Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1909-06-08

" ~ %
A the speaker. exclaimed 1t lis not true.
A France is not decadent. q Then he bow Is
ed low to Mr.. Jordan and left the build
Ting. AZ
Professor I'orild Arnolison. of this
City, who has associated with French
i men and Spaniatds, takes exception to
the sweeping statement of President
Jordan, while. at the same time, he ad-
mits the correctness Of he proposition
that wars exhaust nations. Professor
Arnoldson, in d letter to the New5s,''
says:
BY a strange coincidence the writer
| of these lines, Who is personally ac7s
| quainted with Prof F'oulet, received
| from him by mail the same day an
offprntof Revue dies Iangues Romanes.
containing an article on .Strengleilsar.
eft la Lai dn Lecheor,'' in which the
author learnedlys discusses the relation
| of an old Morse and an old French
| poem.
Mr. Foulet, who speaks English With
| a good American accent and is thor
ougilly IN sympathy with American
! ideals, is not one of those apparently
| restless Frenchmen who occasionally
appear among us. The French are
IVY
other, and are loath to leave their corn:
| try OF the few that come to MS, the
most conspicuous are the transient adj
yenturers from whom our people form
an erroneous idea OF France and the
French. Other nations being represent
ed In greateranumhers, we pay less at
tcntion to their vagabonds. There Is
however, a small contingent of repre-
sentative Frenchmeii, some in the larg-
ef#colleges, men OF character and ahi'-
itS, With whom of course the majority
oflus do not come in contacts8alt would
be a great gain for our country II we
could get more OF them.
President Jordan's statement WAS
certainly made in good faith, An ar
dent advocate of peace as he is, he
wished to emphasize that war. and mill
tarlsm spell ruin to a nation. This Is
TRUE, What was Germany at the end
of the Thirty Years War; What was
Sweden after her so-called greatness
which ended with the death Of Charles
NIP What is Spain today after daily
wars for four hundred years? And
what will become. of all Europe IL no
check Is put to her aTmaments2
| but his words were unfortunately
chosen. 1t is hard to believe that ne
reilly meant to say that France is
weak and! decadent." NJ The epithets are
not unqualifie(ly true even of Spain, Cor
if Spain is politically and socially weak,
she Ii not decadent but ascending. Her
lmilttarism crushed. she Is bound To-
continue rising,
THE same Is true of France, but With
this enormous difference that, in spite
of her militarisfn, France never fell.
She has held her own and she con-
tinueS advancing. 1t should not be for
gotten that France has been to modern
civilization what Greece and Rome
Eany ft,ta
great teacher OF modern Europe. II
| the pupils gradually rise to the levels
of the teacher or even above, is that ali Z
evidence ofthes latter's weakness and
decay? 5& q &E
Being still the acknowledge leader
In letters and art, France Is certainly
the most widcSawake nation in the live
Issues OF the day Is there any coun-
|try where the most vital Of all mod
sern problems, the labor question, has
received more practical attention than
In France? In what other European
countrygis the condition of the work
ingmen more tolerable2 What grea
country has a more democratic gov
sernnent? There Is much talk about
immortality, France Is no worse than
our own country. But II illegitimacy
Is ia greater immortality, one need only
glance Mt statistics concerning found-
lings and find the Gernlanic nations
soaring high above her at the top.
And what Is Frances attitude on
tho question OF International peace?
The United States recently infiamed the
navy craze, which has now taken such
Ideplorable proportions in England an
| Germany, and as France Is still one
OF the leading military powers, she
must needs do her share. But while
all OF them talk disarmament and
practice armament, France has at least
shown some sincerity by reducing the
term Of service for her conscripts'
while the others have gone on increas-#
ling 1t. And if the peace propaganda
originated in the United States or liz
England, is it not true that France is
one of the most active nations In the
peaee movement of the present day.:
She is making laudabe efforts to bring
to realization the prophecy of her
great historian Michelet: ''In the TWEEN,
tieth century France viii declare peace
10 the world.'''
President Jordan's theory, that wars
cause nations to decay is sustained by
history--French history not excepted.
1t is perfectly true that France today
is. "a great nation. It's wealth is enor-
nous, The French are the bankers of
Europe welding the financial scepter
= +
over large area, but II is equally true
that the advance of that nation was
made possible only by a policy OF peace
and devotion TO peaceful industries.
After the Napoleonic wars. France was
exhausted 1f.it had continued a war
policy, it would have committed ma
tional suicide. Poland once Il strong
power lost its autonomy after a series
of wars and internal conflicts, The
Scandinavian countries in the begin
ming of the Nieteenth century were
weak and poor, owing to their wars.
They have recuperatcd through their
industrial efforts during years of peace
and today they have a place among
tile nations which they could not have
won By the aid Of armies. Pro
lessor Jordan's theory is sound, though
6his adjcctivcs were not Well chosen.
KANSAS PROHIBITION.