Pickering College - Voyageur Yearbook (Newmarket, Ontario Canada)

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If You Wish Peace . . . Prepare for War EDWARD BOND HE: ANCIENT ARGUMENT that we should make sure of peace by preparing for war is to me one of the most ridiculous that has ever been seriously put forward. The supporters of the argument claim that by building up a strong armed force we are more secure, and that by building up our military might, we frighten other nations into subservience, and put- ourselves in such a posi- tion that no nation will dare attack us. This, of course, is sheer nonsense. Theories of balance of power, and others involving the use of force, have been proven wrong through the ages. A show of strength, or any attempt at intimidation, can only arouse resentment and bitterness. It is impossible to keep a preparation for war secret, and therefore the possi- bility of real friendly relations is cast- aside. The most important step toward peace tnen, good-will, is ruled out. Rather than frighten the proposed enemy into subservience, a preparation for war will arouse bitterness and fear, and cause that country herself to 'prepare for war'. When two countries are furi- ously preparing for war against each other, a real war is inevitable. Building up a strong armed force necessitates recruiting, and recruiting necessitates advertising. This advertising must instil a desire for enlistment, and indirectly, a desire for war. At the same time, the fact that the country is preparing for war will inevitably alarm the people into thinking that a war is likely to come. In order to get the people to support this preparation for war, the government must circulate everything evil about the proposed enemy, and as little good as possible. This has the inevitable effect of making the people desire a war, to subdue their 'enemy', or in any case makes them bitter against a power with whom it is possible to carry on friendly relations. A vicious circle is set up here, for when the 'enemy' sees her alleged ally preparing for or spe- culating about war against her, she will take steps to ensure her own safety. These moves will be reported in the press, and made to appear as black, as evil, and as unprovoked as possible. This will arouse more resentment, more war-talk, more armament, or, in other words, a move toward war. The other state will take further steps to protect herself, and so on. We can see this going on today, on both sides of the ideological barrier. What is the alternative? Good-will. It will be said: We did not prepare for war in 1939 and look what happened. In 1939 we were dealing with a fascist state whose avowed purpose was to rule the world by force. Today it is a country whose hopes and aspirations, whose ultimate goal is the same as our own-pure democracy and the greatest happiness for the greatest number. Guarantee to Russia, by good-will, security on the international plane, the reasons for present day 'Russian aggression' will be removed, and we will have taken a great stride toward real and lasting world peace. Sixteen

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I Remember PHIL ENn1eo'r'l' T wAs A calm Sunday in May when a tragedy that had occurred many times over the wartime capital of China, occurred so near to our house that I remember it still. i The day had dawned without a sign of a cloud in the sky. My two brothers, my sister, two Chinese boys who were living with us, and myself, had spent the morning playing in our rather large backyard. A Lunch began with the usual amount of chattering, but all at once we fell silent and listened with pounding hearts. Away in the distance to the east of us stood Chungking proper, and it was from that direction that we heard the sound which was the cause of our fear-the dismal wail of the air-raid sirens. telling the world that the Japanese bombers were on their way. What were we to do now? Some were ready to run for our air-raid shelter which was a hole blasted in the side of the small hill behind our house. Others were hungry, and were unwilling to abandon the meal until they heard the planes. VVe agreed upon the latter course, and settled back to finish our meal. How much time elapsed before we heard the second siren I do not know, but it could not have been more than a few minutes. We had just begun to eat when the first siren was heard, and we had not finished our first course when we heard the second. The wail of the siren had barely died away when the dull roar of the bombers was heard. As the roar became louder, we picked up our plates and walked down to our little shelter. It was not long before the Japanese planes were directly over our heads. Then the incident occurred. They encountered a group of Chinese fighters and pro- ceeded to fight it out with them. Nothing to me can be worse than sitting in ar small shelter dug in the side of a hill while two groups of planes fight for supre- macy of the air directly above you. Every few minutes a plane would become too shattered to stay in the air and would start to dive towards the earth with a whistling sound that changed to an almost human scream, then rose to a shriek as the plane neared the earth. Then came the sudden exploding crash as the plane hit the ground. The fight lasted for only two or three minutes, but the sounds of the struggle fwhich we could not seei were frightening. I was so terrified that I could not finish my meal, but just sat in one corner, shaking all over, and listening to the explosions coming from above. The Japs eventually got their way and bombed the city without further attempts by Chinese fighters to stop them. After it was all over, an hour or so from the time the first siren had sounded. we stood on our porch and watched the city burn. Wie knew there was nothing we could do, so we went inside to finish our interrupted meal. And yet we knew that even while we were eating, Chinese who had fled to the country during the raid were once more returning to the city, to a house which by this time was nothing but a pile of smoking rubble. We knew that these people would rake away the debris, and build again, with mud, wood. and straw, beside the holes which had once been their homes. Fifteen

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If You Wish Peace . . . Prepare -for War JAMES FARR1-31.1. ORLD WAR THREE is a topic which is looked upon as ridiculous by the ' majority in our society. However, to those men who make war their profession it is regarded as a very serious possibility. The professional soldier, a phrase which I am afraid has a bad connotation, although he is in a class with police and fire divisions, is not paid to regard war as a bad dream and forget it as quickly as possible. He is paid to examine all aspects of the situation and draw from them conclusions. If these conclusions point to impending war, he is the one to whom we must turn for advice. At the present time, our military leaders, all professional soldiers, feel that the possibilities of war are great. The problems of how to avert war lie with the politicians, but they must turn again to the professional soldier for advice. For centuries past the general opinion among these soldiers is that to prevent war, you must prepare for it. Although this statement in some contra- dicts itself, it is sound. Field Marshal von Rundstedt, probably the world's greatest living general, said it, and he was backed by all members of the once great German General Staff who, despite their fanatical beliefs, were good soldiers. Recently General D. D. Eisenhower was called to give his views on the matter. He firmly called upon the United States Congress to put through the Draft and the Universal Military Training Bills. Can such men who have been so ,close to war be wrong? Should we trust men who have never seen the horrors of battles to make decisions as to whether or not preparing for war is the best way to prevent it? With reference to everyday affairs, can soft talk and compromise stop the bully? Certainly not, for a bully is only stopped when he is confronted with the same punishment he has given to others. Would the average gangster who robs and kills be willing to fight a duel with another man who also has a gun in his hand? I think not, for a gun is the great equalizer. A man, no matter what his size or physical abilities, can be killed by one bullet from a gun held even by an infant. The only way to prevent war is to show the other country that we can match his army, man for man, gun for gun, plane for plane, ship for ship, and heart for heart. This must be done if we desire to live in a society where our minds can be free from that great weakness, fear. Seventeen