are destined to make more certain the injustices of today unless some one can talk to them in language they can understand and will listen to. And it has worked. What more need be said?

The basis for all Tittle’s work, as anyone who has heard him �[Page 167]ERNEST FREMONT TITTLE 167

preach but a few times can affirm, is the spirit of Jesus. His in- sistence that Jesus’ way is the way for us comes sometimes as a shock to a complacent world. The effect is not unlike that gained by a Russian diplomat who suggested at a disarmament conference well within everyone’s memory that the way to achieve disarma- ment is to disarm. A simple fact, so utterly simple that it makes the subterfuges of insincere nations look all the more evil. And thus it is with Tittle’s constant return to the basic idea that Jesus showed us the way in his sermon on the mount.

That is his philosophy. Possibly not so enthusiastic about the suggested ways of life which have come from Kepler, Plato, Kant, Hippocrates, Croce, Russell, and Descartes as some of the scholars might desire, he is grimly eager to try to live and show how others can live as did “‘this strange man of Nazareth.” He has investigated those other philosophies and has learned from them—but there is constant reference to the one.

Like all who try to square the ideals of Jesus with the actions of the modern Christians, Tittle is aghast at the inconsistency of our attitude toward Jesus. It is this that moves him fundamentally, and for the rectification of which he is striving in his tireless cru- sade against war, against prejudice, against discrimination.

He comes to this in an interesting manner, a way that goes to explain in part his importance as a preacher. A need or a crisis in the life of some individual in the church is made known to him, directly or indirectly. He proceeds to preach to that particular need by r~~eralizing and applying the experience to the universal need which it suggested. Thus he preaches to the human situation, both personal and social. One can imagine how timely and helpful his sermons were in the fall of 1931 and how truly, because of this method, he is a preacher to his generation.

His social gospel is determined by the respect and regard for personality in Ernest Tittle’s own conduct, for that respect and re- gard are important controlling motives. Indeed, this esteem for per- sonality, expressed in an apparent and genuine love for people, is the secret of his ability to hold, week after week, the attention of �[Page 168]168 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

a congregation of 2,000, many members of which disagree with his deepest convictions. Those who oppose him most violently are constrained still to listen because they cannot doubt his good will toward them as individuals. Many clergymen love humanity, most think they do, but they cannot meet the test, in many cases, when it is a matter of loving the individual who goes to make up humanity.

Occasionally Tittle will set aside the individual for the good of the group, for he is convinced that Jesus did likewise. But he protects per-~nality to the point where he is certain that the greater good is suffermg by such protection.

His grasp of materials in dealing with these main objectives is amazing. His persistent reading and study no doubt account for it. His wide knowledge is apparent in his sermons, but not by pedagogic allusions. Tittle does not, however, “read up” on pat- ticular themes preparatory for a sermon. When the particular need or crisis comes to his attention, his mind prepared long in advance for such functioning brings to bear upon the subject his reading, study and experience in similar situations. Unless he reaches a conviction based on his own experience, the theme rests until life has taught him more about it. And when he does find himself able to consider a specific topic his method often is to build up the case for the view he does not hold and then to demolish that case.

Tittle shows a gratifying, if sometimes almost unreasonable, modesty. That modesty is refreshing, one might say startling, in this day of the exploitation of personality. His work is built, not around himself, but around the institution which he serves. He strives to have the striking Gothic pile that occupies a corner in downtown Evanston known as the First Methodist Episcopal Church, not as Tittle’s church.

As one might expect, he refuses to be sensational. He preaches to the current problems, but does not give away loaves of bread or use Robots at the Sunday morning service or perform tricks of magic from the pulpit to entertain the children. If his were a Park Aven- ue church the more sober of New York dailies would each Monday morning record his often brilliant comments on matters of the day �[Page 169]ERNEST FREMONT TITTLE 169

as they do those of outstanding preachers of Gotham, but religion occupies small space in Chicago newspapers.

Tittle is either too busy or too reticent to spread his ideas with the popular printed word. True, his fifth book is coming out, he has written many articles for leading religious and liberal periodi- cals, most of his sermons for the past few years are in pamphlet form, some are in half dozen anthologies of the “best” sermons, some have been translated into foreign languages and are read in Germany, Korea, and other countries, and he has done other writ- ing. But he pays little attention to his opportunities to reach the readers of the more widely-read national magazines and cheats him- self of an outlet which most ministers would grasp with gratitude instead of demonstrating Tittle’s unexplainable indifference.

He refuses flatly to become an ecclesiastical politician. The axe-prinding, the red tape, the prejudice, and the waste of time that often, too often, accompany the creaking of the ecclesiastical ma- chinery dismay him. There is a little doubt in the minds of most of his people, however, that if he did plunge into the government of the church he would remain above its faults and be as successful as he has been in the pulpit. As a matter of fact he was elected to the last two general conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and from the conference floor in 1928 effected the most trenchant legislation on peace which that historically liberal church has ever passed.

But it was at the 1932 general conference that Dr. Tittle’s ap- plication of his principles to the life about him revealed him as the courageous thinker that he is. It was on his suggestion that the con- ference affirmed that in the future it would forego meeting rather than gather where race discrimination is practiced. This was a great victory for Tittle, whose crusade against race prejudice, as we have noted, has been of long standing. During the same conference at Atlantic City he led in the movement to democtatize his denom- ination, which is still run on monarchic principles. From him came searching statements on the economic evils of the day. In more than one opinion he was the most clear-thinking and courageous �[Page 170]170 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

delegate of the three thousand at the conference.

During 1933, because he is condemning vigorously a social and economic order which makes depressions and wars inevitable, which finds millions in want and a few hundred persons owning more property than many thousands, which finds plenty in one part of the nation and starvation in another, and because he is recom- mending a more equitable distribution of wealth, Tittle is being persecuted by well-meaning but misguided super-patriots who con- sider any attempt to change the status quo as a sell-out to the Rus- sian Soviet. Yet, throughout the open attacks on him, his sincerity, his integrity, and his modesty provide a sound defense for a man who needs no defense.

Modest as Tittle is, however, his church in Evanston is very frequently thought of as the church wherein he preaches rather than the church of its name. Nor is this unexplainable. His in- fluence has become so great among the thousands of students of Northwestern University, whose main campus is adjacent to the -hurch; he has so won the respect of his people by the championing of unpopular causes; and has lived in his own life so impressive an example of the “good life” that the power of his personality is inevitable.

This man, whose mind is dealing so constantly with the most sober problems of human existence, finds time for some of the ac- tivities of everyday life. He enjoys fishing and life in the moun- tains, has his problems with three children, is publishing his fifth book, “‘Jesus After Nineteen Centuries,” and is faced with the task of freshening and living what may seem to him an old message, to sharpen and restate in modern terms what Jesus said centuries ago.

As one of those increasingly numerous men looking toward a social order based on the religion of Jesus he is answering the one- time puzzling questions raised by the adverse critics of the church.

The thirty-seventh article in the series of “Apostles of World Unity” begun in October, 1927.

�[Page 171]WORLD ADVANCE

by

Oscar NEWFANG Author of “The Road to World Peace,” etc.

EXCESSIVE NATIONALISM AND THE REMEDY

HE excessive nationalism which has resulted from the World

War is of two kinds, political and economic. While the

population of Europe has never been arranged within such

political borders that all the people of each race and lan- guage have been placed under one government; the Treaty of Ver- sailles, in attempting to rectify this profound and continuing cause of wars, and to give every nationality self-determination as to its destiny and governmental allegiance, has so arranged the boundar- ies of Europe as to create almost as many fresh instances of minor- ities under alien governments as it abolished.

The result of this has everywhere been the increase of political nationalism, whose policy it is to bring the fragment of each race ot language that is under alien government back into the national boundaries of its native land. With the wide intermixture of races and languages im Europe this object can never be fully achieved, and this policy must therefore lead to wars unending.

The excessive economic nationalism now existing practically everywhere in the world has resulted from the demonstration through the World War of the extreme importance for each nation of having within its own borders all the essential materials, food- stuffs, etc., necessary for its defence. This economic nationalism has in all countries dictated the basic policy of rendering each country, to the utmost possible extent, independent of all other countries for the vital foods and materials necessary for the defense of its existence. Economic considerations have been subordinated to the political consideration of national safety; restrictions, embargoes, tariffs and quotas have been framed against imports, so as to enable

171 �[Page 172]172 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

native industries and agriculture to develop an adequate supply for each country, even though it should be at far greater cost to the country and therefore should largely diminish the welfare of the

population of the country. The International Friction Caused by Excessive Nationalism

It was inevitable that these policies of the nations should cause international friction throughout the world. German nationalism, seeking to reunite East Prussia with the rest of the country, has caused deep and continuous friction with Poland regarding the Polish corridor to the sea. The German attempt to absorb German Austria is at the present moment perhaps the most serious source of friction throughout Europe. German nationalism is also intent upon reuniting the German section of Czechoslovakia with the Reich, and thus is causing international friction with that country and its allies.

Italian nationalism has succeeded in obtaining control of the Dalmatian Coast, and the international friction thereby caused with Jugoslavia is still a serious war threat in Southeastern Europe. The Italian absorption of part of the Tyrol has caused friction with Austria.

The international friction caused by the Roumanian absorp- tion of Bessarabia between that country and Russia is a cause of political danger in that quarter of Europe.

The French annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, while it was ap- parently finally accepted by Germany in the Locarno Pact, is still a source of international friction between the two countries, be- cause of the mixed character of the population.

Among the international frictions caused by excessive eco- nomic nationalism may be mentioned the distribution of the coal and the iron resources in the Rhine region, partly in German ter- ritory and partly in French. The unsettled disposition of the Saar Basin further attests the economic friction in that region of Eu- rope. On the eastern border of Germany there is economic friction �[Page 173]WORLD ADVANCE 173

regarding the coal mines of Upper Silesia; and Germany’s insistent demands for the return of her equatorial colonies, with their rich economic resources in raw materials, is a further source of interna- tional economic friction.

In the Far East the world has recently seen the war danger to which excessive economic nationalism leads. The vital needs of Manthurian soya beans for Japanese economic life was one of the motives which caused Japan to extend her control over that country on the thin pretext of a spontaneous revolt of the Manchurians from Chinese allegiance.

In Cuba we are just now witnessing the dangerous result of America’s excessive economic nationalism which, by its exorbitant sugar tariff, has practically ruined the economic welfare of Cuba. The resulting revolutions may necessitate American intervention, with unforeseen consequences of international friction throughout the two American continents.

Further instances of the friction caused by excessive economic nationalism could readily be given, such as the closing of Western European markets to the grain of Southeastern agricultural Eu- rope, etc. ~*~

The Widespread Fear of One Another Among Nations

The natural result of these policies of excessive nationalism has been the creation of profound and widespread fear of one an- other among nations, thus threatening the peace of the world in many quarters. The recent remark of the French minister who in- spected the newly finished series of fortifications along the Franco- German border, ‘The shield is in place,” attests the profound fear of Germany on the part of France. This fear has caused France to enter into alliances with Poland and with the Little Entente na- tions, contrary to the spirit of the League of Nations Covenant, if not definitely contrary to the letter of Article 8 (“the enforce- ment by common action of international obligations”), and of Article 20 (“The members ...solemnly undertake that they will �[Page 174]174 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with the terms thereof.”

Italy, inspired by a deep fear of France, insists upon equality of naval armament with her and likewise ignores the spirit of the Covenant by forming alliances with various countries in South- eastern Europe.

Jugoslavia fears Italy and has become a member of the Little Entente, another clique of nations formed contrary to the spirit of the general and equal brotherhood of nations as expressed in the League Covenant.

Czechoslavakia is in profound fear of Germany and was prob- ably the leader in the formation of the Little Entente.

Russia is in constant fear of an attack by the capitalistic na- tions of Western Europe, and she therefore maintains the largest standing army of the Continent. The mutual fear of each other between Russia and Japan was, according to official Japanese ut- terances, one of the causes of the recent warfare in Manchuria. Japan insisted upon a buffer state between herself and Russia.

Japan fears the United States, whose imperialism has taken possession of the Philippines in Pacific waters near enough to Japan to be regarded by her as a threat to her safety. She is there- fore feverishly building up her naval strength, and she has notified the United States and Great Britain that at the expiration of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1935 she will no longer be satisfied with the inferior ratio of 5-5-3 which was there assigned to her.

The United States, on her part, fears the threat to the Philip- pines of the increasing navy of Japan, especially since the recent demonstration in Manchuria of the fact that the armed forces of Japan are supreme and not subject to the civil government in that country. This country is therefore vigorously building up its navy to the full strength allowed in the Washington Treaty, and has appropriated $238,000,000 for the purpose of laying down a num- ber of large ten-thousand ton cruisers with a long cruising radius.

Great Britain has become alarmed at this action of the United States and has tried hard to dissuade this country from the con- �[Page 175]WORLD ADVANCE 175

struction of these powerful, long-range cruisers. She is also pro- foundly disquieted by the fact that the United States insists upon actually building her navy up to her full theoretical position of equality with Britain, as agreed at Washington. In view of this and of the Japanese denouncement of the 5-5-3 ratio Britain has clearly intimated, that circumstances which will develop after 1935 may force her substantially to increase her naval strength.

And this, if you please, is the Society of Nations. Or shall we call it a pack of snarling curs?

The Remedy

The results of these excessive nationalistic policies of mutual land-grabbing; of hampering one another in access to the raw ma- terials of the earth and the markets of the world; of tariffs, em- bargoes, quotas and prohibitions strangling one another’s trade and welfare, are the constant growth of military and war debt bur- dens, the present economic chaos of the whole world with its attendant unemployment and misery, and the continuous threat of warfare throughout the world. The universal tension constantly gtows greater until some spark sets off the powder barrel and we have another world war.

What is the remedy for this excessive nationalism? It is the establishment of such political and economic conditions as will render national boundaries less important in the eyes of the world’s inhabitants; conditions which will remove the haunting fear of nations for one another.

Measures to assure all nations absolute equality of approach to all the raw materials and to all the markets of the world; measures to assure absolute equality of treatment for minorities in all coun- tries, with entire freedom to preserve their own cultures; measures to assure all nations absolute security against military attack and against economic discrimination: these are the only cure for ex- cessive nationalism and the only guaranties of permanent world peace. Effective measures to secure these three objectives would �[Page 176]174 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with the terms thereof.”’) .

Italy, inspired by a deep fear of France, insists upon equality of naval armament with her and likewise ignores the spirit of the Covenant by forming alliances with various countries in South- eastern Europe.

Jugoslavia fears Italy and has become a member of the Little Entente, another clique of nations formed contrary to the spirit of the general and equal brotherhood of nations as expressed in the League Covenant.

Czechoslavakia is in profound fear of Germany and was prob- ably the leader in the formation of the Little Entente.

Russia is in constant fear of an attack by the capitalistic na- tions of Western Europe, and she therefore maintains the largest standing army of the Continent. The mutual fear of each other between Russia and Japan was, according to official Japanese ut- terances, one of the causes of the recent warfare in Manchuria. Japan insisted upon a buffer state between herself and Russia.

Japan fears the United States, whose imperialism has taken possession of the Philippines in Pacific waters near enough to Japan to be regarded by her as a threat to her safety. She is there- fore feverishly building up her naval strength, and she has notified the United States and Great Britain that at the expiration of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1935 she will no longer be satisfied with the inferior ratio of 5-5-3 which was there assigned to her.

The United States, on her part, fears the threat to the Philip- pines of the increasing navy of Japan, especially since the recent demonstration in Manchuria of the fact that the armed forces of Japan are supreme and not subject to the civil government in the* country. This country is therefore vigorously building up its navy to the full strength allowed in the Washington Treaty, and has appropriated $238,000,000 for the purpose of laying down a num- ber of large ten-thousand ton cruisers with a long cruising radius.

Great Britain has become alarmed at this action of the United States and has tried hard to dissuade this country from the con- �[Page 177]WORLD ADVANCE 175

struction of these powerful, long-range cruisers. She is also pro- foundly disquieted by the fact that the United States insists upon actually building her navy up to her full theoretical position of equality with Britain, as agreed at Washington. In view of this and of the Japanese denouncement of the 5-5-3 ratio Britain has clearly intimated, that circumstances which will develop after 1935 may force her substantially to increase her naval strength.

And this, if you please, is the Society of Nations. Or shall we call it a pack of snarling curs?

The Remedy

The results of these excessive nationalistic policies of mutual land-grabbing; of hampering one another in access to the taw ma- terials of the earth and the markets of the world; of tariffs, em- bargoes, quotas and prohibitions strangling one another’s trade and welfare, are the constant growth of military and war debt bur- dens, the present economic chaos of the whole world with its attendant unemployment and misery, and the continuous threat of warfare throughout the world. The universal tension constantly grows greater until some spark sets off the powder barrel and we have another world war.

What is the remedy for this excessive nationalism? It is the establishment of such political and economic conditions as will render national boundaries less important in the eyes of the world’s inhabitants; conditions which will remove the haunting fear of nations for one another.

Measures to assure all nations absolute equality of approach to all the raw materials and to all the markets of the world; measures to assure absolute equality of treatment for minorities in -ll coun- tries, with entire freedom to preserve their own cultures; measures to assure all nations absolute security against military attack and against economic discrimination: these are the only cure ior ex- cessive nationalism and the only guaranties of permanent world peace. Effective measures to secure these three objectives would �[Page 178]176 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

reduce national boundaries to the minor importance that state and provincial boundaries now have and would remove excessive na- tionalism as effectively as provincial patriotism has been removed within each country at present.

The League of Nations, through its Covenant, makes an at- tempt to achieve these objects. Regarding equal terms of access to the world’s raw materials and markets, the members of the League agree (Art. 23) to “make provision to secure and maintain free- dom of communications and of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce of all members of the League.” In regard to equality of treatment for minorities within their borders, the members of the League in the same article “undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territories under their control.” Con- cerning the assurance of nations against military attack, “the mem- bers of the League undertake,” says Article 10 of the Covenant, “to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all members of th- Teague.”

_ut while the Covenant of the League of Nations proposes the achievement of these essential and basic conditions of world peace and world welfare, nothing whatever has been done towards their realization; and, what is still more important, under the pres- ent loose form of the League’s organization nothing effective can be done toward such realization. In spite of the League’s pious aspiration toward “equitable treatment for the commerce of all members of the League,” tariffs have multiplied in number and have risen to prohibitive heights in all the principal states members of the League. In spite of the promise of the League’s members that they will “undertake to secure just treatment of the native inhabitants of territorities under their control,” the present yeaf has witnessed the most flagrant and barbarous violation of such just treatment in one of the most powerful League states. In spite of the solemn promise of League members “‘to respect and preserve as against external aggression the territorial integrity” of all mem- bers, the Far East has afforded an example of the grossest violation �[Page 179]WORLD ADVANCE 177

of territorial integrity by one of the original inner Council group of the League, and the remaining members of the League have de- faulted on their promise to preserve that integrity.

Until the League of Nations has been materially strengthened and developed from its loose form of an alliance of sovereign gov- ernments into that of a close and organic federation of nations, financed independently of the states which it is established to con- trol, and adequately policed by forces raised independently of the states that it is established to pacify, the League will continue the same helpless and ineffective career that was the lot of the Amer- ican colonies when they were bound together merely by a similarly loose “firm league of friendship.” As the Confederation of the American colonies, after a ten years’ trial of this form of organi- zation, found it totally inadequate for the preservation of perma- nent peace and welfare among states and were compelled to call a convention to form “‘a more perfect union;” so the League of Na- tions will sooner or later be compelled, if it is to fulfill the promise of abolishing international warfare, to appoint a commission of able statesmen from its various member states to consider and re- port upon a closer, effective federal organization to establish in- ternational justice and permanent world peace. �[Page 180]WHY A FEDERATED WORLD? by

DupDLEY W. WoopBRIDGE Department of Jurisprudence, College of William and Mary

IRST: Security. “It is none of any other country’s business - large a navy we have.” Is it any of our business how large a navy other countries have?

In order to be secure in a world governed by force it is necessary for one’s country always to have a superior force. It is equally necessary for every other country (if it wishes to be se- cure) to have a superior force. But this is impossible. However, if there were one superior force on a world scale, and that force should be used in such a way as to support liberty under the law for international relations it would then be possible to have a pet- manent righteous peace.

“Trust in your own right arm.” How far would that principle protect an individual? What is more uncertain than the outcome of a war? A single diplomatic or militaiy blunder might easily change the xesult from a so-called victory to an inglorious defeat. Besides, what profiteth a bully to win twenty fights if he loses the twenty-first, and what profiteth a nation to win twenty wars if it loses the twenty-first ?

The world has long taken and should well remember the risks of war and international anarchy. Is it not time to take the risks of peace backed by a righteous superior force? Could the United States exist today if it had not taken this latter risk?

Second: Justice. It is unfair to allow each country to de- termine the righteousness of its own case with the implication al- ways in the background that if the other countries do not like it they can fight. Might does not make right, but right cannot triumph unless it is backed by might. Ai! intelligent people the world over

178 �[Page 181]WHY A FEDERATED WORLD? 179

should devise ways and means whereby international right will be backed by might just as every civilized government attempts to do within its own boundaries.

Third: Cooperation. Fighting begets fighting. Mutual co- operation begets good will. Economics, justice, education, art, science, religion—all that is most worth while in life—know no artificial international lines. It is not sentimental twaddle, but basic truth, that mankind as a whole has far, far more in common than it has apart. Those of us who appreciate this fact are build- ing on the rock. Those of us who do not are building on the sand —and when the storm comes great will be the fall thereof! �[Page 182]THE WORLD OF REALITY by RuHI AFNAN

V. THE CIRCLING COURSE OF THE DIVINE LIFE-PROCESS (Continued)

DIVINE PRESENCE

N essential feature of this state of illumination is that, while in it, the mystic obtains a true understanding of God or the Absolute; a privilege which, they say, all others are denied. Let us, therefore, consider in detail this most important subject and compare it with the teachings of Baha'u'llah.

Spiritually minded people, irrespective of their philosophical, mystical or religious tendencies, have always craved to know the Absolute, the only Reality, the One and Living God. Their method of approach to this most vital of all subjects has undoubtedly been divergent and often conflicting. The philosopher through his in- tellect ana rational deductions has been constantly laboring in quest of that truth. Even though pessimism has often ravaged the ranks of philosophy and many of its votaries have thrown up their hands as a mark of impotence in unraveling that mystery, still we find that the more persevering and tireless among them advocate every now and then a new path and expound a new theory or sys- tem for reaching that goal.

The mystic, observing the inability of intellect and hence of philosophers, to attain their aim, maintains that it is only through the emotions, through the heart, which is the seat of that Reality, through direct experience alone, that we can obtain the clue to that Divine Secret. The naturalist who seeks the attainment of the Absolute in the objective worlc, can never obtain more than a picture of it, colored and framed by whatsoever his personality or mind imposes upon that object. Without the action of the mind

180 �[Page 183]THE WORLD OF REALITY 181

that object will remain meaningless; with the collaboration of the mind, the Absolute still fails to vindicate its virgin purity. Such is the position Mysticism occupies in opposing Realistic philoso- phies. A similar attitude is taken by the mystic in refuting the claims of the Idealists. He does admit an ideal world above and beyond the material world of the senses—a world in the image of which our physical world was made—but he rebukes the idealist for failing to provide a means of attaining the Absolute. To quote E. Underhill: ‘When we ask the idealist how we are to attain communion with the reality which he describes to us as ‘certainly there,’ his system suddenly breaks down, and discloses itself as a diagram of the heavens, not a ladder to the stars.” (Mysticism, p. 15).

Pius, the mystic denounces as futile any human striving in the quest of the Absolute when the road that is followed is purely intellectual, when the mind is only a bridge between man and Reality. Man’s intellect may be the best available means for appre- ciating the world of sense; the knowledge it obtains and the guid- ance it provides for satisfying our physical needs may be of im- measurable value, but it can never claim to provide more than a relative truth. It is the human heart, the mystic says, it is man’s deeper sentiments, when freed from their sensuous incumbrances, that can alone make contact with the truth and finally merge into it. To revert again to E. Underhill: “Under whatsoever symbols they may have objectified their quest, none of these seekers have ever been able to assure the world that they have found, seen face to face, the Reality behind the veil. But if we may trust the reports of the mystics—and they are reports given with a strange accent of certainty and good faith—they have succeeded where all these others have failed in establishing immediate communication be- tween the spirit of man, entangled as they declare amongst ma- terial things, and that ‘only Reality,’ that immaterial and final Being which some philosophers call the Absolute, and most theo- logians call God.” (Mysticism, p. 4).

This theory of knowledge maintained by the mystics is based �[Page 184]182 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

upon the principle that only like can know its like. He believes that when the reality of man is freed from the fetters of sense, that when the intellect, which can comprehend only the physical world, steps aside and makes room for man’s divine nature to reveal it- self in its perfect form, then, becoming God-like, man can know God and perceive His Reality. It is in accordance with such a prin- ciple that Ekhart says: “If I am to know God directly I must be- come completely He and He, I: so that this He and this I become and are one I.” (Mysticism, by E. Underhill, p. 502). Similarly Nicholson says: ‘It is an axiom of the Sufis that what is not in man he cannot know. The Gnostic—man par excellence—could not know God and all the mysteries of the universe unless he found them in himself.” (Mystics of Islam, p. 84). We should bear in mind that this knowledge of God is not through any rational power but through a feeling more akin to love; a certain attraction that would naturally exist between the part and the whole and which we may term inspiration or intuition.

In the opening pages of his book on Christian Mysticism, Dean Inge sums up this mystic theory of knowledge into four basic prop- ositions or articles of Faith: (1) “The soul (as well as the body) can see and perceive.” (2) “Since we can only know what is akin to ourselves, man, in order to know God, must be a partaker of the Divine nature.” (3) “Without holiness no man can see God.” (4) “Purification removes the obstacles to our union with God, but our guide on the upward path, the true hier shant of the mys- teries of God, is love.”

In discussing the Baha’i point of view two fundamental ques- tions present themselves: first, whether man can through his in- ward perception or vision attain the Absolute, and second, in case he cannot, what is meant by coming into the Divine Presence of which all the Prophets of the past have spoken.

‘Abdu’l-Baha in “Some Answered Questions” (p. 255) says: “Know that there are two kinds of knowledge: the knowledge of the essence of a thing, and the knowledge of its qualities. The essence of a thing is known through its qualities, otherwise it is �[Page 185]THE WORLD OF REALITY 183

unknown and hidden. As our knowledge of things, even of created and limited things, is knowledge of their qualities and not of their essence, how is it possible to comprehend in its essence the Divine Reaiity, which is unlimited?” In one of His Tablets (Tab- lets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha published in Egypt, Vol. I p. 180) He says: “And there is nought for us but to turn under all circumstances to that promised centre, awaited manifestation and resplendent orb. Otherwise we would be worshipping an imaginary Reality resid- ing in our own conception, which is created and unreal—a sample of imagery bereft of all existence in the warld of man. This is greater than idol-worshipping, for idols have at least an existence in the world of being while Divine Reality which is itnagined is nought save imagination and falsehood. The infinite Divine Re- ality which is beyond any attribute cannot penetrate our under- standing that may be able to comprehend Him.”

Of the many methods whereby, in the state of illumination, the mystics attain absolute truth, the most important is surely vision or that state of ecstacy wherein the soul comes in direct touch with the source of being and attains a complete knowledge of the Di- vine Secret. But as Underhill admits: ‘The perceptive power and creative genius of the mystics as of other artists, sometimes goes astray.” (Mysticism, p. 325). “Some test then, must be applied, some basis of classification discovered, if we are to distinguish the visions and voices which seem to be symptoms of real transcenden- tal activity from those which are only due to imagination raised to the mth power, to intense reverie, or even to psychic illness. That test, I think, must be the same as that which we shall find useful for ecstatic states, namely, their life-enhancing quality.” (Mysticism, Pp. 323).

Explaining the efficacy of visions ‘Abdu’l-Baha in “Some An- swered Questions” (p. 290), says: “Spiritual discoveries are of two kinds: one kind is of the imagination, and is only the assertion of a few people; the other kind resembles inspiration, and this is teal—such are the revelations of Isaiah, of jena and of St. John, which are real. �[Page 186]184 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

“Reflect that man’s power of thought consis’ of two kinds, One kind is true, when it agrees with a determined truth. Such conceptions find realization in the exterior world; such are accurate opinions, correct theories, scientific discoveries, and inventions.

“The other kind of conceptions is made up of vain thoughts and useless ideas which yield neither fruit nor result, and which have no reality; no, they surge like the waves of the sea of imaginations, and they pass away like idle dreams.

“In the same way, there are two sorts of spiritual discoveries. One is the revelations of the Prophets, and the spiritual discoveries of the elect. The visions of the Prophets are not dreams; no, they are spiritual discoveries and have reality. They say, for example: ‘I saw a person in a certain form, and I said such a thing, and we gave such an answer.’ This vision is in the world of wakefulness, and not in that of sleep. Nay, it is a spiritual discovery which is expressed as if it were the appearance of a vision.

“The other kind of spiritual discoveries is made up of pure imaginations; but these imaginations become embodied in such a way that many simple-hearted people believe that they have a reality. That which proves it clearly is that from this controlling of spirits no result or fruit has ever been produced: no, they are but narratives and stories.”

Thus we observe that both ‘Abdu’l-Baha and Underhill admit that the mere perceiving a certain proposition in the form of vision does not prove it to be an absolute truth. The principle has to be tested by other criteria. ‘Abdu’l-Baha considers that criterion to be its usefulness for humanity. The mystic who returns from his state of ecstacy or vision with a beautiful narrative of his expe rience without any definite principle serviceable to man, therefore, falls short of attaining that standard. He cannot say, “I have found the truth, should you desire it, seek it independently.” He who has attained the Absolute would not return with an empty hand. He should, like all the Prophets, bring to man a message that would further his social and therefore spiritual progress.

The mere fact, however, that visions have to be tested before �[Page 187]THE WORLD OF REALITY 185

they can establish their truth, shows that they are not absolute cri- teria nor perfect means of obtaining true knowledge. Like all the other means of acquiring knowledge they are defective and have in turn to be tested by a higher criterion.

“Know that the power and the comprehension of the human spirit are of two kinds: that is to say, they perceive and act in two different modes. One way is through instruments and organs: thus with this eye it sees, with this ear it hears, with this tongue it talks. Such is the action of the spirit, and the perception of the reality of man, by means of organs. That is to say, that the spirit is the seer, through the eyes: the spirit is the hearer through the ear; the spirit is the speaker through the tongue.

“The other manifestation of the powers and actions of the ° spirit is without instruments and organs. For example, in the state of sleep without eyes it sees, without ears it hears, without a tongue it speaks, without feet it runs. Briefly, these actions are beyond the means of instruments and organs.” (“Some Answered Questions,”

. 263).

° ve can rightly consider visions as activities of the spirit when the organs of the senses are not used. But the mere fact that it is an activity of the spirit does not establish its validity. Our spirit is no part of God to share of His infallibility. It errs while op- erating through the senses; it may iust as well err when acting in- dependently of them. The cause of the mistakes man commits are not only the senses, but the imperfections of the spirit which has to develop under the guidance of the Prophets to mature and acquire perfections. The more the soul develops the surer will its discov- eries be, but being incapable of attaining absolute perfection, at least in this plane of existence, it can never claim to reach the stage of absolute knowledge. Just as man can never become a Prophet his knowledge can never attain the absolute validity of prophetic revelation, which is the true and final criterion for us.

Man cannet be left in the dark, he should have an access to Absolute Truth to constitute it as the authority upon which his basic beliefs as well as social and spiritual laws have to be estab- �[Page 188]186 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

lished. If our rationality falls short and our sentiments often lead us astray, then to what criterion should we take recourse?

Explaining the verse of the Quran: “My heart never errs in what it sees,” ‘Abdu’l-Baha refutes the senses, the mind and tradi- tion as defective criteria for discerning absolute truth. Then He proceeds: “The fourth criterion is inspiration. Inspiration is the vision of the heart. But satanic fancies also constitute visions that appear to the heart froni the self. If, therefore, a certain explana- tion or proposition appear to man’s heart how could he discern whether it is a Divine inspiration? It may just as well be a satanic fancy.

“Then, it has been established that the criteria existing among the people are all defective, unreliable, dreams, suppositions and imagiu.ngs that fail to quench the thirst and satisfy the seeker for knowledge.

“The true criterion which is always true and ever established, which comprehends universal realities and great truths, is the heart which is mentioned by God in that blessed verse for it is the revel- ation of the pouring rays of God’s blessings, it is the Divine Secret, inner manifestation. ...” (Tablet of ‘Abdu’l-Baha printed in Egypt Vol. I, p. 112).

The basis of the claim the mystics make to have attained the Absolute is the principle that man shares uf the Divine Essence. But we have already seen, man’s spirit is a creation of God. As he has no share in the Divine nature, the whole theory that in the state of illumination he becomes God-like and seeing his counter- part in the Absolute can apprehend It, therefore, falls to the ground. The highest attainment man can reasonably claim is the knowledge of the Prophets who are the perfect revealers of God’s attributes, for the realm of the Absolute or Essence is for ever barred unto him. If the essence of physical objects is beyond our comprehen- sion, how much more is the Divine Essence which is an infinitely superior plane of existence. Our highest attainment is the compre- hension of the attributes, that is, the world of the Prophets who ate �[Page 189]THE WORLD OF REALITY 187

perfect mirrors reflecting the light of that transcendental and Hid- den Being.

It is true that all the more moderate mystics, both Christian and Muhammedan, consider themselves subject to the religious laws vouchsafed by the Prophets, but to many this belief in direct communion with the Absolute is a standing ground for what we may term spiritual anarchy. If the mystic can come in direct con- tact with the Absolute and obtain a first hand knowledge of the spiritual truths, why sit at the feet of a Prophet or seek guidance from what he has prescribed in His Scriptures? Religious laws might be essential for the common herd of men but not for the mystics who are immersed in the sea of the Absolute and who have attained the truth in all its perfection. In this connection Nicholson says (The Mystic of {slam, p. 73): “The gnostic need not be dis- mayed if his inner experience conflicts with the religious law. The contradiction is only apparent. Religion addresses itself to the common herd of men who are veiled by their minds, by logic, tradi- tion, and so on; whereas gnosis regards the all-embracing Unity. Hence the same act is good in religion, but evil in gnosis—a truth which is briefly stated thus: “The good deeds of the pious are the ill deeds of the favorites of God’.”

Such a spiritual anarchy is naturally foreign to the teachings of Baha’u’llah who, in the Seven Valleys, says: ‘The way-farer should in all these journeys not deviate a hair’s breadth from re- ligious law which is truly the secret of the path and the fruit of the tree of Reality. In all the different stages he should cling fast to the commands and shun all that is forbidden.”

The Prophets, as we have seen, are the creators of our spiritual and moral life. It is through them that we obtain our re-birth and attain our highest moral development. How could we, therefore, maintain that we can progress to a station where we become com- pletely independent of such spiritual guidance? What the mystics claim for themselves, in reality belongs to the Prophets by virtue of their position as spiritual creators. Be'ag the creators they are beyond z , laws prescribed for humanity; but that position be- �[Page 190]188 WORLD UNITY MAGAZINE

longs solely to them. No human can claim to share that right.

If the comprehension of the Absolute is so completely barred to man; if that Divine Reality is so transcendental that neither human thought nor feeling can attain it, how are we to interpret the definite promise given by all the Prophets of the past, and men- tioned in their Holy Scriptures, that man shall attain the Divine Presence? Surely that was a solemn promise to be realized on this earth and not in some future plane of existence.

In the Persian Bayan the Bab says (7.3):

“All that has been revealed concerning the attainment of God’s Divine Presence refers to ‘Him whom God will make manifest.’’ For God in His Essence is beyond human reach.” Similarly, in the Iqan, Baha'u'llah says: ““These Prophets and Chosen Ones of God are recipient: and revealers of all the unchangeable attributes and names of God. They are the mirrors that truly and faithfully re- flect the light of God. Whatsoever is applicable to Them is in re- ality applicable to God Himself who is both the Visible and the Invisible. The knowledge of Him, who is the origin of all things, and attainment unto Him, are impossible save through the knowl- edge of, and attainment unto, Those luminous Beings who pro- ceed from the Sun of Truth. By attaining, therefore, to the pres- ence of these Holy Luminaries, the ‘Presence of God’ Himself is attained. .... Attainment unto such presence is possible only in the Day of Resurrection, which is the Day of the rise of God Him- self through His all-embracing Revelation.”

The illumination of self together with its different practices, such as vision aiid ecstasy, are often considered as criteria of spirit- ual attainment. Were the mystic theories true no one could deny this logical conclusion, for a vision would then mean that the Spark of the Soul has truly freed itself from the fetters of self and has taken its flight into the realm of the spirit. But such is not the Baha'i standpoint In the opening passages of the Book of Aqdas Baha'u'llah says: “The first duty laid by God upon man is the knowledge of the dawning-place of His revelation and law, who represents Him in the world of command and creation. He who �[Page 191]THE WORLD OF REALITY 189

attains to Him attains to all good, and he who is deprived verily is of the people of error though he produces the noblest deeds. Should you reach to this high position and supreme horizon, it is incumbent upon you all to observe what has been ordained by God. These two are inseparable. Neither is accepted without the other. Such is the command of the sources of revelation.”

The Baha'i criterion of spiritual progress is therefore the knowledge of the Manifestation of God as well as the extent of obedience to His commands. This is in full conformity with our previous reasoning, for it is only by knowing the Prophets that we obtain a re-birth and by conforming to their laws that we can develop spiritually. All forms of vision, rapture and spiritual ex- perience would be of no avail, if we fail to appreciate the light of guidance the Prophets shed upon the world and refuse to follow Their councils and abide by Their laws.

(To be continued) �[Page 192]NOTES ON THE PRESENT ISSUE

The discussion between John Bassett Moore and Quincy Wright, reflected in Dr. Wright’s comment on Judge Moore's sen- sational article in the July issue of Foreign Affairs, is one on which any conscientious student of World Unity can take both sides with- out imputation of inconsistency. It is all to the good of peace that Judge Moore has roundly asserted the view the the present structure of international relations is fatally weak and deceptively preten- tious. It is equally favorable to that cause that Dr. Wright has pointed out that without an international organization, peace can never be assured. The main point seems to be, as Dr. Wright has stated, “Modern inventions have increased both the danger of wat and the destruction of war and hence have imposed upon man the necessity to perfect international organization or else to witness the decline of his civilization.”

It is this essential challenge, not less spiritual than legal and political in its implications, which World Unity contributors like Carl A. Ross, Oscar Néewfang and Dudley W. Woodbridge contend vigorously can only be met by federating the national states—the creation of a World State which alone can control the fundamental conditions now moving in the direction of terrible catastrophe.

One more “f those heroic souls who make peace the supreme issue of life today is Dr. Ernest Fremont Tittle. World Unity, well realizing that no human power can tell over the entire list, ap- preciates the privilege of describing the activities of at least a few who in the modern age have come to public prominence.

Carl A. Ross’s thesis that the high seas can be made to serve as basis for much of the financial structure needed to retire the war debts and uphold the operations of a real World State should not be dismissed as one more bit of ingenious thinking. Rather should it be regarded as impressive logical evidence of the practi cability of a federated world. His previous articles on a unified currency can well be borne in mind at this time, when dollars, francs and sterling are pitted in a currency war the end of which no one can foresee.

190 �[Page 193]“TRENDS IN PRESENT-DAY RELIGION”

Beginning in the issue of November 13, UNITY will publish in each succeeding number an important new series of ten or more articles on “Trends in Present-Day Religion.”

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