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Freedom by ConquestNol often has armed invasion brought liberty 1o Ihe majority of people in the invaded country. Ro-mAn armies In ancient times brought law and order. Greek arm-'jes carried culture, as did the Saracens in their thrust ac/oss North .Africa to Spain. Napoleon destroyed the remnants of feudalism as a byproduct to spreading French power and finding jobs for the Bonaparte 'family; The North, invading the ^South in our own Civil war, freed the slaves while saving the Union. But what is going on in Germany -today, which includes the imposition of a new Bill of Rights upon that .conquered nation, seems unique.The Germans are told, by Allied ‘ukase, that they are rot to be deprived of life, liberty or properly •without due process of law; that they will be held responsible only •-for acts legally defined as crimes: and they shall be entitled to speedy and public trial; that they shall be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against them; that they shall have the assistance of counsel; and that excessive or inhuman punishments shall not be inflicted. Courts are to administer justice without regard to social origin, race or religion. Germany fought for nearly six years to stave off this kind of treatment. Now it is being forced upon her.A similar process is going on in Japan, where an army of occupation is compelling the Japanese government to permit freedom of speech, to democratize its schools and to liberalize its constitution. Neither in Germany nor in Japan are we doing such things for sentimental reasons. It is often said that democracy is no 'longer a crusading faith. Generally speaking, it isn’t. Generally speak-“ingrit couldn’t'be. Our motives are defensive and practical. We do not fear attack from any nation in which the basic freedoms are respected; therefore we are doing what we can to secure'respect for those freedoms in the nations which attacked us. Forcing freedom on those who didn't ask for it is a final act of war. If our recent enemies are ultimately the happier for it we can’t help it.The Genocidesm • •* . •The forthcoming trial of the top Nazi war criminals is, like the offenses of which they stand accused, unprecedented in history. It is logical. then, that the legal talent which prepared the United Nations' indictment against these infamous 24 should have found need of a new .w6rd to define, briefly and with legal precision, the appalling crimes for which the Nazi leaders are responsible.The word is genocide, and credit for its coinage goes to an American professor, Raphael Lemkin of Duke University. It is formed from the Greek ‘‘genos, which means race or tribe, and the Latin cidere, to kill.Its first appearance is in the third count of the indictment, which states that the defendants conducted deliberate and systematic genocide, viz., the extermination of racial and national groups, against the civilian populations of certain occupied territories.Perhaps genocide may not seem to carry a force appropriate to therrimoc .irKml’ it rlop.sufficed. Now mankind must strive to create a world in which the new word genocide need never be used again.IRebirth of o NationiThe atmosphere of the recent French elections was perhaps more important than their results. The significance of the revolt against the Third Republic and its constitution. the support for General de Gaulle and the strength of the Communists cannot be discounted. But one cannot fail to be impressed by the sobriety and self-discipline with which the French people’s wishes were made known.Order returned to Europe with the French elections. Democracy, which has been warped and degraded, was triumphantly vindicated. Violence was renounced as a necessary and inevitable companion of readjustment.With these free and peaceable elections, France did much to show herself once more strong and responsible. With this one step, she did much to reaffirm her heritage and resume her place as a major power.They Deserve ThemThe Allies are thinking of letting j Jap civilians establish a commer-cial radio network to compete with the government-owed Radio Tokyo. \Since we are still in favor of a; hard peace, we hope that General j MacArthur will require this new network to include a lot of singing commercials.Stale PressGetting Their Fill(Antigo Journal.)Great numbers of Antigo men and women, more than ever before in a like period, learned during the recent war what life is like in a . large city. Some, the more fortu- ■ nate/and the most adaptable, have found it to their liking. Others have had all of it they want and can’t get away any too soon. jB. B. Williams, chairman of the board of directors of the Cooper-Bessemer corporation, recently sum- i marized what life is like for the average dweller in a large city. I Under present conditions, the average factory worker now located in the large industrial center usually lives in the cheaper type ’ of dwelling in the heart of the city, where he broils in summer andfreezes in winter. Or else he livesso far out in the suburbs that hespends from one to two hours aday getting to work and another hour or two getting home. sIf he owns an automobile, he1 drives over streets and highways that are vastly overcrowded. If he uses public conveyances, he either stands most of the way home or sits in crowded, badly ventilated cars or busses. [The neighborhood he lives in us-1 ually is noisy. Children playing in nearby streets and alleys, traffic noises, neighbors’ radios and other noises that easily penetrate thin walls, all combine to rob him of his well-earned rest and relaxation. j Mr. Williams, Decause of the superior living conditions offered by the smaller cities, strongly favors i the decentralization of industry. He
Newspaper Details
Rhinelander Daily News
Rhinelander, Wisconsin, US
Mon, Oct 29, 1945
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Badgerlink
WI, USA 29 Nov 2016
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