THE BIG BROTHER

IF the United States is going to be a Big Brother to Mexico it should act in a brotherly way.

The science and practice of brotherliness among nations, however, is still in its mewling and babbling infancy.

The world has been so long fed on the raw meat of war, of force, of honor (which usually means strutting pride), and of all such half-brute notions, that its idea of patriotism rarely reaches above the level of a bellicose national egotism.

But how would a brother treat a brother? He would help, encourage, and assist him in every way. He would not try to impose his will by force upon him. Neither would he hold aloof and bid him paddle his own canoe.

But how can we help Mexico, help her in a way that shall bring prosperity and peace to her, and profit and joy to ourselves?

First, how not to do it is the way we have always done. We have simply exploited that

country, gone down there and bought mines, railways, and haciendas, organized business schemes, and acted generally with the one purpose of making all the money possible out of the Mexicans.

We have been entirely selfish. We have not done one thing toward helping the struggling myriads of the poor.

When they got into trouble we sent a fleet flying to Vera Cruz, held that city a while, and now propose to bring our ships back home.

If we were truly a Big Brother this is what we would do:

Instead of spending millions on an army to "pacify" the country we would spend millions. upon preparing the people there for citizenship. We would build thousands of public schools and send an invading army of thousands of teachers. We would establish vocational schools all over the land.

Recognizing that ignorance is their greatest curse, we would relieve that ignorance.

The exploiters of Mexico have never turned over their hand to educate the peons. In fact, they have opposed education as interfering with the cheap labor, virtual slave labor, which is so profitable to the employers. We would pay the way of thousands of

Mexican boys and girls to come to our schools and learn American ideas and methods.

We would send emissaries of our government into every city and hamlet of Mexico to do their utmost to show the youth how to live, to work, and to think.

Why should all "missionary" work be done by religious sects? Why cannot there be a high and disinterested missionary spirit in a whole nation? Why not missionaries to teach civilization, medicine, science, arts and crafts, as well as to teach disputed religious doctrines? Why can we not build hospitals, free schools, asylums, and libraries all up and down Mexico?

Foolish talk? Impractical?

Sure! And it shows how hollow and unmeaning is our prating of being a Big Brother.

With no motive but the sordid one of gain we have acted toward the Mexicans rather as a Big Robber, getting every cent we could out of them and showing our teeth and threatening war whenever they cried out.

Isn't it about time for a nation definitely to discard the dirty, selfish motives of Machiavelli and endeavor to act as a human, collectively human, civilized and helpful Big Brother?

We are helping, teaching the Filipinos, and

Do

transforming them. Why not the Mexicans, Nicaraguans, and all Central America? we have to own a land to help it?

Is not a billion dollars spent on schools and training a better way to conquer a country than by cannon and soldiers?

On to the Panama Canal! Not with rifles, but with school books. Not as hungry robbers, but as real, genuine, friendly Big Brothers.

Saturday, October 10, 1914.

THE COLLAPSE OF AN IDEAL

THE most disappointing feature of the great war is the collapse of European Socialism.

We had great hopes of it. The master card, we fondly dreamed, would be played for humanity and against the diabolism of the military monarchies by the great international party (the Socialists), the one group of human beings still holding aloft the banner of the people.

At the time of the Algeciras affair we were thrilled by the dramatic threat of a universal strike of workingmen if the rulers dared go

to war.

That was heartening. At last the poor boobs, the common people, had come to their senses, we thought. They were tired of doing the suffering and dying for monarchies and contending capitalist groups. War would now be forever estopped by the best of all reasons, because the workers would decline to go out and be shot. National rulers would