The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1902-11-13
.HERE appeared in THE MIRROR
of Oct. 9th,s an essay written
by a Student of Warfare, who

NEE NJ appeared In HE MIRROR
of Oct. 9th,. an essay written
by Student of Warfare, who
tells us that "tO abolish war
is an old, old dr. am. Today" the
: student writes, "there are scattered
over the surface of the earth various.
organizations whose object is to pro-
mote universal peace The organiza-
@tions have the moral support of mil
lions of good and thoughtful people.
My purpose is to show that not only
ARE they and their supporters ndulg-
ing in a foolish and Utopian dream
that can never be realized, but that we
are about to witness one of the most
terrible revolutions the world has ever
seen. This dream of universal peace
is not new. 1t has been indulged in
10y nearly every great conqueror. AS a
student who has devoted several years
to minute study of warfare 1 believe
l can say little something of interest
on this subject" ITe then mentions
some half dozen great conquerors, who,
one and all, had dreams of universal
peace through universal conquest.
And because they failed in their efforts
he concludes all other efforts must end
in failure. He fails to perceive that
the conquerors never had the support
of millions of good and thoughtful
people. He likewise fails to distinguish
the motives of the attempts to bring
about universal peace: The conquer
.ors were actuated by the basest mo-
tives-rule or ruin was their policy;
while the motives of the millions of
good and thoughtful people are almost
wholly disinterested = the spirit of
brotherly love animates them.
The student of warfare tells us that
with Caesar "the universal peace idea
was dominant one. To make Rome
the world, and to make the world all
Roman he put to death. $1,000, 900 hu-
man beings" Will the student kindly
inform us who is his authority for that
statement? Will he kindly enumerate
the battles of Caesar, and tell us how
many of the foe were slain, and how
many of Caesars soldiers fell, and how
many died from hunger, or exposure,
or sickness, or were drowned while
crossing rivers and seas? Most his
torians confess they can only make a
rough estimate; but, poor souls! they
were not filed with the Spirit of
Prophecy
The student of warfare is an ingen-
ious reasoner. To prove that the desire
for universal peace=exists he quotes
from Tennyson, who, filled with the
idea to, to,overnowing, wrote:
"When the war drums throb no longer. and the
battle flags are furled-,
In the Parliament of Man, the Federation of the
World.''
Later on, to prove that the universal
peace idea is foolish dream, he again
alludes to Tennyson. At one time
Edwin Markham's poems ring with
the universal peace idea, and again
they ring "Jrom beginning to end
with the brazen notes of Revolution. !"
Napoleon was not free from the uni
versal peace idea, and during his wars
the French nation went insane on the
subject. But Napoleon was change
ling. The student of warfare, to prove
that universal peace is out of our reach
makes Napoleon say, Human nature
never changes. Do not try to tell me
that man can change his tempera-
ment." Which proves that Napoleon
was superficial observer. For human
nature does change, is continually
changing. Without the possibility, of
change in human nature progress
would be impossible. 1t matters not
whether our remotest ancestors lived
in the Garden of Eden as perfect hu-
man beings, or whether they existed
in some stagnant pool as mere proto-
plasm: change has taken place, and
we have every reason to believe that
changes will take place in the future.
In proportion to the changeableness of
human nature-and only in that pro-