The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1914-09-30

church or stand on his creed. The poll
tician in blind devotion TO party an,
self may fail in the larger patriotism
that would enable him TO visualize Alright
his supreme obligations to society ant
the state.
II Is easy for rulers or classes to be
come so obsessed by a particular theory
that they lose all sense of perspective
and delude themselves into the earnest
belief that their obsession is of God
High.minded men in all countries of the
world have insisted in recent years that
| preparedness for war is the best guar
antee of peace" ] was one of large
number who believed that assertion prior
to the first of last month Countless
men, busy with other matters, repeated
this statement so many times that, 10
all practical intents and purposes, they
! lost every point of view save one, and
the armament of nations went on with
out effective protest because the great
majority of civilized people had permit
ted the plpythings of human destruc-
tion to be made ready for use on the
pretext that they would divert men OF
warlike inclinations and avert all pos
sibility of war by suggestion of the Sc
rious uses to which they might be put
We had proceeded along this one par
ticular line Of thinking to such an extent
that we ultimately found ourselves pos
sessed OF distorted minds that bound us
to our preconceptions, and the boom OF
cannon to-day resounds around the
world. In the far East and the extreme
West the playthings of peace have be-
come the murderous engineery of human
obliteration and the mereiless destroyers
OF human happiness. Starvation, gaunt
and cruel, is stalking with its grim
threat through upreaped grainfelds,
amid the ruins of dismantled factories
and over desolate hearthstones where
helpless children mourn for the protec-
ton of fathers who will never again an
swer their call for protection, and where
outraged womanhood yearns for the de-
Tense Of husbands. brothers and sweet
hearts. May God forgive the complacen-
cy which, under the guise of manufac
turing and setting up toys, has made us
co.partners in the greatest crime against
civilization that this blood -drenched
earth has known since time began. God
grant that our vision may not have be.
come so hopelessly impaired that we
shall not recover it sufficiently to get all
points of view in the future, with ability
through this and all succeeding genera
tons to save mankind from the spectacle
of carnage wrought by the ruthless in
strument thoughtlessly called a play
thing. God forbid that any honest pa
triot shall ever again give utterance TO |
the established lie that preparedness |
for war is the best guarantee of peace"
What sane man will dare to say that |
for war was not what |
brought on war in the year Of our Lord |
1914? Who now so hare Drained as to I
affirm that there would have been war
in this year of grace if Europe had been
The psychology of the situa
tion we now understard made war in
Men had their playthings and
they must try them out After years 4
IF aimless drill and countless sham bat.
Ties soldiers had become wearied with Il
and their supreme commanders, II
% avoid discomfort, decided on reality. Il
II the playthings had not been, and if
he monster of militarism had not been
,oddled and nourished we know that the
,riiing differences would have certainly
,een settled through mediation without
he shedding of one drop OF blood
Every moment we should be thanking
Tod that we live in America with
Iigh-minded, man loving president at the {
lelm who, despite the sneers of con- {
cienceless demagogues for his policy of !
watchful waiting" has steered our ma
ional craft safely past the threatening
nance of war. The opportunity is ours c
o go one step further BY disbanding |