The Washington herald., 1914-09-05
Modern Warfare.
ny ALEXANDER BLUME.

Who has not thrilled at the recitation of the
vaIorous deeds of Richard the Lonhearted he OF the
mighty body and matchless couragef Who has moi
felt the blood course quickly through his veins al
the superhuman victories wrought by mighty Roland
of Charlemagnes tabled courtl Who has not fell
his spirit fired by the vivid narration of the famed
lists of Ashby de la Zouche, where Ivanhoe over
threw the flower of ehvalry?
Human nature admres and applauds personal
valor and strength. At heart all knights and
ladies'
The history of the world is one long chronir.e Of
warfare and conquest of disaster and triumph. Hand
in hand with on -narehing civilization has staked the
grim, mailed form of Mars, his gauntleted hands
dripping blood But over the Of the past there
movers an atmosphere of romance. True, the hor-
rors wrought by these conflicts were none the less
poignant Wives were widowed children orphaned
homes were devastated, and whole nations ravaged.
But the victories of ancient warfare won by the
stronger and drawer Personal courage and
strength were then the prime factors in battle.
In days when firearms and explosives were IN
known II was against man. and success generally
came to the better.
1t was the better trained army. the drawer and
more courageous force that conquered
But as twentieth century civilization has created
marvellous mechanical contryances. such the loco
motive harvester. turbine engine. it has likewise in
vented the ingenious and diabolical machines Of
death Powerful and terrible explosives are manu-
featured for this express purpose gunpowder, trotol,
nitrogycerne dynamite.
We make machine guns which will pour a rain of
a thousand bullets minute; guns which will throw
a projectile weighing half ton a distance of twenty
miles; field guns which will discharge shells auto
matically at the rate Of forty a minute; repeating
Ne
with deadly traps drop bombs from aeroplanes. and
attack unseen from submarines Man specialzes
most thoroughly and extensively in the art OF muir
dcrl
Ancient wars cannot be compared in destructive
ness and carnage with those of today Modern wars
cannot be compared with ancient in courage and
strength OF the participants.
The personal element in warfare has been to a
great degree removed Men no longer battle: it is
machine against machine. The strongest man is as
defenseess against a bullet as the weakest Thus
men have become not warriors, hut automatonS, cOgs
in the great mechanisms of human destruction.
Human beings are killing one another and being
killed without even knowing or seeing whom they
are attempting to destroy. They have quarrel with
one another; they may not even know why they are
fighting. Murder is their trade The bravest man
in the world be killed by the bullet Of the most
cowardly!
The horrors OF war have been heightened pro-
Portionatey to the increased effectiveness of the in
>truments. Firearms and explosives take toll OF
killed and MANNED tremendously greater than swords
and spears.
The suffering inflicted is not merely personal or
local BY reason of the modern commercial inter
dependence existing among all the nations OF the
world casts pail upon the entire earth I'm
porting and exporting ceases; thousands thrown
out of work in the noncombaant nations and misery
ensues.
War is an atavism So long as militarism and
war exist human progress advances haltngly So
long the beast within RACES as If ragged in the
Jungle, Just so long shall civilization fall short Of
its object.