The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-04-02
WILL wAn EyrR cnAsnr

wAAL WAn EVEN OnAS@s
 The Prophets of Israel foretold a time when nation shall not lift up a sword against nation. neither shall they learn war any more" When that blessed time shall come no human be- ing can tell, It Is as indefinite now as 1t was in the days of Isaiah and Micah and the others in the distant past. It may never come on earth, yet it ought to come The eminent Englishman Lord Charles Beresford. said in a re- cent address: r0
 The whole world Is opposed to the outrageous conflicts that have been brought about in this war. It is shameful to think of the awful slaugh- ter of human beings, and even should the hostile countries show any inclina- tion to continue the fight, it will be but a question of time until other pow CTS will interfere to prevent any fur ther loss of life in such an atrocious fashion as has characterized all of the battles in this fight.
 As a matter of fact. 1t seems alto gether probable that this will prove the last of the big wars. Nearly all the abolition of such hostilities, and 1t will be only q matter of time until all international difficulties are ad- justed in some other way than by go- ing to war
 That sounds we'll in theory, but what great, nation will be first to put 1t in practice? If England should conceive herself wronged or insulted would not Lord Charles himself be among the first to counsel war and vengeance? It has been but a little while since that engaged in a war which sound thinking people were unable to en- dorse. Our own nation is no better All the world wants the other nation to be peaceful. When our own great war was going on, and men were be- ing slain by hundreds of thousands. when wives were made widows and children were being orphaned, when millions of property was being destroy ed then there were protests from other nations against the cruelties of war. It was the same during the Franco-Prus- sian war. and now there is an almost universal cry of horror going up throughout the civilized world. and an almost universal protest against the continuance of the fearful slaughter fin the East--a slaughter which goes on almost without cessation and which has had few prototypes in modern times
 Philosophers may theorfze and hu- manitarians may protest. but seeming ly 1t will avail nothing. No nation will be first to disarm or to proclaim that it will never again engage in war Each great power watches the others with unsleeping eyes lest one get an advantage. Instead of preparing for universal peace the rulers of all the powers are straining their resources almost to the breaking point. in order to provide stronger navies, greater ar- mics and more plentiful munitions of death. Great men and good men and women may protest ?nd preach against war but it Is all forgotten or relegated to the background when there Is, or is thought to be, provocation or occasion for fighting. And, as nations separ- ately refuse to plant themselves against war, so it seems improbable that there can be combined action among them to bring about and insure universal and enduring peace. Envy, ambition and international jealousies would dominate any peace congress of nations.
 If the time shall ever come when the civilized world shall tire of warfare and bloodshed and carnage and human slaughter 1t may be possible for all the nations of earth to come together in a determined and harmonious effort to put a stop to war forever. Whether such a time shall ever come while hu- manity remains as 1t Is. Is a question which no man may answer. All intel ligent people know the horrors of war all humane people are shocked by its cruelties, and all Christian people pray for the time when mankind will be at peace. That old philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, in letter to Josiah Quincy, asserted that there never was good war or a bad peace" and though we might not go so far we might say that there have been few wars, at least in modern times, which might not have been avoided yet they come, and will continue until human nature changes. |