The conflict between White and Black now prevailing in various parts of the country, as well as in Washington, D. C., is, from every point of view, a very tragic occurrence, which may be the beginning of much greater unrest in the future. If this unrest is not stopped soon, it may lead to a horrible social and political catastrophe in America.

Negroes served America faithfully in the last war. In many instances, they exhibited great heroism and gained military distinctions. Like the Whites, the Negroes fought for democracy and justice; like the Whites, they were fired with enthusiasm for President Wilson's political idealism, and also like the Whites, they hoped that after the war, a new period of history would begin which would improve their conditions here also. But upon returning home from 2the battlefield, they found the old system still in existence, and naturally they were very disappointed. This disappointment is one of the pyschological reasons leading to the present strained relationship between the Whites and the Blacks in America.

Tens of thousands of colored soldiers returned from the European battlefields only to find that Negroes in the South are still being lynched at every opportunity. Nor have their conditions in other sections of the country improved. The Negroes went to Europe to fight against white people under the white man's flag. This gave them the idea that they were the equals of, or on an equal footing with the Whites. If they have the right to die with white people, they certainly have the right to live with them; if theirs is the duty to share the miseries of war with the Whites, then theirs is also the duty to share equal rights. This was their reasoning. The discovery that it was false, that the vicissitudes of life are stronger than the abstract principle of the 3equality of men, made them dissatisfied angry and bitter. The release of this smoldering resentment can be seen now in the racial conflict which has unfortunately claimed a great many victims.

We must not forget that the war had a demoralizing effect on the Negroes as well as on the Whites. Negroes, after all, are still primitive, and their suffering is still of an elemental type. War has completely brutalized and demoralized them. All that America has done to satisfy and appease the Negro, was wiped out on the battlefield. Even today, the Negro is no less harrassed and driven, notwithstanding the fact that he has been accepted into the circle of Western civilization. The Negro's disappointment, his bitterness is apparently the driving force behind this racial conflict.

It is to be regretted that police from Washington and Chicago were unable to quell this unrest immediately. This weakness, displayed by the police in the racial conflict, only encourages the Negro to continue fighting. The fact 4that whole regiments, with machine guns, had to be sent out against them, made the Negroes feel that they were a powerful force. This so-called imaginary strength of the Negro is not a factor that will make for peace. From a general political standpoint, it is also to be regretted that the racial conflict was not immediately suppressed. Negroes, as well as Whites, must not become accustomed to such conflicts. What would happen to law and order if the various groups in the city took the law into their own hands? Every state would be politically bankrupt if its control of law and order passed into the hands of irresponsible elements. Today Black and White fight one another. Tomorrow, two political or social groups may seek to solve their differences by street fights. A pogrom is not simply a murderous attack upon Jews, but is rather a struggle between two groups, whether they be social, political or economic. A pogrom is only one step removed from civil war, and, therefore, public order must be the first duty of the State. If public order is not properly executed, then the State has neglected one of its main functions and loses thereby its justification for its existence.

The Negro problem in America arises from the sin committed by our mighty republic in her youth, the sin of the fathers of our country, now visited upon their children. The great slave dealers in America, who, for a hundred years, imported Negroes for economic exploitation, thereby committed an injustice not only against themselves and their slaves, but also against their grandchildren. Today, the problem of the Negro is a very serious one. We can rectify this mistake only by solving the Negro problem in an equitable fashion. This means that the Negroes must be given all the rights guaranteed in the Constitution of the United States. If the Negroes feel that the Whites are at least trying to deal justly with them, then the racial conflict will, of itself, disappear. It is not enough to suppress racial conflict by the use of men and guns; the cause must be removed. Only then will America have domestic harmony between Negro and White.