Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1914-09-17
WHY IS ALL OF
EUROPE WAG|NG
THIS AWFUL WAR?
Whose Is the Fault for the Com
plete Breakdown Of
ClviIizatlon7
WIPINe OUT KINGS INSULT
Soldiers Also Believe They Fight for
God and Native Land-ldea That
Ono Persons Welfare Depends
On Another's Misfortune
Really 10 to Blame.

Whose IL the fault for the break.
down Of civilization In Europe? For
broken down It is, signally and COM
pletely. Not a>savage race or tribe
on the face Of the earth looking at
men engaged in this war can claim
them as brothers. writes Stoughton
Cooley in the Chicago herald.
A few months ago the world stood
aghast at the atrocities Of the Balkan
war. II had not been believable that
men could descend to such depths OF
savage cruelty. But what was the
Balkan war compared with the present
war? That was q struggle Of a people
against age-long oppression and In their
mad rage they killed and destroyed all
that came within their reach. But what
are these men fighting for? Why are
they destroying one another like the
foul breath of some awful pestilenceT
They fight, they say. for God, for
king. and for native land. Aye, to be
sure, for God! They fight for q God
who 30 loved the world that he gave
his only begotten son in order that
spiritual regeneration might come to
men; not to Germans, or Russians, or
Englishmen, or Austrians. or French
men, but to men, to all men. And
these soldiers 30 appreciate this su-
preme sacrifice Of God that they 90
out with swords and guns to kill one
another.
Fight for Their Kings.
But they also fight for their king. II
one Of the soldiers were asked what
his king had done for him, what could
he say? He knows what he has done
for the king. He has fed and clothed
and housed him and his family, and all
upon whom he might smile, while re-
tanning for himself and his own family
barely enough to keep life In their
miserable bodies.
Yet, when one Of these pampered
and spoiled kings imagined that he
had been insulted by another spoiled
and pampered king, millions of men
sprang to arms to wipe out the kings
insult. And they are wiping out the
kings insult by destroying one an
other.
But thrice Just is their cause. They
fight also for native land. For native
land! When has the world seen such
irouyf Not one In ten Of these hight
ing men owns 80 much as q single
square foot of his native land. In
country and in city he tolls from child
hood TO old age for a bare pittance,
on the land Of sumptuously-faring
lord or prince.
And when he has given the last full
measure OF devotion, and lies prone
upon the ground. smitten by the hand
of another who is fighting for his God.
king and native land, and his last
thought goes back to the howell he
called home, and he sees in his minds
eve his wife staggering under double
burden, and his aged mother in tears,
az she rocks the cradle Of his orphaned
child. he murmurs to himstlf: For
Observation-Disclosures"
Whence the Murderous Raoei
Whose Is the faultH Why do men
who love women and fondle children,
who care for the sick and revere the
aged, why do they suddenly fall to
killing other men like themselves.
whose only crime is that they speak q
different language, or live on the other
side Of an imaginary line?
II this we're some sort Of distemper
that got into mems minds and robbed
them Of their reason, such conduct
would be Ineligible. But clearly It
does not lie within the men them
selves, for large numbers Of all these
fighting nationalities have come to
this country, where they live In peace
and harmony, with never thought Of
war among them. And II this murder
Gus instinct Is not natural to the men,
Il must come from without. Whence
comes It? The only possible source
In the classes, those superior person
ages who represent the wealth, cul-
ture and learning Of the age. These
lifted and talented men and women
have assumed the privilege Of govern
ing the people. How have they &C
quilted themselves In their selflm-
pooled taskf
The captains of industry, those very
clever men who direct the production
and distribution Of wealth, how have
thsy divided with the men who fur
nished the laboFf The power Of labor,
through discoveries and inventions,
has been multiplied many fold, and
there has been Q vast increase In the
production Of wealth. How much Of
that increased wealth has gone to
lAbori
The statesmen. those astute men
who In the name Of the king direct and
control the civil and military life Of
the people, what kind Of order and
fuatice have they maintainedi Science