MORE THAN WORDS

It was characteristic of President Butler of Columbia that in accepting the Nobel Peace Prize for 1931, which he shares with Jane Addams, he should have seized the opportunity to put forth concrete proposals for the abolition of war. Characteristic also is the combination of idealism and practicality which his radio speech revealed. It is doubtful, however, if every one who admires President Butler's zeal for peace agrees entirely with the nine measures he advocates to insure it.

With the proposal to abolish compulsory military service few would care to quarrel. So long as men are deliberated trained for war, even as a defeuse measure, war will be possible. It would be superfluous to repeat this truism if there were not large and influential groups which fall to recognize it. Dr. Bntler's cardinal proposal, however, that the War Department be abolished in favor of a Department of National Defense, is of more doubtful value. To hide the business of war behind a euphemism while retaining its nature is at best a well-meant subterfuge. It is pleasant to think that "war between nations is as much out of date as the torture chamber or the scalping knife," but so long as such a nation as the Japanese cling to old fashioned methods, the fact will have to be faced. It is doubtful if even this country, with its pacifistic traditions, is prepared for total disarmament. The abolition of war will hardly occur until public opinion is educated up to it. It will be time enough to abolish the name of the Department of War when the thing itself is abolished.