"WAR IS HELL"

Last Saturday, Premier Benito Mussolini inflamed one hundred thousand Italians to a bloodthirsty frenzy. "Down with France" was the cry as he exhorted his subjects to "raise their muskets" against those nations on the Italian border. "Today the Italian people are an armed people sure of their destiny" were the words in which he predicted the future of his country. At the same time "All Quiet on the Western Front" was removed from all Italian book stalls by the police on the grounds that it was too pacifistic. In 1910, the Kalser of the German Empire told his army in a public address that the time was coming when their duty to their fatherland would demand their facing the armed forces of Europe. No one paid any attention to what seemed only an excess of patriotism. Three years later Europe was in the grip of the World War.

Today the world is talking about peace and disarmament. When the strongest ruler in Europe calls his nation to arm against its neighbors the import of his commands is forgotten for The League of Nations and The World Court. The question is when will these ideas of war again dominate the World. In the face of M. Mussolini's speech the late London Naval Conference seems even worse than futile.