Baxter Springs news. [volume] (Baxter Springs, Kan.) 1882-1919, 1914-09-03
N DEFENSE OF WAR
Views Of N. Olivier, Prime Minis
ter Of Napoleon III.
He Commended Il Was Not the Most
Fearful Of All Fatalities, and That
Il Was Not Without Its
Ample Compensation.


Herewith Is q defense Of war BY u
Olivier, prime minister Of Napoleon
III. He was charged with the respon'
slbility Of declaring the war Of 1870
which responsibility. he said In hil
speech Of July 15, 1870. he accepted
with q light heart" This French view
Of the justification and Righteousness
Of war is translated from NJ. OLIVIER
great work 'L'Empire Liberal"
DE Maistre believes war to be dt
vine; Proudhon says that It 10 tho
most incorruptible expression Of oui
conscience, the act which definitively
and in spite Of the impure, influence
which mingles with 1t, honors Us most
before creation and before the eter
nal
"of all the fatalities against which
suffering humanity contends, war ID
not the most fearful and It's evils are
not without ample compensationS
Like the pioneers, who open to light
and air the virgin forests by blows oi
the az, great generals, the privileged
heroes OF history, by arms open thu
way for civilization, disciplining infer
Tor people, wlping out degenerate m
lions.
Where war is not feared, there u
formed spirit of virillty, q hardlhoot
which engenders sublime inspirations;
genius Is brought to light more BY the
clash OF arms than by the clatter Of
spindles.
Men, accustomed to place above al
other considerations the idea Of sacri
fee, OF voluntary self immolation, sur
pass even In art. commerce and indus
try those who are absorbed in the pro
ductive but belittling cares by which
granaries are filled. 'Repose begetl
cowardice. Generous sentiments arise
from perils confronted. When one
never has to defend his country ideas
Of honor degenerate, and a nation
sinks into an ignoble race, incapable
of heroic resistance and Of the energy
Of sacrifice says Chateaubriand.
Every people, who, lacking the no
ton Of sacrifice, does not prefer the
glory Of dying nobly to the shame OF
living ignobly, is doomed to subjec-
ton. The nation must be considered
as already dead which is dominated By
the sordid element which cries like
the Athenian Of Aristophanes: Let NJ
drink to the limit. and have q gay life;
nothing is more lovely than the stom-
ach; thy stomach is thy father and thy
mother. Virtues, embassies, the call
Of dutyH Empty glory and vain echoes
from the land Of dreams
$50 greatness is denied to every
statesman who does not put war In the
list Of his means Of diplomacy, and
who cannot reply with vigor to weep.
ing spirits, Yes, I love peace, but !
have a greater detestation for insult
and shame
War is divine in the sense that 1t II
one of the indestructible laws OF the
human race.
1.-THE dream Of universal peace 10 Q
Utopia, and I am not certain that H
would be desirable.
ut will be vain for you to submit to
humiliations, to insults, to outrages'
and when one smites you on one cheek
to turn the other. By avoiding death
on the field of battle will you escape
death on the bed Of agonyH
Let US submit to the laws against
which we would rebel In vain, and
since war is one Of those laws, let 10
not condemn It. Let us accept 1t ~
the noble form Of necessary death, -
that which leads most surely to the
ascending renaissance Of the best
let Us not seek bllndly its gran
deurs, however. They are too mixed
with calamities and tears. Let Us ratA'
of employ all our efforts 70 escape the
Ucourge, for It Is suffering, and 10 all
suffering It IL proper to offer not only
compassion, but resistance. Only when
destiny imposes It upon as IS q duty
let Us accept It manfully at all risn
A a. ~1tnn -