The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1898-03-22
WHICH WAY LIES NATIONAL
DUTY.
Springfield Republican.

determination of the CubanS. me
minor incidents which have infamNd
the quarrel ought not in themselves to
raise any question of war. The g~ravest
Of these incidents, the blowing up of the
Maine, if. as is almost certain, its causes
remain obscure, ought to be peaceably
settled by diplomacy or if need be by
arbitration. All the lesser causes Of
dispute have been handled by the re-
SpOnsible governments of the two coun-
tries with a self restraint which prom
lSeS well for peace. 1t looks as II the
president and people of America and the
rulers and people Of Spain sincerely de-
sired peace between the two nations.
Each country has its jingos and its yell
low journals. But we here know that
the better mind Of Aemrica is aversc
to war. 1t is no great stretch of charity
to believe. Judging from the course Of
SagaSta and his cabinet, that the better
mind of Spain is averse to war.
The one deep sentiment which makes
toward war, on the part of our people,
is the sympathy with the struggle of the
Cubans for independence, and above all
an adherence of the merciless destruc-
ton of Il harmless p%eatsantry by the
Spanish methods of warfare. Before
the spectacle Of the country people
swept from their homes and farms into
the towns, shut off from the possibility
of self support, and starving by tens of
thousands-the blood rises hot within
us. and the prompting is strong to stop
this horror at our doors, even at the
cost of war. And against this cry Of
human sympathy and righteous wrath,
the objection that we have no right to
interfere in the affairs Of another nation
falls but coldly. Are not nations III the
1aat ,a-1.& " 1n & n M w =
Have we no obligations to humanity out
side our geographical boundaries? Is
not the case of Cuba parallel to the case
of Armenia, and if we stand idly by do
we not merit, the condemnation we
visited on England and the continental
powers?
The force OF these considerations is so
great that [ own the scale has of late i'll
clined in my own mind toward forciblc
Intervention. But other considerations
rise, and with growing weight DIS the
possibility of war looms nearer.
The principle that each nation shall
strictly mine its own affairs is not All
arbitrary or unimportant one. 1t is the
fruit of long experience, and has its
roots in the deepest principles of ma
tional development. National salvation
must come from within. When after the
French revolution that people, fired
with Il sublime passion of universal lib
erty, rushed forth to set all other peo-
pies free. they spread a contiagration
which involved all Christcndom in dis
aster. In our civil war. it was the
principle of non-intervention that held
Europe passive, and allowed us to settle
our own quarrel i'll our own way. It is
an application of the same principle in
a modified form which under our fed
Cral system binds each State by an
iron clad rule of abstinence from anOtl-l
er States affairs. When lately Il negro
pOstmas:eT's family were murdered by
a South Carolina mob, thu righteous re
sentiment of the nation did not assert it
self through the strong arm of the
Federal government. In presence OF
| great wrong, like the devastation of Gu
ba, we must hold ourselves firmly to tho
question, Does the righting of this wrong
come within our province? And on
general grounds Cub lies rs completely
outside Of our national responsibilities as
she is outside of our geographical bOun-
darics. In the case of Armenia. the Eu-
rOpean powers had made themselves re-
%Sponsible for Turkey, which exists only
under their protection and guarantee.
and their responsibility for Armenia was
wholly different from any relation we oc-
cupy toward Cuba.
But such arguments may fall feebly
upon minds moved by stories of outrage
and suffering. Let rs come to the ac-
tual case. What would war with Spain
really mean! What is war? We had
an illustration of it when the Maine
blew up and sank with go men. War
aims at just such catastrophes. The
Maine was built and armed and sailed
for thn ', - 80
just such a fate on some other ship.
Only when American and Spanish ships
sink each other, instead of a worldwide
throb of pure pity and noble sorrow,
there Will be fierce eXultation and APP
plausc. Who can sink the most ships
and brown the most sailors! Let us
nave naval combats and land battles.
let blood flow in rivers, let widows and
orphans mourn by thousands, let Grip
pied men drag aching limbs through
their long after life. The physical horror
and suffering are but the least of it. Far
worse is the enchanting Of the tiger in
the heart of man, the awakeing of the
war spirit. the glorification of all that i'll
our sancr moods we strive against.
1t is a common expression that we are
drifting toward war. 1t is like saying
we arc driftin. toward Niagara. Wise
l hNL w uOl uIlIL I1lO SutH DldccS. IL
they want to go over the precipice, they
go; If they want to keep away from it,
they had better use hands and feet and
head and heart. Before we drift any
farther, let us look we'll at what lies be-
fore us.
The declaration of war would in the
first place bring confusion and paralysis
to legitimate trade and business. The
whole commercial system. we have
learned by dear experience, has intimate
relations to the comfort Of every house
hold, and the commercial systems would
reel and Stagger at the first shock of war.
Thai slow uncertain return of prosperity
which we are all 50 eagerly watching,
so carefully nursing. would give place
at once to Il chaos Of deranyed affairs.
If spasmodlc activity at Il few points, Of
| diverted and wasted interests. The hard
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