Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1898-12-01

threatening peril that this good land Of
ours, having conquered all with whom 1t
has ever gone into battle may yet be over
thrown by the cup of the giant evil of the
land-thae Hercules of infamy, strong
drink. Do not let the staggering and
bloated and embruted host of drunkarcs
go into the next century looking for in
sane asyll,sis and almshouses and delirium
trcmens and dishonored graves.
Another thing we must get fixed Is a
national law concerning divorce. William
f. Gladstone asked me while walking in
his grounds at Hawarden, "Do you not
think that your country is in peril from
wrong notions Of divorced" And before l
had time to answer he said, THE only
good law of divorce that you have in
America is the law in South Carolina. F"
The fact Is that instead Of state laws on
this subject we need national aw passed
by the senate of the United States and the
house of representatives and plainly inter
pretcd by the supreme court of the country
Marriage and Divorce.
There are thousands of married people
who are unhappy and they ought never to
have been welded. They were deceived,
or they were reckless or they were fools,
or they were caught by diinple, or hung
by a curl, or married in joke, or expected
n fortune and it did not come or good
habits turned to brutality, and hence the
domestic wreck, but make divorce less
easy and you make the human race more
cautious about entering upon life time al,
lance. Let people understand that mar
! riacc is not an accommodation train that
will let you leave almost anywhere, but a
through train, and then they will not step
on the train unless they expect to go clear
through TO the last depot One brave MAJ,
this coming winter, rising amid the white
marble of yondcr Capitol HILL could offer
I a resolution upon the subject of divort
that could keep out of the next ccntur
much of the free lovism and dissolutencs
which have cursed this century.
Another thing that we need to get fixed
up before the clock shall strike IL on that
night of centennial transition is the cx-
pulsion of war by the power of arbitra-
ton. Within the next three years we
ought to have, and hope will have, what
might be called "a jury of nations,
which shall render verdict on all contro
vorted international questions All civil
lizcd nations are ready for it, Great Britain
with standing army of 100000 men,
: France with "A standing army of $50, 000
men, Germany with n standing army OF
| coo, 900 men, Russia with standing
army Of 900, 900 men. Europe with stand
! ing armies of about $500, 900 men, the
United States proposing standing army
! Of 100, OC0 men. What n glorious idea
that of disarmament! What an emancipa.
ton of nations and ccnturies The car
! Of Russia last summer proposed IL In
world rosounding manifesto. Disarma
mentl What an inspiring and heaven de.
scended thought In some quarters the
cars manifesto was treated with dorision
and we were told that he was not in earnest
when he made it. know personally that
he did mean 1t. six years ago he expressed
to ne the same theory in his palace mt Pc
terhof, hc then being on the way to the
throne, not yet having reached 1t, His
father, Alexander III, then on the throne
expressed TO me In his palace tho same
sentiments of peace, and his wife, the Their
empress with tears in her eyes, said il
reply to my remark, Your ma esty, Their,
will never be another great war between
Christian nations" "Ah, l hope Their,
never will be! If there should ever be an
other great war, l am sure 1t will no,
start from this palace"
Universal Pence.
What a boon to the world If Russia anG
Germany and England and the United
States could safely disband all their stand
ing armies and dismantle their fortressc:
and spike their guns. What uncountct
millions of dollars would be saved and
more than that, what a complete cessation
of human slaughter! What an improve
ment of the morals of nations! What NJ
adoption of that higher and better mani
fcsto which was set to music and let GowY
from the midnight heavens of Bethlehem
ages ago! The world has got to come t,
this. Why not make ii the peroration q
the nineteenth century: Are we going {,
make a present to the twentieth century
of reeking hospitals and dying armies ant
hemisphere graveyardS? DO you want tn,
hoois of other cavalry horses on the breast.
VI fallen mcng DO you want other harve
fields quilted with wheels of gun carriages
DO you want the sky Glaring with conia
grafton of other homcstcadsy All, thi.
nineteenth century has seen enough Of
war. Make the determination that n,
other century shall be blasted with it
During the first half of this century W,
expended IS, 900, 900 To educate the Intli
ans and 500, 900, 600 to kill them Accord
ing to reliable statistician, during thi
century we have had tho Crimean war
which slew 7S5, 900 and cost 81, 200, 600,
0Uo, and our American civil war, which
slew 100000 men, north and south, anC
cost 50, ZOO, 900, 900, digging "A grave trench
from Barnegat lighthouse, New Jersey, t,
Lone Mountain cemetery at san Francis
CO. And you must add To these the Zul
war, and the Austro 'Prussian war, an
the Danish war, and the Italian war, IT,
Franco. Prussian war, Chino. Japanese war
! 10 a,,I th,
ish war. What a record for this boaste,
nineteenth century! 1t makes all pandc
monium chucklc. 1t has called out all tn,
realms Of diebolus in grand parade, sataI
reviewing them from platform of fire a
the demons in companies and regiments
and brigades have passed with banners o
fire and riding on horses Of fro, keeping
step TO the roll of the grand march of hell
In the name of the God of nations, let tn
scroll Of blood be rolled up and put upoi
the shelf, never to be taken down. Ant
by the middle Of next century let tn
sword and the carbine and the bombshel
become curiosities in a museum abuu
which your grandchildren shall ask ques
tions, wondering what those instrument
were ever used for, but let no one dare tel
them but keep it from them an eyerlast
tns secret lest they too much despise GU
nineteenth century and curse the memoir
Of their ancestors.
Will it not be grand II on the first da
Of the twentieth century the last will an,
testament of the nineteenth century shall
bc opened and it shall be found to read
I'm the name of God, amen. i, the dyin,
. century, do make this my last will ant
3 testament l give and bequeath to IN,
h.asr th. 10th g