Gilpin observer., 1911-06-01
SOME EFFECTS OF
WAR ON A NATION.


minds revert to the conflict OF the
Nations, and their struggles in the
progress of the years.
A short timo ago, one Of the prom
inent churchmen in our country said:
THAT without war nation would de-
generate, and that valor and hero
ism would die among its people"
don't think his argument is
strong. It is rather the attitude OF
the people toward the questions that
involve nation in war, than the
war itself, that develops and pro-
claims the character of a people,
John Brown Love Joy and Horny
Ward Beecher, Wendell Phillips and
Abraham Lincoln did moro toward
forming character, than Logan, or
Sherman, Lee or Grant. They single
handed and alone at times stood be-
fore bowling mobs and proclaimed
their sentiments in contradiction to
the attitude of their hearers, and
in danger of death at any moment
Many of them died for their cause
and gave themselves ransom for
their country.
1t is easier to die under the roll
of the drum and the flash OF the
saber. AS Tennyson says:
Il had been content to perish;
Falling on the foemen ground,
When the ranks are rolled in vapor;
And the winds are laid with sound"
At one time in development Of the
race the attitude Of hostility was a
necessary element in their forma-
tom but they have passed the period
when physical efficiency is demand
ed to insure success. Even as late
in history as Shakespeare we find
Cassius summing up the character Of
Ceasar to Brutus, the physical side
of his nature was all important and
after recounting their experiences in
the Tfber when Ceasar cried:
''Help me Cassus or l sink!
as Aeneas, our great ancestor,
Did from the flames of Troy upon
his shoulder
The old Anchires bear, SO from the
waves of Tiber
Did I the tired Caesar: And this
man
In now become a god;
And Cassius is wretched creature
and
Must bend his body, if Caesar care
lessly
But nod on him."
Then, after rehearsing his weakened
condition when he had the fever
while he was in Spain and calling for
some drink as sick girl; he ends
BY saying:
"Ye gods it doth amaze me.
Al man of such a feeble temper
should
So get the start of the majestic
world
AND bear the palm aloneI
But in the eyes of the world, how
does Cassius compare with Caesar
only as moonlight unto Sunlight
And as water unto wine."
1t is the character and mental cal
iber of a man that makes him a
leader among men, today, and not
his physical prowess.
Myron Reed said: "Pile rocks. and
spill water as you please you can't
make Scotland that way, it's the folks
that make a country.
TN 70 nartoip doto In do
velopment OF the animal kingdom, be-
fore the awakening and the dawn Of
consciousness, when every animal,
man and beast were warning and con-
tending for supremacy, the war-like
characteristics were necessary to pre-
serve the race, and failure and weak
ness meant determination, and If it
were not for the shrugged for exist
ence there would be nothing higher
then the toadstool on earth today,
with this view we can see the neces-
sity for the fighting element in the
race.
But that condition has passed, man
has overcome his environment to a
great degree through his mental de-
velopment and now We should turn
our thoughts in more enobling chan
mel. 1t is still the age of the sur
vival of the fittest but our fight now
is against principalities and powers
and wickedness in high places. War is
demoralizing and takes an age for
nation to recover from a conflict
such as the United States experienc-
ed in our Civil war
The best blood Of nation is drawn
from it's veins as it is only the
men of valor and courage that are
demanded to fill the ranks.
The best years Of their life is
senpt on the battle field, and those
,.,I, Lot, 4r,a