Willmar tribune., 1900-10-20

q man-slaughter-m In fact we
were the first nation whose national
morals were approaching the stand ard
of civilization. In an amateurish way
we began to respect the rights of
even weaker peoples-as in the Ven
ezuelan episode. The Declaration of
Independence was beginning to be >ap-
piled to International affairs, and the
tiger in US was dying.
Then the war br roke out, and the
tiger in us awoke. 1t was noble war,
for we waged it for freedom, but it was
war. 1t meant, as all war does, ruth
less slaughter. We began to admire
the brute of carnage and selfi>hness
that lives the strenuous life by lord
ing 1t oyer others. We took up the
white mans burden of militarism
again, and reverted to an earlier,
baser standard Of ethics, the ethics of
the wolf, the crocodile, aud the hyena.
For war is bell and the morality of
hell follows it.
But We are told by the wise men of
the hour that war, after all, is gre at
teacher OF virtue, that in this grim
world the hard schooling of war is
necessary to give US the sand, grit,
endurance, strenuosity, and courage
Deces~ ~ary to succeed in the battle of
life.
This sophistry sounds very plausi-
BILE; and it is true that war gives a
sch"'ling in all the gritty virtues.
But it is just as true that the school
of war is even for these virtues infe-
rinr to the school of Industrious
peace. The sOluier is forced by the
necessity of discipline to live ma
chine life. He is not required, he is
not allowed, to .h'nx FOR himself.
Hence tie 7oldiar's life urtits him tor
the lnd7peunsns lt'e OF peace. Stolid,
sN}!:"c secd::::.:-:: :: ,s sh.s the soldier
learns. This IL not the best brand of
grit in civil life.
In the cultivation of hut one virtue
is war equal to peace,-in the cultiva-
tivation of the physical fighting cour-
age. 1t is in this courage that
Roosevelt and the who'e raft Of war
panegyrists see the salvation of the
world. We shall not crit,cise this
overestimation of the value of pugna-
c: Gus valor, but simply remark that
this is the commonest virtue in the
world. Mankind has an oversupply
"f fighting courage. There is not a
town in the Union, I'll warrant, where
[ could not find twice as many idiots
who, for the glory there is in it.
would face bullet and bayonet, if once
soldiers, as could find persons who
had the grit to rise at five in the morn
ing for a year if their business did
compel them. Since the world began,
no we'll drilled army has lost war
because of the personal cowardice of
the rank and file. And since the
world began the so-called Irregular"
armies have been composed of the
commonest If common people. War
courage is common as air, yes, al
most rs common a. space in the des-
ert. There is no need of cultivating
it. Besides. peace provides plenty Of
opportunities for it without institute
ing carnival of rapine and murder.
Every Progressive Americans Duty
is clear. Every person who believes
that the nation should be "a just as
The individual; every person who be-
lieves that our public morals shonld
b. above those of the prizefghter and
the pirate; every person who acknowl-
edges that it is unhealthy for men to
encourage and practice profanity,
drunkenness, immortality, bestiality,
and manslaughter, every such person
must be the sworn enemy of miIitar-
ism.
Our republican friends are off the
Sc Mt when they tacitly assume that
militarism means simply a large
army: An army, however small. if
actively engaged in war, brutalizes
itself and lowers the moral tone of the
nation which owns, supports and ap-
p]auds it,. An army in peace is
relatively harmless thing. The money
cost of even a small army in even a
small war is an enormous affair, but
the expense in dollars and cents is in
significant compared with the debase-
meut Of ideals, the distortion of the
whole mental perspective, and the de-
generation of true manhood that in
variab)y are the results of war.
What, Then, Must We Do7
First of all, we must "quit our
m-apness. -" We must decide to do
justice to the. Filipino, the, Porto Ri
can, aud the Cuban. Simple justice.