s own way with
the same quietness, dignity and power it is telling other people to. The
first business of the Air Line League is going to be, to be believed in
by everybody. The way to be believed in by everybody is for the League to
do itself the thing that it talks about doing. If in this way the League
soon gets itself believed in by everybody, the first thing people will
notice about the Air Line League will soon be that it is an organization
that can lick anybody in sight with its little finger. The next thing
people will notice is that it never gets so low that it has to do it.

The power of labor unions and employers' associations has frequently been
abused because they have many of them organized their power for the
express purpose of abusing it.

It is highly unlikely that people will need to be afraid of the power of
the Air Line League. An organization which exists for the express purpose
of driving out of business people who get what they want by holdups, the
entire activities of which are devoted to proving to people how much more
holding out a hand gets for people in business than sticking out a fist,
soon gets its fist trusted.

If the Air Line League abuses its power it will commit suicide so fast
that people will feel suddenly safe.

* * * * *

If I were writing a platform for the Air Line League, it might be put
perhaps for all practical purposes in one sentence.

Subject--War.

Object--Stopping it.

Predicate--What we believe about war.

Verb--What we propose to do about what we believe about war.

Adverb--How we propose to do it.

Period--Peace.

The main trouble with the sentence forty nations are trying to stutter
out now, is that there is no predicate, no verb, no spinal column of
belief.

The spinal column of belief in the Air Line League--the gist of our
platform--is this one sentence:

PEOPLE FIGHT BECAUSE THEY CANNOT GET OTHER'S ATTENTION.

Everything we believe and propose to do follows from this.

The way to stop war is to advertise, to provide and set up in full sight
and in working order before people who are trying to get what they want
by war, a substitute for war which gets what they want for them quicker
and better.

The way to keep people who fight from fighting is to stand over them,
advertise to them and dramatize to them how much more people can get by
listening to each other. Then compel them to listen.

We do not be