The herald., 1896-04-08

OtucT ulOlu. 1o l5 oieuoI q OICoe0Ao N
moral forces and purposes or else he is
nothing If he possesses thought and no
ethics, he is a devil, and ought not to
be. Possessing thought and conscience.
he has struggled up from mere savagery
toward the high level Of the civilized
life He is just now with difficulty
climbing over the edges and planting
himself on the higher plane. His habit
of destroying his fellows in war belongs
to the dark and bloody world which he
leaves behind him. Certain as man is
man, certain as he has soul and carries
a light, the reign Of warfare in this
world must end. 1t must end some time,
somewhere and somehow. All institu-
tiops that are maintained by warfare
must perish and pass away. All plans
and ambitions Of men and nations that
are begotten in the womb of violence
must sooner or later issue in abortion
and death-either that. or else all that
pertains to higher life among mankind
must be branded as fatuous invention
Of dreamers and priests.
Ostensibly the world was never so
warlike as at the present day. To the
casual observer it would appear that war
and the preparation for it are the only
thoughts Of nations. They are all in one
mood. Even the political life, which is
the life most in evidence, is only a sub
ordinate play in the real drama of war.
Never before in human history were
there 30 many and so great standing
armies. Never before were there such
fleets and navies. Never before were the
ports and assailable shores Of all oceans
guarded with such impregnable defenses.
Never before were the seabeds SO strewn
with torpedoes. The nations seem to be
engaged in the one great business Of
preparing to cut each others Christian
throats. They are draining their re-
sources to the last drop, in order to wash
each others meadows and orchards with
a rain of blood.
There is, however, in all this an un-
mistakable symptom of the end. The
war fete grows big and boisterous in the
last scene. 1t is the melee before the
collapse-ths final pageant before the
dawn of a new era. There is something
profoundly hollow, specious and hypo-
critical in the present display Of force
throughout the world. 1t is seen to be
theatrical and spectacular. 1t is the last
great show given by Shylock to his mil
lions of peasants at their own expense.
For centuries he has been using the gov
ernments of the world as the rocks and
knights of his chessboard, and the peo-
pie as his pawns. He has produced the
present situation with view to keeping
his boarded treasures He has compelled
the rulers of the world to organize
armies, to equip and support them in
his interest. At this very hour he is dig
ging pit in his garden to hide what he
fears cannot be much longer defended.
But this horrid horse play, extending
from Poictiers to Yellow river, involv-
ing mankind in slavery and despair, has
now come to it's last act, and the Su-
preme Manager already has his finger on
the call bell for the curtainl
The highest men have always dreaded
war and always tried to stop it. Hither-
to they have tried in vain. Many have
been the pleas against the reign Of vio-
lence. Philosophers have cried out and
poets have walled their appeals. The
priests have always opposed it-except
when it was in the interest Of their kind.
Statesmen have denounced it-except
when the military contingent was nec-
essary for their success. Thinkers have
reasoned it out of existence. Orators, like
Sumner, have proved that the true
grandeur Of nations lies in the pursuits
of peace. All to no avail!
But another hand has now been lifted
against human warfare. 1t is the hand
Of science What the humanities have
not been able to accomplish, in that they
are weak, science is about to effect, in
that it is strong. At the very time when
all nations have prepared for universal
war, as if mutual destruction were the
natural end Of all races; at the very
time when every state in Christendom
stands bristling like porcupine toward
every other in the world; at the very
time when from all horizons the slant
ing array Of flashing bayonets is seem
the edict Of science goes forth proclaim
ing an armistice.
To prevent further slaughter Of men
by men, God has taken his usual meth
cd Of indirection. War has overdone his
own game and can 60 no further. Chess
is no longer entertaining when the first
move mates the enemy. AS man by
knowledge becomes omnipotent, warfare
by ignorance becomes absurd. Battle is
only an Irish bull when each army de-
stroys the other before the fight begins
Ten thousand men armed with the mag
azine rifle have million cartridges in
their belts, and every missile will kill
for two miles. The other side so armed,
it is only question which army shall
get the first fire. Having obtained the
advantage SO as to get the first fire, it is
not necessary to fire at all.
When firearms were introduced, the
descendants Of the heroic Crusaders were
scandalized out of the field with the
thought that famous knights could be
killed by Doors at the distance Of 30
yards. What was called manly war
fare was shamed out Of existence with
gunpowder. After six centuries the
discovery Of the means of destroying
an army ere it can show its valor dem
onstrates the absurdity of q conflict
in which human courage is unequally
matched with the forces of nature.
The perfection of the means of DESTROY