The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1898-06-18
ARP ON WAR AGAIN.
Believes if It Was Left to the People
We Would Have Peace.
Civilization Condemn. ii - Thinks
Politics Is the Cause of Our
Present Attitude To-
ward Spain.

for the blest
Where free from toll and pain the weary
soul may rest?
Behind cloud she hid her face In woe
And in sad, sweet voice she whispered
no."
One great philosopher declared that
war was the state of nature. Another
said that peace was only breathing
time that gives man leisure to contriye
an ability to execute military plans.
Sir Edmund Burke denied this, and so
did l. The great majority of mankind
love peace and naturally prefer it to
war. Burke said that politics was the
cause of war, and somebody else said
that war is he'll, and we see already that
the two great parties are quarreling
about this war and each is claiming the
glory of Dewey's victory as a party
triumph, but if the voices of the peo-
ple-the men and the women-could
have been heard, there would have been
no war. The spirit of the age in which
we live Is against war. Even duelling
and single combat has passed away i'm
der the influence of higher Christian
civilization. Boys do not fight at school
like they used to. They have never
heard of the bully boys who thought it
smart to put chip OH the hat and dare
anybody to knock ii off. In every.
school l ever went to there were one or
more of these bulldozing, domneering
boys, and they got licked sooner or
later. The country people do not care
to fight nowadays. They are more
peaceable and less aggressive. Iremem-
Der when on muster days there were
dozen fights in one day right around
the public square. When Ais Bowles
and Nick Rawlins and Jim Robinson
would be stripped to the waist and
walking around and strutting and
growing and Dragging, "Pm the best
man in Pinkneyville deestrikt," and
Bowles would emphasize it with jump
up and a crow. But that has passed
away. We see no manned eyes or ears
or noses now. And yet Nick Rawlins
and Bowles were really good men at
heart and would have died in defense of
friend. They fought because it was
tine fashion in those days, but their vic
tories brought no rewards and no prem
iums, and their children knew it. They
are better class of citizens. met one
of Nick's sons in Rome not long ago-a
moral, peaceable Christian man whom
the people all respect. Well, now, the
argument is that if the sons are better
morally than their fathers were then
the nation is better and less aggressive
than it was so years ago. Andrew Jack
son was type of that age, and he rode
into the presidency on his war record,
but he couldn't do it now. lie bull
dozed Spain out of Florida, and would
have bulldozed England out of Canada
If he had lived up that way.
But 1 was looking heavenward the
other night and bordering on that beau
tiful moon that is shining so peace
fully upon us In this favored region,
and was grateful that the war nor any
of its signs had reached us. We read
of it in the great papers and can't help
but rejoice in our naval victories. The
great dailies are crowded now with
thrilling, exciting news and we read so
eagerly that even Old Aunt Lydia Pink
hams medicine is taken for war dis
patch and is half read before we know
it. 1 reckon it is good for fever-war
fever-or it wouldn't be dovetailed so
close into the war news. But nobody
al ound here seems to be hankering
after fight, and good old veterans
widow told me that the reason was be-
cause we were right in the heart of
Sherman's belt and the population
hasn't changed any to speak of. 1--WE
can't forget the horrors of war;" she
said. II was living in Cassville when
it was burned and don't want TO see
any more war, and l want my children
to keep out of 1t. A bad peace is better
than a good war if there ever was such
a thing. War is like Texas mud on
women. 1t is awful. Men get the glory
and women and children are the great
est sufferers. When they burnt Cass-
vile our husbands and sons were most
all in the army, and those who were at
home were taken prisoners and sent
away. So there was nobody left but
women and children and no houses to
live in. We punched up in some little
shanties, but they took our cows and
drove them all to Gainesville and we
didn't have hardly anything to live on.
Five of us went 10 Gainesville next day
to beg for our cows and we did get them
back by signing loyalty papers which
was a lie. One widow woman whose
husband was killed wouldn't sign. She
had four little children and she took
them to the graveyard that night and
they slept on the ground by her hus-
bands grave. In day or two we got a
little corn and l rode an old sore-leg
mare 20 miles to the nearest mill, for
they burnt all the mills inside the belt.
In few days we got little more corn
and three of us women rugged up an old
broken-wheel wagon and got a lame
mule and an old mare and took our corn
to mill. 1t took us nearly three days to
make the trip, for the wagon broke
down right In the creek and we had TO
wade in and get our sacks out of the
water and pull the wagon out by hand.
We patched it up again and went on till
we got to a pretty steep hill and the
team stalled. and wouldn't pull at all,
You ought TO have heard us clucking
and hollerin' at them, but it was no 60.
We shouldered our little sacks, for they
were mighty little, thank the Lord, and
about that time an old man came along
and he helped us all he could and we
got 10 the mill at last and dried our
TorD and got back home as thankful as