The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-07-25
DOES It PAY TO FIGHT
The Rev. Mr.. Wick Upholds
the Present War With
Spain.

AT the Wayne Street Reformed Church,
last evening, the Rev. Robert X. Wick
delivered an interesting sermon on the
cost of the present war. His subject
was, Does 1t Pay to Fight?" from the
text, TO what purpose is this waste
Among the things he said were:-
Many are asking, when they think of
Santiago and Manila and the ensuing sur
fering, Does it all pay? Wal Is a most
costly affair. Senator Hale has eonput-
ed that one year war will cost this
country seven or eight hundred million
dollars or two million dollars each day It
is waged. The financial cost is the least
important. Flesh and blood come into
the issue. -Chickamauga took $4,000 men
out of the Union and Confederate armies,
while at Gettysburg Lee and Mead were
"a. 600 men the weaker when the struggle
was over. Santiago has carried agony
into hundreds of homes and the END Is
not yet. In view of these things | don't
wonder men ask, VIII 1t all pay? That
depends, not on what comes out OF the
combat. but on the principles involved
in the struggle.
"A war waged out Of wrong motives or
for wrong principles never pays, no mat
ter how much territory Is won BY 1t. bur
a war fought out OF the right motives
and for correct principles avs even
though the flag falls in every battle. This
war, as Waged as America is waglng Il,
and for the cause our country Is fighting
for. will pay. 1t is the wal of Him VINO
said, The spirit of the Lord IS upon
me for He hath instructed me to preach
the gospel to the poor, to heal the broken
hearted, to preach deliverance to the cap
tive and restoring of sight to the blind
1t is Gods war n we are on His SIDE.
so many blessings have come out OF
! it that coming generations will rise up
and read the list of heroes and call them
blessed. For one thing 1t viii result in
freedom to the people OF cuba. under
the strong hand of the United States a
stable government will be established IN
that unfortunate sland. 1t will be bless
ed with the free school. the open BiDle
and the proclamation of the pure Word
of God. Out of the war has come the
| unification of our country. Hitherto jeai-
ousy divided it.
Franklin n his compatriots nad
hard work to overcome the enmity the
| respective colonies had for each other and
| to unite them In the Confederacy. Dis
| putes over slavery alienated them and
the earthquake which ensued tore them
| asunder. This chasm which ran east
and west was threatened by the inter-
section of another a year or SO ago winch
ran North and South. This war obilter-
| ated them, and now latitude and longi-
tude are the only lines laid down on the
map of our country.
The war will not only free Cuba and
unite North and South n East \
country, but it win also bring the United
States out, of her selfish isolation into the
, political life of the great world and make
! her feel the responsibility thereof. Hith-
erto we have been too much like Jack
Horner in his corner. We have walled
ourselves around with protective tariff.
| We have s~tudiously and selfishly kept
| aloof from the woes of the world, but
hereafter the light and worth and char
acter of the American nation will be felt
, in the world. The lifting of our country
| out Of its isolation is worth all that the
war has cost. 1t has cost sacrifice, OF
| course. but sacrifice is the condition of
progress. Every step upward we tai
! costs something"