The Labor enquirer., 1883-11-17
FELIX .PYAT.. ]

Are Scientific Methods Z Allowable
and Preferable to Old
sasss Systemss 1sds
9l III ii aHat ...il b iss9i55 as!i ii@sii
War Being an Evil Should by aall
Means be Swiftly Brought
,rIy.f H to an End. us.ea.i
Elsai4s5iitE t8if a---f Is u sississ,s f-.
Governments, which ever they be-
republican or monarchial are all alike
as governors devils when they are the
stronger, angels when they know them
selves to. be the weaker. Let US be men!
We have in Europe four gerttive grand
autonomous powers, who compose, to-
gether, what they cali ''the European
eqhilibriunltp andthey dictate the law to
the other powers, being themselves with
out law or reason, without heart or
conscienee;;tru pagans. in spite of their
professed Christianity having never been
able to constitute among themselves one
common Justice, one arbitrary tribunal,
knowing the barbarians, their
fathers-only the sword as the weight of
their balance, and having no other rules
than this beast of prey's crY-this mo-
rality of Mars sons, of the she-wolf's
progeny: -HEae victis!E Woe to the ede-
feated p iiyj. IS <4gaua Bgm s4aa1@5ga 81
!8That Christianism in which they glory
to Ihayes been baptized, has not even
moistened then; ;--not hepen cleansed
them, Of their barbarian grease;o of their
original vice. and ,eraft, force, ,Gdirt and
blood! .ss ;-,d q T3tt..HE q fgR A's8#t
They are stilltmore pagan than their
subjects.a; Yes, the modern state is a
hundred times worse than the citizen;
with them the collective lis inferior to
the competent their, war more savage
than the dnel!a:,.H - ~. jstsezsfsl.f(s E.y
Either war is3 a duel, a struggle lin
which! the rules, the laws, are thet same
in relation to individual contests as they
are to collective contests, orit is an aP-
peal to force, with all its consequences,
its distinctions, its devastations, its hor-
hors,--the logic of events, the rultimo
ratio, where there is no more right, no
move law but that of force, no more JUS
tice than the reprisals. "a ...' '.'-' ..'-
7 In the duel, war is made between two
regular armies-with arms if not equal
at least agreed to-without the evil that
those whose territory is chosen for its
seat shall be troubled otherwise than by
military occupation. This is the war of
Rocroy, courteous, chivalrous, where
the duelists greet each other before
killing.
The other war Is that of opinionated
attack, without mercy or pity, where ex-
termination responds to the invasion, re-
sistance to the conquering, insurrection
to the provocation, force to force, ruse to
ruse, devastation to devastation; where
men, people, utilize, for attack or defense,
all their aptitude, all their resources
where there is no other law than to re-
lieve themselves of the enemy, no other
duty than to, vanquish. 1t is the war of
Brennus, where the conqueror knows no
other arbiter of justice than his sword,
no other cry than, again, "Vae victis !"
The crime in this war consists not in
the actions of war; it is in war itself
Until now, we have made that first
war to those who made to us this second
one. We have been dupes Well, let
us, too, be less Christian, less sheep-like,
less stupid letus no. longer offer the
right cheek after the left one, no more
resignation, no more prayings, no more
tears, and no more connivancel We
have the right, we have the power; de-
fend it employ it! without reserve, with
out remorse, without scruples, without
mercy. -.-.,- p
| It is, between them and us, the blind
Juror of Hannibal against Rome; it is the
delendo Cathargo of Cation against
Africa; it is the fatal serment made to
the gods of destruction, to the Lalin Bel
Iona, to the Syrian Hercules. 1t is the
genius, the pagan demon of extermina-
tion the war to the extreme, to the
knife, to the teeth as in the time of Gym
egire question of. life or death, for
one of the two shall rest on the spot. 1t
is the antagonism of caste, the repulsions
of atoms a struggle more than human,
more than animal, more than instructive :
physical, natural, elementary; an
antipathy, without pardon, without rea-
son, without pity, without truce of for
giveness: without other end than the
death of one of the two adversaries
democracy or royalty, revolution or feu-
dality, liberty or servity,- --Salus pop
uli. For the good of the people, iron
and fire-all arms are human, all forces
legitimate, and all means sacred.
We desire peace, the enemy wants war.
He may have, it, absolutely. Killing,
burning-all means are justifable. Use
them then will be peace!
| rw FELIX PYAT
| Would-be destroyers are at work