Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1914-11-04

The following interesting letter is
part of a private correspondence and
was written by a South Dakota mother
who rejoices that her children are not
old enough to be made soldiers. If all
women had her insight and reasoning
| power
No more would nation 'gainst nation rise
Nor ardent warriors meet with baleful
eyes.
White, S. d., special: My Dear
Friend: 1 received your very interesting
letter and was very much pleased to get
1T and much interested in what you say.
The Germans are getting the worst of
the deal in news and publicity for reasons
for which the newspapers of the United
tney are handicapped in getting their side
OF the story to us but this isn't their worst
handicap. Their greatest obstacle in
arousing the sympathy of Americans for
their cause is their own disposition.
The German. both as an Individual and
as a nation. are bad diplomats, bad mix
ers as the politician says. They can work
and hight better than they can talk. Their
gfuff taciturnity repels sympathy, while
the emotional Frenchman is appealing for
IT with graphic tales of his wrongs. plen-
tifully punctuated with tears and sroans.
and that gets all of us. Naturally our
sympathies would be for England as blood
- AAA>hC lJdII water, III we are NlcNlIS
the subject from different angles.
You take the view that worse things
IMAM war could happen to her and i take
the woman's view that war is the extreme
In the way of misfortune, that nothing
worse could happen to her.
cannot conceive of anything that could
another of old Queen Victoria's grandsons
for the one she now has for her king
MouId be such a calamity as the loss of
L Ule IN those h1nnHN haffva fnVI0 of
France and Belgium. / can think of
anything more pitiful than those men go
Ing into those bloody shambles to fight
Tor nome and country" and their queen
publicly suggesting that the widows of
soldiers killed in battle that are left UNI
provided for be sent to Australia. as do
mestics get better wages there. Australia
protested, however. saying that crops
We're poor there this year and hence there
was already an over supply of help"
and suggested America.
Kill Patriotism.
IT is TOMMY ATKINS COUNTRY TO
DIE Q BUT WHEN HE OR HIS
WIDOW WANTS A PLACE TO LIVE
TRALTA OR CANADA.
Now l believe that in order to prevent
wars that we must uproot and destroy.
root and branch. just one thing. and that
is not kings. but patriotism. Patriotism
which, stripped of it's sentimental CLAM
our. is simply an unjust and unreasoning
prejudice against all governments except
the one under which we live.
Poor Tommy Atkins who works year in
and year out in the chalk pits or coal
mines with a mess Of fat pork once a
week and roast of English beef for Christ
mas, as luXuries.. periodically gives his
life to protect hts government because
he has an Inherited prejudice against
rear that any other form of government
would in n way injure him or his.
Would the fact that England was a Ger
man colony make his lot any harder? Are
the people in England any happier than
the people living in the German colonies?
Are hattd the apFs people in Germany any ny happier or
English colonies? Yet each will fight al
most to the last man to prevent being SUBJ
iect to the other. Even German and Eng
lish colonies are fighting each other as
fercely as are the parent countries to pre-
vent a change of master. A few years
the Beers sacrificed their homes and
vent being an English colony and now
when with practically no chance of oppo-
sition they could r~e-establish their old
form OF government they don't care
enough about it to take the trouble, in
fact it is not at all unlikely that they
would raise up IN arms to resist a change
of government If it were attempted.
England Better AS a German Colony,
Now you see my idea is that England or
rather the English people have suffered
right now more than they would if they
had refused to fight and let Germany
peacefully occupy the country and pub
licly proclaim it a German colony, even if
1t should stop right now and we all know
that 1T not only is not going to stop right
the worst feature is that there Is no dead
cinch that she won't wind up by being a
German colony after all the terrible sacri-
flee.
1t Is a pretty safe guess that Antwerp
and Ostend cannot hold out long and
then the LOADED pistol" will again be
may not be probable but it is surely admit
ted even by. the English as possible. In
my opinion 1t will depend on the behavior
of the Zeppelins and submarines. They
have not as yet demonstrated thu they
are as dangerous as the kaiser thinks
them. but we must admit that they have
stTations. OF course no one can know
what Germany would nave done IL Eng
land and France had remained neutral.
but | do not believe that she would nave
Is just as badly worried n scared" as
the allies are and that she was far from
wanting to fight all Europe; I do not be-
~unprovoked assault on France IL France
and England had declares that they were
going to remain neutral. and II France
and England had declared neutrality, she
would nave been up to invading Russia
or not fighting.
Some stratsaist.
I may not be a born strategist and NV
opinion along these lines would not sell
mig IN Europe perhaps. but my plan Of
campaign II I had had the destinies Of
England and France in my hands, would
have been to let Germany demonstrate
she could do in Russia first. She
would. ave had to trot around some be-
fore she caught as many Russians as she
has French and English already. There
tie danger Of the supply running out. and
I believe they would have lasted till the
German people got their satisfy OF war,
and eyen II the worst came and they were
compelled to take a hand in 1T later, they
delay. = ."e
Of course It was a certainty that the