Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1901-10-24

I II all Is the utter allure Of all but Z
small handful of men to realize our
moral responsibility
mo greater disaster could happen L
the British empire than that We should
| gain the victory in South Africa Wher
nation is wrong 1t should be whip
/ ped. and be soundly whipped. as w
We're in the American war. We die
| not learn our lesson then. There are
less signs that we are learning il now.
But in the end the lesson will ht an
| derstood. We may not then be so hand
some. but we shall have gained cIea.
er perception OF political morality
| 1.-TWO of the greatest blessings 70 the
| British empire Were great defeats
| Jeanne dare was the saving angel of
| England. We Were laundering out Of
the right path. and she cleared US out
of the continent and saved us from Eu-
rope. George Washington cleared US
out of your counte and saved us from
America. The Beers are saving Us
from Africa. They will clear us out of
there. and they are blessing III dis
guise.''
How can you now get out of the
scrape?" Mr.. Wellman asked
'It is easy enough" replied Mr..
Stead "Cut off Chamberlain's head
and send ii on charger to old man
Kruger at Helversum, saying unto
him: Here, take this. 1t means the
end of wrong. 1t means that we have
come to make amends
Yes. cut off Chamberlain's head.
That's the easiest way to stop the war.
There never would have been any war
m har haH
gers offer to arbitrate. As result
$1,000 good men have been put under
the sod and $4,000 more have had their
lives blighted by wounds. We refused |
to arbitrate because we knew we were
wrong and because we believed we
could easily whip the little nation that I
had the impudence to ask for arbitra-
ton. When he started this war. Cham
berlain thought he could finish it UP
with ten millions sterling. l told him |
1t would cost hundred millions He
said l was crazy. Today the cost is
two hundred millions and the end not
in sight.
I'VE have acted like pirates in South
Africa. What we should do now is to
repent, admit that we were wrong
offer to make reparation. to build up
what we have torn down. replace the
families on the farms. rebuild the
burned houses. restore the implements
we have broken up. and buy new horses.
cattle. sheep and pigs to take the place
of those we have stolen. What other
is fairly due we must
pay. If England were great enough
to do that, she would live again. She
would furnish the world a moral OBJ
ject lesson which would indeed stagger
humanity.
But there are few signs of repent
ance. The orgy goes on. At a peace
meeting in the slums the crowd jeered
and hooted me. | told them the trouble
with them was the trouble with all
England-besotted with beer. They de-
and howled- .veaa' I said. per
haps l made q mistake. 1t is not beer.
but gin.'
80 it was with Chamberlain. He
began with a beer drunk; he ended
With a gin drunk. Two years ago he
proposed to guarantee the Beers their
Now he declares he will
lnnihilate them.
Kruger and Steyn say they are will
ng to sacrifice everything, even to lay
Town their independence, If Chamber
ain can get any tribunal in the world
% bring in a verdict that they deserve
.apital punishment. That is all they
,sk But Chamberlain says no He
proposes to execute two nations with
,ut going through the formality of TAX
ng them to court"
Then how would you go about it to
stop the war. Mr.. Stead?' Mr.. Well
man asked.
ITO stop the war? 1t Is the easiest
thing in the world. Send a telegram
today, this very hour. to Kruger and
Steyn and Botha telling them that a
truce is declared, that a tribunal is to
be formed to pass on all the questions
involved and that both sides are to
abide by the verdict. That not only
stops the war; it is the end of the
war. Not another shot. Not another
poor devil moaning his life out on the
veldt. The farms are reoccupied. Fam
lies are reunited Industry starts up.
Peace reigns. 1t needs only the word.
Those who scout my plan of stop
ping the war say ii would have a bad
Effect upon British prestige. Well.
British prestige cannot fall lower than
Il is today. They say If we compro-
mise with the Beers Australia ano
Canada won't like 1t and will revolt
don't believe a word of it. If that is
the measure Of their loyalty. they |
won't stay long anyway and are not
worth holding. Besides. If we are to
permit great questions Of right and
wrong to be decided for the British
empire by the 5000. 600 people who live
n Australia or the other 5000. 900 who
i've in Canada we of England may az
veil abdicate and acknowledge that at
asst the colonies rule the mother coun-
Try. with the colonial office as the key
stone of our governmental arch"
German Line to Cuba.
Tho S*afa damn /