Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1904-08-04
MG.U. u. Column
Which Costs the Most {?

The quetsion is often asked, Whicl
causes the most destruction, war OF
intemperance? The question suggestl
the answer. From the very begin
ming Of history war has been celebrat
ed for its destructiveness. Men ant
nations have fought each other to tn,
death, ON almost the slightest rovo
cation. Whole armies have beer
swept from the face of the earth by
the resistless onrush of the billowi
Of war.
War is an awful thug 1t takes
husbands from wives, sons from
mothers, lovers from sweethearts, and
heaps them on CORY fields, victims tC
the lust Of power and of unholy am
bition. War is an unspoakably ter
rible thing; and 1t has carried mil
lions of men into untimely graves or
left their bodies TO rot in painless
swamps or to bleach on desert wastes.
Bat in spite of all the horrors Of
war-and they arc more than pen can
write and tongue can tell-war has
another than its horrible side. Wars
have been fought in the name Of love
and honor. We have no excuse for
ruthless Tamerlane building his pyra.
mid Of 10 900 human skulls as monu-
ment to his prowess in wholesale
slaughter; we have little sympathy
with Napoleon, whose greed for do
minion induced him to lead his sol.
diers into the dreary wastes Of Rus.
sia to perish by the thousand in the
pitiless storms Of that desolate region
but we do have defense for the
deeds Of Wellington at Waterloo and
those Of Washington at Brandywinc
and Yorktown.
War intlames the flercost passions.
bat many time men have fought In
the defense Of sacred hearthstones.
The sword has often been drawn to
crafty mere passion fer power and
military glory, or for wanton de.
struotion; but as often 1t has been un.
sheathed in the defonse Of human
rights. Every sacred cause for which
the men and women of our own time
arc willing to live or die-eyery such
cause has been won by the sacrifice
Of blood and treasure. So war, with
all its horrors and all its destruction
the sacking Of rich cities, the desc.
lation Of fair provinces, and the blot.
ting out of countless lives-brings also
its measure Of blessings. Out Of its
Titan struggles have come the heroes
of many nations and the Victories
that make liberty sure and precious,
and life rich with the blessings of
peace and prosperity.
And the brutali:ies Of war are be.
coming less brutal from century to
century. Soldiers may live their lives
through without smelling the smoke
of battle. The war demon is not
always using his implements of de.
struction-is not always hurling his
thundorbolts at the heads of the in.
nocent and the helpless. War has
some sort Of respect for womanhood
and childhood. Not 30 tho Drink
Demon. Intemperance is the boon
companion of war, multiplying the
horrors of battle, making disaster
doubly disastrous. But when
"Grim-visagod War hath smoothod
his wrinkled front. "
and ended his work of slaughter, he
gives the angels of mercy time to
bathe and bind up tie wounds of the
victims Of his fury. But inlem.
perance browns its slain in food of
infamy, aud starves the wives and
mothers and children who strive
with all the heroism of undying love
to save the husbands, sous, and fathers
who have become the prey of mon.
ster more frightful than war in it,
worse state.
In our own land an army of more
than 10000 men is engaged in the
work of making the liquors in which
every year another army twice as
largo browns itself. We complain
because our own great civil war In
behalf of liberty and union has left
us an annual burden in interest aud
pensions Of something like two
hundred millions Of dollars; yet we
hardly realize that we are paying
four or FIVE times as much ns the
price Of our bondage to the Demon
Drink. War burics It's SHIN in honor.
I'd graves, and builds monuments to
their horoism; but the
larger armies of the victims Of intcm.
1crance are buried in unhouored sep.
ilchers. The widows and orphans Of
he men who die In military camps
'r In the heat Of battle are cared for
1y the people, who are noyor unwiu.
ng to contribute OF then abundance
n this sacred causoi hut the widows
nd orphans Of the men who are slain
" drink are left to fight the horccr
'attlc Of life without help aud viii,
he added burden Of shame. The
ting Of poverty is added to the sting
# sorrow aud disgrace.
When you have numbered the mill.
ons of money that are wasted every
ear in the service Il the Demon
Drink, and have compared them with
lac number spent under the banners
4 the Demon War; you will nud that
is moro costly than
var When you have measured the
waste Of property, Of time. and of
lricolcss manhood, you will Hud that
var is a little thing compared will,
Aud whuu you have
ddcd to the waste Of treasure aud of