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, 07 t ‘4 ’ Quakers’ Peace ~-— The Society of Friends has been distin- guished from most other Christian bodies by its peculiar doctrinal emphasis upon the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit and by an optimistic concept of human nature. It has taught the possibility of complete vic- tory by the individual, even in this tite, over the power of sin. Hence the traditional practice of seeking regeneration through appeals to the “better nature,” which is to say to the divinity that is believed to exist within every man, however outwardly aban- doned to evil. Similarly, in conformity to its quietistic attitude toward the problem of evil, the society nas tenued to place strife generally, and war particularly, among the greatest evils to which mankind is prone. All this, it seems to us, is refiected in the report to the American Friends Service Com- es a ee re . a mittee by a group of eminent Quakers . _ headed by Mr. Gilbert F. White on the pos- sibility of peace between the United States and the Soviet Union. This report. which has now been published bv the Yale Uni- * versity Press, ‘iees a possibility of peace in a frank recogniiion by both sides that as the world is now constituted, ucither the com- plete triumph of communism nor thet ut constitutional democracy is possible. This beinz so, say the Friends, it is to the manifest interest of each side to work out some understanding shat will permit the peaceable coexistence of both. For neither side has any reason to suppose that if an effort is made to resolve the contict by an atomic war, “either the Soviet retime or Western democracy would survive in any- thing like its present form. regardless of which side might be the eventual victor.” The report goes on to arcuc that the Com- munist doctrine of world revolution is not necessarily an impediment to such an under- Standing. For althoush their (the Communists} philosopny leads them to believe that all history moves through a series of revolutions toward communism, it alse teaches them that revolutionary efforts are futile uniess the time is ripe for them and unless a society has reached ihe point where its e extsting institutions and leadership can no longer function. Sporadic efforts to* overtivow guvernments withvut recard, to the actual conditions of the govern-, ment, the society in which ft exists, and world polilical relations, have to the’ . } best of our knowledge no important place : dy Communist doctrine or actions, o ‘the convention. me ee ee ee } ~ he realimpediment to understar.og and the real danger to peace. then, according to the report, is the fear that exists on each side that it may be attacked by the other, These fears, of course, are being augmented by the present competition in armaments. Thus, as a Arst step toward removing these suspicions and promoting the sense of se- curity desired upon both sides. the Friends .. propose that armaments be reduced to a mini- mum necessary for “internal tranquillity” (which although the name is not mentioned in the report, would presumably allow the perpetuation of the M. V. D.), and that the five major powers sign a convention to out- law the atomic bomb, and that both the United States and the Soviet Union turther agree to the destruction of atomic stockpiles within a specified date after the signing of Meanwhile, it is also pro- posed that “the pres:at stockpiles... be put under United wations seal for a specified time, and that the concentration of fission- able material be halted and verified—pend- ing the conclusion of the conventions.” ; The Friends also appeal to historical precedents to indicate the possibility of peace between the Communist East and the eenstitutional West. For example. they cité ibe weowth eririt of mutual toleratio’ among Catholics and; Protestants after thz inconclusive religious wars of the sixteentli century. Here, it ocrurs to us, the Friends simplify the story to» much. It might be pointed out that the general agreement to disagree between Catholics and Protestants came only after the efforts of both sides to decide the issue by arms and persecution had ended indecisively. Again. it might be observed that various doctrinal disagree- ments between Catholics and Protestants did not, theoretically at least, involve any dis- agreement on fundamental questions of mo- rality, Yet again, ihe principle of toleration had been encourazed dy the rise of a third and quite sesarate influence; that is to say, by secularism, nationalism, rationalism and deism, which were in many respects antago- nistic to both Catholic and Protestant ortho- doxies. We commend a careful reading of this report to our readers, but we also urge them to read it in conjunction with the celebrated paper on the same subject by Historicus, published at the beginning of the year in the Foreign Affairs quarterly. We earnestly hope that it is the Friends who are right in this matter and Historicus who is wrong. But, even if so, we believe that this time the initiative in peaceful example should be taken by the Russians, and not, as the ’ Feiendsarppose, by the United States, 5 aftha hem week 6 + . --: eS oem etme on. eee ayy ES RS TY ~~ oe etl Page > Times~Herald___ Wash. Post Sec II LB Wash. News — Wash. Star N.Y. Mirror —— Date: DEC —— i