The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1914-05-24
VOX POPULI.
Mr.. GONZALEZ ON WAR.
MAN AND CIVILIZATION

| War is honorable
In those who do their native rights
! main tain,
In those whose swords an iron barrier
are
Between the lawless spoiler and the
weak
But in those who draw the offensive
blade
For added power or gain, sordid and
AS meanest office of the worldly churI.
! Joanna Baillle.
Editor Pensacola Journal.
Complying with the request of your
correspondent. MIR l.. B. Guttman,
submit this article to you for publica-
ton, fully satisfied. that your DISPOSE
ton a fair minded journalist. you
Will award it, only that consideration
1T deserves, and if unworthy you will
relegate 1t to the recess Of some hid
den spot where it viii remain unno-
ticed.
1t has ben said that there are prin-
ciples in the mental constitution OF the
Indian, adverse to civilization. and it
is both moral and physical impossi-
bility to refine him.
When we take a liberal view of the
past, and recall the number of wars
that have occurred within the space
of sixty years, we feel that man is as
remote from civilization as in the dark
ages, and the same features we claim
to exist in the mental constitution of
the savage. prevail and exist. to the
same extent in what We term the
highly educated caucasian.
Is it natural then for man to indulge
in the horrors Of war? Has its atroC!-
ties a charm and fascination which he
is unable to resist? What is 1t that
animates him with a propensity to
kill, burn, raTage and lay wa ste? Does
it not emanate from a savage dispOsi-
ton, similar to the Indian. and which
the twentieth century has been unable
to eradicate What means this indis-
Criminate slaughter of Gods creatures
by each other? Who are the insti-
gators and promoters Of war with its
cruelties and its train Of evils? Who
so eager to fire the ina gination Of the
young and ignorant with a false pa
triotism to fight for his country?
The ranting lingo allied with the
rapaciOus capitalist.
Shall the one with his rhetorical
buffoonery, and the other with his
aVaricious greed. be allowed to con-
tinue embrOiling countries in wars
which could be averted by a proper
conception of their causes and effects
by the masses?
And what are the subterfuges given
by the lingo for advocating war and
the capitalist for investing his money
in a foreign country
1t originates from our desire to de-
veIop their resources and improve
their condition. IS their reply.
Develop and be'.er their condition,
forsooth. If such be their motives,
why do they not show their sincerity
by becoming naturalized and a citizen
of their government? To identify
themselves with them, by becoming
part Of them. would quiet their dis
trust, with their confidence. and recon
cile them to the integrity of their
professions.
To hold and monopolize their re
sources and claim citizenship of an
other country forces upon them The
justiffable conviction that they are
simply adventurous aliens whose only
object is TO enrich themselves by cap
turing the resources of their native
land
And upon what grounds can a gov
eminent support or Justify the policy
of using our war vessels and soldiers
TO defend the money mans property
and industries in another land? What
right has it to sacrifice the sons Of
mothers, in whom their hopes and af- |
feCtions are conferred, to crafty the |
sordid whims OF the selfish capitalist?
The life OF an American boy is of |
higher importance than all his money |
and dearer TO an American of real |
patriotism than all his investments |
combined in false one.
Let the capitalist. then, be given TO !
that he must take his |
chances in a country where mis- invest |
ments are made to enrich himself in |
the event Of an instruction or revo- |
luton, and not appeal to his native |
government to furnish young men who |
49, = It ffr17T4@9 and have no interest |
in his mania for wealth, to yield up |
their lives to sustain him.
Domestic misgovernment is far more |
dangerous to this republic than foreign |
hostility. and if the lingo and capt. |
talist will exert the same zeal in i'm |
proving the condition of their home |
people which they profess for the for |
eigners. war would be averted and |
peace assured.
B. J. GONZALEZ.