"WAR INSANITY"

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 133, 2 December 1935, Page 9

"WAR INSANITY"

ENDANGERING THE

WORLD

MEDICAL EXPERTS PROTEST

Psychiatrists oi the world have begun a campaign against the surrender of civilisation to the insanity of war, says a message from The Hague to the "New York Times." That the people of the world may be headed for a "war psychosis" is the warning contained in a document signed by 339 psychiatrists from thirty nations. The Netherlands Medical Association sponsors the document and has formed a Committee on War Prophylaxis. Copies of the scientific warning against war have been sent to leading statesmen, particularly in Europe. Signed by an Italian army physician, by French, British, German, and Austrian psychiatrists, as well as by representatives of the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and the United States, the document warns statesmen that twentieth century man still possesses strong, fierce, and destructive instincts which break loose as soon as the community to which he belongs feels itself threatened by danger. The text of the statement follows:— We psychiatrists, whose duty it is to investigate the normal, and diseased mind, and to serve mankind with our knowledge, feel impelled to address a serious word to you in our quality of physicians. It seems to us that there is in the world a mentality which entails grave dangers to mankind, leading, as it may, to an evident war-psychosis. , War means that all destructive forces are set loose by mankind against itself. War means the annihilation of mankind by technical science. As in all things human, psychological factors play a very important part in the complicated problem of wan If war is to be prevented the nations and their leaders must understand their own attitude towards war. By self-knowledge a world calamity may be prevented: A CONTRADICTION? Therefore we draw your attention to the following:— 1. There is a seeming contradiction between the conscious individual aversion to. war and the collective preparedness to wage war. This is explained by the fact that the behaviour, the feelings, the thoughts of an independent individual are quite different from those of a man who forms part of a collective whole. Civilised twentieth

.century man rtill possesses strong, fierce, and destructive instincts which have not been sublimated or only partly so and whu:h break loose as soon as the comrriUTiny to which he belongs feels itself threatened by danger. The unconscious desire to give rein to the primitive instinct, not only without punishment but even with'reward, furthers ia a great measure the preparedness for war.

It should ba realised that the fighting instinct, if well directec', gives energy for much that fa good and beautiful. But the .ram; instinct may create chaos if it breaks lcore from all' restraint, making use of the greatest disroveries of the human intellect. i

. 2. It is appall'ng to see how little the peoples ar.? alive to realiiy.

The popular ittas of war as they find expression in iull-dress uniforms, military display, <:c. are no lohger in keeping with the realities cf v-si itself.

The apathy, with regard 1o ths actions and mirigues of the international traffic in arms is surprising to any one who realises the dangers into which this traffic threatens to lead them. It should be realised that it is foolish to suffer certain groups of persons to derive personal profit from the death of millions of men.

We come to ycu with the urgent advice tp arouse the nations to the realisation'of fact and the sense of collective , self-preservation, these powerful in..stincts b.eing the strongest allies for the ", elirtiinatio'n; of war.

. The heightening of the moral'and .religious sense in your people tends to the same;end.

.SIMILAR CONCEPTS.

: ■3.'.From. the. utterances of well;known statesmen it has repeatedly been evident that many of them have conceptions of war that are identical ■with those of the average, man. Arguments .such as "War^is the ' supreme court of appeal" and "War is the necessary outcome of Darwin's theory are erroneous and dangerous, in view of the realities of modern warfare. They camouflage.a primitive craving for power and are meant to stimulate the preparedness . for war among the I speaker's countrymen.

The suggestive force of speeches made by leading statesmen is enormous and may be dangerous. The warlike spirit, so easily aroused by the cry that the country is in danger, is not to be bridled, as was evident in 1914. ■

Peoples, as well as individuals, under the influence of suggestions like these may become neurotic. They may be carried away by hallucinations and delusions, thus involving themselves in adventures perilous to their own and other nations' safety. We psychiatrists declare that our science is sufficiently advanced for us to distinguish between real, pretended and unconscious motives, even in statesmen. The desire to disguise national militarism by continual talk about peace will not protect political leaders from the judgment of history The secret promoters of militarism are responsible for the boundless misery "which a new war is sure to bring. International organisation is ' now sufficiently advanced to enable statesmen to prevent war by concerted action. NO GUARANTEE. Protestation of peace and the desire for peace, however sincere, do not guarantee the self-denying spirit necessary for the maintenance .of peace even at the cost of national sacrifice' If any statesmen should think that the apparatus to insure peace is, as yet insufficiently organised, we advise their, to devote to this purpose as much energy and as much money as is now being expended on the armaments of the various countries. We cannot close without expressing our admiration of those statesmen who show by their actions that their culture and morality are so far advanced that they can lead peoples to a strong organisation of peace. In our opinion, they alone are truly qualified to act as the leaders of nations.

The Italian- signers of the document are Professor Dr. M. L. Bianchini, who holds the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Italian Army reserve, and Professor F. del Greco, director of a psychopathic hospital in Aquila, Italy. American signers are Dr. Charles' Macfle Campbell of the Boston Psychopathic Hospital, Dr. Alfred Gordon of Philadelphia, and Dr. A. J. Rosanoff of Los Angeles.

Another claimant to the title of Britain's1 heaviest boy has come forward in"-' the person of Harold Leslie Fletcher, of Little Ouse, near Downham, Norfolk. At 12 years of age 'young Fletcher weighs 19st 2lb, and is 6ft Sin ■ ih-height. ,