The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-09-21
WAR ECHOES

define his terms; he does not tell us what he understands the word ''decadence" to mean, but he uses the word over and 1 over until one gets the impression that l he thinks the French have become na- tion of weddings How erroneous that mo- | tion is ought to be evident enough today to anyone who has noted the bravery of the French troops as they have fought, against terrific odds, the German hordes rushing upon Paris. A decadent nation does not furnish such an exhibition of courage
 There is nothing finer than devotion to ones country, when one believes that his country Is in the right For his coun- I try man will leave his wife and child ren and society: he will forsake all the pleasures of life and the lure of wealth. There is not one of these so-called de- cadent Frenchmen who is not a zealous patriot; not one who is not anxious, if need be- to die in his country's defense. l We have heard Pierre Lott called a de- cadent, but Pierre Loti. though no longer young. asked for a commission in the navy, to which he formerly belonged, as soon as the war began, and he is now on his ship Maurice Barres, another well known novelist, is fighting in the same regiment as his son. And there is Gustave Nerve, the famous nti-militarist, who has spent Il years of his life in jail for his bitter attacks on the French poli- cy of maintaining standing army, who was one of the first to enlist for the pp,fe l,ar | Sparta. All the talk that one has heard about l the decadence of France sounds very cheap now. As a matter of fact most of this kind of talk really came from | very cheap people When it is recalled that for years the French have been the greatest masters in belles-lettres of any people in the world, and that in art, in science and philosophy their claims for consideration have always been al- lowed by all authorities worth considering it is evident that the French have never been decadent. But all the world loves a good fighter. and the French have lost none of their capacity for fighting. l St. Louis ost-Dispatch: That Germany
 
 of Belgium and Luxemburg but that of Switzerland is mooted question. The | finding of documents tending to prove that | Germany intended to invade Swiss terri tory so as to turn Belfort is now an- nounced by the authorities at Geneva.
 If such was the first intention, the Swiss | mobilization of 25O.0o0 men in 4s hours was amply calculated to inspire second thought with another 250000 to back them up. To violate Swiss neutrality would have stirred up not only the Swiss hornets nest, but the ire of the world even more deeply than by the invasion of Belgium It would have been more than ignoring a scrap of paper; it would have been blow at the worlds traditional and mon- umental example of neutrality.
 In 1915 the allied armies passed through the territory of Switzerland which had to yield to Europe's general necessity Switzerland was practically under du- ! ress. But free to assert itself, in 1870, it refused similar permission to the. AL satans, in which refusal the world upheld it, and its inviolate character has been strengthened by every recognition, con sensus and expression of world opinion since then
 Baltimore Sun: With all our improve ments in naval architecture, ohr fast ships, long-range guns, searchlights and means of wireless and cable communica- tion the oceans of the world are still mighty expanses and in a war like this offer many opportunities for the enter rrsing officer. This thought is suggest ed by the statement that the German auxiliary cruiser Luxemburg has recently captured and sunk three British freight steamers in South American waters, two others in the same quarter being report ed missing" and by the cable from Tokio that the German cruiser Emden has sunk five British steamers off the coast of India. Those familiar with our Civil war history know what terror and demoralization the Alabama and Florida | caused to northern commerce and how long 1t took to suppress them. The Brit ish navy will, of course, eventually clear the seas of the German commerce de- stroyers, but meanwhile they serve to keep British shippers uneasy, However, if they want to be secure, there is d ii"6 "hi'h thcy Cdh ny thdt VIII give them protection.
 Washington Post Predictions that Ireland would seize upon the confusion attendant upon a great European war to free herself from the control of | Great Britain were evidently based | upon false analysis of the conditions | prevailing in the policies of that coun- try. Not only has Ireland refused to | add to the confusion of England mak- ing the military engagements of that country bridge to revolution and | freedom, but she has come to the sup port of the empire more loyalty than | Premier Asquith or any other mem- Der of the government dared hope.
 What a sight it must have been to | those who expected Ireland to revolt l to see John Devlin. the nationalist, 1 rush across the house of commons and brandish his fist in the face of Kier Hardie, the labor leader, shouting that the socialists in the reichstag could teach him lesson in patriotism and loyalty. Alone of all the factional leaders in Parliament, and significantly | enough the reproof came from an Irish man.
 Hence the call for an Irish regiment to aid England in her war was not wholly unexpected "The democracy of Great Britain have kept faith with