Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1913-07-14
THE PRICE OF WAR
By MISS M. RU TIL ANDERSON

! led to an advance Of prices in the
Worlds common needs. r..
Economically, war meenS loss, a
loss of men. which is far more seri-
GUS than material. resources. For the
strength OF nation lies in it's men,
and there can be no doubt that the
economic progress of the world, and
the betterment of general welfare has
been greatly retarded by the i'm
mense drain Of war upon that portion
of the population which does the
worlds work r. J.:
Terrible as is the price the ma.
tons pay financially and physically.
there is still the heaviest item of all
to be considered. ....>.. -.....:
What is truer than this quotation
from Edmund Burke? War sus-
ponds the rules of moral obligation,
and what is long suspended is in
danger of being totally abrogated."
In time of@war, the moral standard of
the whole nation is lowered, for war
retines cruelty. praises falsehood and
deception, and legalizes crime, if the
enemy is the victim. To the
soldier in the field it is legiu-
mate to lie, steal, cheat and burn
property, so long as it is again the
enemy against whom all this IS prac-
tieed How can this do anything but
injure the moral character Of the par
ticipant? War may call forth heroic
qualities in men, it is true. but still
more does it, call forth the baser ma
ture, for God is forgotten in war and
every principle of Christianity is trod.
den under foot"
In political life war leads 10 cor,
ruption and low ideals. Too often IS
an important position flied inefficient
Iy by favoritism Partisanship in
politics leads to much jealousy and
bitterness which continues long after
the war is over. Commerce. too,
shares in the general debasement.
Everywhere one sees the spirit Of self
profit.
Professor James, in his essay emit
tied "The Moral Equivalent of War.
claims that military life is more siren
uous and exacting than civil lie, and
that the tendency of war is to develops
more virile manhood than would he
developed In civil life He all states
that il war be abolished that the world
would lose a positive N1rce in ch1ra,.
ter building His moral equivalent
for this is compulsory service in civil
life, by which manhood shall be able
to do worlds work But is this
idea and are these beliefs of his quite
so? Is a soldiers life more strenuous
than that of a civilian? Nine out 81
ten soldiers with any sense of justice
would answer in the negative. Is il
more exacting2 Does it. develop a
virile. manhood? Think of soldier In
peace service which today constitutes
nine-tenths of his duty, he certainly
has an easier time than the average
laborer or mechanic. Then in time oil
war, emitting the great crises of bat
tie, the things which tax his endur
ance-lack of good food and regular
eating, exposure, compulsory marches
prison. and other such things-tend IT,
weaken. rather than promote moral
and physical development
Many people are at last beginning to
realize the terrible price of war. not
only to the individual but the nation
as a whole But too many still re-
main Indifferent. 1T may. be true
they say, but what i. can we do"
Every citizen can do his duty in driv.
ing this great evil from the world
War is of human origin and it is rot
inevitable. AS the Rev w. Walsh
says, "The time has Genre to think"