Willmar tribune., 1900-10-20
hE RIB lJhl =.

moral tone as q result Of the war. Kip
liug's and Roosevelt's glorifcation Of
wolt-ethics hall. disguised under the
appellations of "strenu-
ous" life, and the 'swhite mans bur
den" are the direct fruits of this de-
basement of our national morals.
Such dedication Of brute force and
ruthless contempt for the self-respect
Of weaker races aud nations would
have been consigned TO merited obli-
vioa by the American people Of three
years ago. But we had spectacular
success in granddaughter at NJ Manila and
San Juan Hill, and that turned our
poor silly heads. Yum. yum, how
sweet military glory tastes.
Our Country is full Of strident and
Screechy Miiitsrism.
We are proud of our strength and
the bl"ody execution we can 40 with
it. We fairy swim in exu'tation and
glory up over our ears when
we think of how big, how very big we
are. We are cr,onipg to ourselves
and not very -uttly either. 1--WE can
whip the Spaniarus. We can whip the
Cubans, the F'liplnos, the Chinese,
the Germans, apyhody! Come along,
the whole shooting match of you, we
eau settle you with Que hand tied be-
hind u.s." o, amt We big! We worship
force, not the Almishty's, but our
own; aot a. Carl. IL did: who though
called force wor>hiper, was rather d
believer 10 the eternal m ghtiness OF
right; but as the half-gr"wn bully who
fails de>pera ately in love with himself
because he is So brave as to be able
and willing to lick any boy Consider
ably smaller than him-ef.
But militarism means tinsel-worship
as we'll. And we have caught 1t. How
the tailoring Of the men butchers is
adored. How We love uniforms and
titles. How we do,e on trinmpha al
III Cue1e dAu piACSssla'HS hnu SdIules u
twenty-one guns. How such phrases
as these glitter and sparkle before our
childish eyes and caress our
ears: Paramount power, naval su-
pr+macy, sovereignty, colonies, world
power, Imperialism Thus has the war
brought on an epid"mic Of force wor-
ship and alteration of tinsel.
Those who lu-t after colonial en-
pire affect 70 sueer at ''the groundless
fear for a possible or rather i'm
possible militarism." We are told
that even it the army we're increased
to 1OO,O0O men, it would still be one
OF the smallest armies, proportionally,
in the world. We are told that our
taxes would not be increased appreci-
ably. We are told that hence we have
not seen the faintest beginning of what
may be denomin nated militarisn.
Such optimistic assurances show a
shallowness IF conception that is un-
in people not suffering
from pareses. Militarism consists in
far more vital than war
taxes and conscriptiou.
Our Civilization is Honey .combed with
Militarism. i,
Militarism is not a vague possibility
only. Behold, we are and have been
for the last 5000 years sffl 'cted with
Militia arism is as old as
original sin. History is distorted and
literature perver ted by it. Because Of
it public morals have never been alb
to rise above those of the savage, the
''morals' of brute force. This is no
evil. It is the most colos-
sal fact that meets US on the dark side
of our civilization. Our schools, our.
books, our preachers. our politicians,
all din it into our boys that the grand
est thing, the noblest thing, the super
lative thing they can do, is to slaughter
their fellow-men in Wholesale. Then
they gain fame. Then they are heroes.
Between individuals there is nothing
more sacred than human life. But
between nations there is nothing
cheaper. Do you want colony, fight.
Do you want gold mine, murder the
present owner. This is our standard
Of ethics for nations. Does an indi-
vidual think he ought to have the
right to vote? Modern morals tell him
to use only peaceful means to obtain
it. Does a nation banker after the
tight to let its citizens vote in the
ballot boxes of q weaker nation? What
does our conscience, permitted by mi.i-
tarism allow? 1t says: Go ahead,
twenty Thousand of the enemy
and forty thousand of thy own kin.
Make one hundred thousand widows
and orphans, stab two nations to death,
spread all devastation that two humid
red and forty thousand trained men
can do over continent-and them
Shall not the assassin be Stunned by
every nation on the globe?. Oh. no!
Not one dares even to lift an eyebrow
in criticism. For there is not one that