Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1890-06-02
USE OF THE SWORD.
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Continued from First Page.
satisfaction. When they get that stuff
in them, and the blue vitriol colides
with the potash, and the turpentine
with the Sulphuric acid, the victims are
ready for anything but order and de-
cency and good government. Again
and again, in our American cities, has
the necessity of home guards been dem
onStrated.
THE SWORD MAKES PEACE.
Arbtrament will take the place of
war between nation and nation, and ma
tional armies will disband rs con-
sequence, and the time will come-God
hasten it,-when there will be no need
Of an American army or navy, or Rus
sian army or navy. But some time after
that, cities will have TO keep their ar
morieS, and arSenalS, and well-drilled
militia. because until the millennial day
there will be populations with whom
arbitrament will be as impossible as
treaty with n cavern of hyenaS or jun
gle Of snakes. These men who rob
stores and give garroter'S hug, and
prowl about the wharveS at midnight,
and rattle the dice in gambling
bells. and 20 armed with
pistol or dirk, will refrain from disturb
ance of the public peace just in porpor-
tion as they realize that the militia OF a
city, instead of being an awkward
SQUAD, and in danger of shooting each
other by mistake, or losing their own
life by looking down into the gun-barrcl
to see if it is loaded, or getting the ram
rod fast in their boot leg, are prompt as
the sunrise, keen as the north wind,
potent as thunderbolt, and accurate,
and regular, and disciplined, in their
movements as the planetary system.
Well done. then, l say to Legisla-
lures, and Governors, and Mayors, and
all officials who decide upon larger
armoricS and better places for drill add
more generous equipment Tor the NIL
itia. The sooner the sword can safely
90 back to the Scabbard, to stay there,
the better: but until the hilt clangs
against the case in that final Judgment,
let the sword be kept free from rust;
sharp all along the edge, and its point
like needle. and the handle polished,
not only by the chamOiS of the regimen
tai servant. but by the hand of brave
and patriotic officers, always ready to
do their full duty. Such swords are
not bathcd in impetuoSity, or bathed in
cruelty. or bathed in oppression, or
bathed in cruelty, but bathed in heaven.
THE DOOM OF THE SWORD.
But the sword is doomed. There is
one word that needs 10 be written in
every throne-rOOm, in every war office,
in every navy yard, in every national
council. That word is Disarmament.
But no government can afford TO throw
its sword away until all the great gov
ernmentS have agreed to do the same.
Through the influence Of the recent con
vention of North and South American
governments at Washington, and
through the Peace Convention TO be held
next July in London, and other move
mcntS in which prime ministers, and
kings, and queens, and SultanS, and
czars shall take part, all civilized ma
lions will come To disarmament and II
Il few barbarian races decline to quit
war. then all the decent nations will
send out a force of Continental police
To wipe out from the face of the earth
the miScreantS. But until disarmament
and consequent arbitration shall be
agreed to by all the great governments,
any single government that diSmantles
its fortreSSeS, and spikes its guns, and
breaks its sword, would simply invite
its own destruction. Suppose, before
such general agreement, England should
throw away her sword; think you
France has forgotten Waterloo? Sup
pose before such general agreement
Germany should throw away her sword; |
how long would Alsacc and Lorain |
stay as they are? Suppose the Car |
of Russia before any such general
agreement should throw away !
his sword; all the eagles and vultureS
and lions of European power would |
gather for piece of the Russian bear. |
Suppose the United States without any |
such general agreement of diSarma- |
ment should throw away her sword; IL
would not be long before the NarrowS
of our harbor would be ablaze with the |
bunting of foreign navieS coming here |
to show the folly Of the Monroe Doc
trlnc."
Side by side the two movements must |
90. Complete armament until all agree |
To disarmament. At the same command |
of HALT" all nations halting. Al the
same command of Ground arms all |
muSkctS humping. At the same COM |
mand of Break ranks all armies dis
banding. That may be nearer than
YOU think. The standing army is
TIE NIGHTMARE OF NATIONS.
England wants to get rid of it, Germany |
is being eaten up by IT, Russia is almost |
taxed TO death with il. Suppose that |
the millions of men belonging to the |
standing armies of the world and in alb
Solute idleneSS, for the most part OF their |
lives, should become producers, instead |
OF consumers. Would not the worlds |
properties improve, and the worlds |
morals be better? Or have you the |
heathenish idea that war is necessary to
kill off the surplus populations of the
earth, and that without it, the world |
would he 50 crowded there would soon
be no reserved seats and even the stand |
ing-room would be exhausted. All, /
think we can trust to the pneumoniaS,
and the cOnSumptiOns, and the feverS,
and the Russian grippcS TO kill the peO-
plc fast enough. Besides that, when
the world gets too full God will blow up
the whole concern and start an
other world and better one.
Besides that. war kills the
people who can best be spared. 1t takes