PEACE IN HIGH GEAR

Even those most optimistic about the Geneva disarmament conference look for limitation rather than any wholesale abondonment of armaments after 1932. Progress toward world peace through diplomatic negotiations seems to have halted, temporarily at least with the signing of the Kellogg Pact. Since political machinery for assuring peace will run only in low gear, new plans for preventing war have a special interest. Such a plan has been put forward by the "Youth's Peace Federation" which hopes to organize nation-wide resistance to military service.

How effective an organized association of draft-resisters could be is hard to determine. Although a small group would probably find itself helpless once war was declared, it might have considerable influence in restraining a government from beginning hostilities. Certainly a formal association could have far more effect than a number of isolated individuals. When patriotism and national honor become sacred idols, as they do in times of imminent or actual war, many are constrained, for lack of moral support, to abandon the principles which they hold in saner moments. Such moral backing a Federation of resisters would give them.

There are without doubt large numbers of people in this country, although perhaps a distinct minority, who, convinced that even the triumphs of war are Pyrrhic victories feel a moral obligation to refuse to fight. By uniting these men, the "Youth's Peace Federation" may weld together an important force for the prevention of war. In any case, the Federation has contributed much to the cause of peace by adding its weight to the growing movement of "militant pacifism."