Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-09-15
RusslA's PRAYER FOR VICTORY

In accordance with an official ukase
issued by the car the holy synod of
Russia has passed resolution and or
dained special prayer for Russian
victory over the Japanese troops in
the war now In progress. The die
|tion Of the invocation is beseeching In
the extreme, calling for aid in war be-
cause Of the orthodox faith Of the
Russian nation. But how great the
contrast between the spirit of such a
. prayer and the spirit which, according
to dispatches from the front, seems
to govern the Russians on the battle
field. 1t seems almost a sacrilege for
the subjects Of the car at home to
utter this prayer for victory and for
the confounding of the enemy when
the troops for whom the invocation
asks aid are, probably at the very mo-
ment when the chant rises from the
bowed figures at the priedieux in the
cathedrals in ST. Petersburg, perpe-
trating crimes which for barbarity and
inhumanity rival the awful acts of the
most savage Indians whom the Ameri-
can pioneers fought years ago.
If the armies of the car carried to
the battlefield the religion of the ma
ton, rather than only the outward
manifestations Of that religion, they
would carry too the sympathy of many
Americans, who are now hoping for
their defeat. Russia is known as a
Christian nation, but the stories that
come from the front. of savagery as
practiced by some of her soldiers,
causes the reader to doubt that they
are even civilized
Thou who hearkened to Moses,
bless the emperor's doings," runs the
prayer; multiply his glory and con-
firm his empire. By thy almighty
hand preserve his army Send thy
angel to fortify his troops and give
them salvation" This sounds we'll
enough. but dc the actions of the Rus
sian army entitle it to the divine d.
rection prayed for? Within the past
few days news has come from cor
respondent who viewed the battle at
Motienling Pass. He says that two
Japanese soldiers, killed during a
charge, were left lying where the Rus
sian army later passed. When the
Japanese again regained the ground
the bodies of the two soldiers were
found, mutilated almost beyond recog-
milton The heads had been split open
with an axe or fence sword and the
skulls. And this is but one story, and
a mild one, of the savage treatment
accorded the bodies of the dead and
even the wounded Japanese by their
Russian enemies
And yet, at the moment when these
atrocities are being practiced on some
bloody Manchurisn battlefield, prayers
are being uttered in scores of cathe-
drals in Russia, calling upon a Just
God for aid for the barbarous troop.
ers of the car, and hundreds of voices
are repeating faithfully: tsend from
on high thy hand and touch the hearts
OF the enemy SO that they shall make
supplication to thee the God of peace.
who loves his creatures. Although
unworthy, we implore thee who are
strong in battle for aid, and humbly
beseech Thee to accept our weapons
in thy cause, to give thy Christ loving
army victory and to permit it to sub
due the enemy
On the other hand, not story Of
Japanese barbarity has come out of
the war zone, either from Russian
Japanese. OF neutral. sources. Instead
there have been stories and pictures
OF Japanese, burying the dead after q.
battle ,tenderly laying away the bodies
OF Slav and Japanese side by side,
No cruelty to captives is reported. no
mutilation Of bodies. no infractinn Of