New-York tribune., 1914-08-05
Says Our Industries Will
Suffer with Rest OF
the World.
RULERS STAKE THEIR
STABILITY ON RESULT
EX.President Thinks Ultimate
Peace May Come After
Great Conflict.

ime when Germany made her hrs'
declaration Of war.
The United States and Japan, hi
,rophesies, will be the only great pow
RS that will not be drawn into tho
truggle-perhaps only the Unitec
states, by reason Of the treaty be
ween England and Japan. Mr.. Taft'
Irticle, which will appear in "The lp
on Monday, reads, in part;
It is a cataclysm. II is retro
grade step in Christian civillLs-
tion. II will be difficult to keep
the various countries of the Bal
kans out of the war, and Greece
and Turkey may take part in 1t.
All Europe is to be battle-ground.
It is reported that the neutrality
of Holland has already been is-
nored, and Belgium offers such op-
portunities in the campaigns cer-
tain TO follow that her territory,
too. will be the scene of struggle.
Private property and comme..-
cial shipping under an cnemys
flag are subject to capture and ap-
preparation by prize proceedings,
and with the formidable navies OF
England, France, Germany, Russia
and Italy active, the great carry
ing trade of the world will be in
large part suspended or destroyed
or will be burdened with such
heavy insurance as greatly to cur
tail it.
Capital To BE Withdrawn.
The commerce of the world
makes much for the prosperity of
the countries with whom it is con-
Quoted, and its interruption means
great inconvenience and economic
suffering among all people, wheth-
er at peace or war. The capital
which the European people have
invested by the billions in the
United States, Canada, Australia,
South Africa and in the Orient
must perforce be withdrawn to fill
the war chests of the nations en-
gagged in death grapple, and the
enterprises which that capital
made possible are likely to be
greatly crippled, while the hope OF
any further expansion must be
definitely given up. -,
This general European war VIII
give fcverish activity in num-
: Der of branches of our industry,
but on the whole VIC shall suffer
with the rest of the world, except
that we shall not be destroying or
blowing up our existing wealth or
sacrificing the lives of our best
young men and youth.
II is hard to prophesy the scope
of a war like this, because history
offers no precedent. It is impossi-
Bile to foresee the limits of war
of any proportions when confined
only to two countries. In our own
small Spanish war we began 1t 70
free Cuba, and when the war
closed we found ourselves ten
thousand miles away with the
Philippines on our hands.
While We can be sure that such
a war as this, taking IL by and
large, will be a burden upon the
United States and is a great mis-
fortune. looked at solely from the
standpoint of the United States,
we have every reason to be happy
that we are able to preserve strict
neutrality in respect TO it. With
in our hospitable boundaries we
have living prosperous and con-
tented emigrants in large num-
bers from all the countries who
are to take part in the war and
the sympathies of these people
will of course be with their re-
spective native lands. We're there
no other reason this circumstance
would tend to keep us free from
any entanglement.
We may sincerely hope that ia
pan will not be involved. She will
not be unless the war is carried on
to the Far Orient, to India or to
China. Germany has but small
settlement in the Orient, while
France and Russia and England
would be allies in this war. and it
would seem quite unlikely that
there would arise any obligation
under the English-Japanese alli-
snce for Japan to assist England.
At the time when so many
friends of peace have thought that
we were making real progress
toward the abolition of war this
sudden outbreak Of the greatest
war in history is most discoursg-
ing. The future looks dark in
deed, but we should not despair.
Hopes for Good from Seourge.
"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform Now that
the war is a settled fact, we must
hope that some good may come
from this dreadful scourge. The
armsments Of Europe had been
growing heavier and heavier, bank
ruptcy has stared many of the ma
tions in the face, conflict between
races had begun to develop.
One thing | think we can res-
sonably count on is that with the
prostration Of industry. with the
blows to prosperity, with the state
of fux that is likely to follow this
titanic struggle, there will be every
opportunity for common sense TO
resume its sway; and after the hor-
rible expenditure Of the blood OF
the best and the savings OF the
rich and the poor, the opportunity
and the motive for q reduction OF
armament and the taking away OF
a temptation TO further war will
be greatly enhanced.
II is an awful remedy, but in the
end il may be worth what it costs
il it makes this the last great war.
The influence of America can be
thrown most effectively for peace
when peace is possible and for
minimum srmsments when disaster
and exhaustion shall make the
contending peoples and their rulers
see things as they are.
n7I En NEMn NIllnN