The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1914-08-26


blood of the flower of the nations
Multitudes who will escape death vii
he manned and incapacitatcd for life
Countless towns and villages will b,
peopled with widows, orphans and sor-
rowing parents. And billions of money
will be wasted. That is not all, nor is
1t the worst Bitter enmties will be
aroused that will not be allaycd foI
generations. This is eNcmpificd 10y
the people of the Balkan states. the
previous war between France and Ger
many and the wars of this country
For many years after the war of In
dependence il was regarded the prop
er thing for the Fourth Of July orator
TO give few twists To the lions tail
In the Civil war feelings were cngen-
dered that will take many years fully
to remove. And is it any wonder. A
correspondent writing from Brussels
some days ago describes i'm lurid col
ors the first touch of the invader in
! Belgium. a country rich the week
before in cornfields and beautiful gar
| dens il now laid waste villages are in
ruins families left homeless and des-
| titute and sorrowing over the death of
| those dear to them. Will not these
people entertain the btterest hatred
| to the invader? Such is the price of
| war
What is the cause OF this war, the
influence OF which is felt throughout
Christendom and that is laying its
paralyzing hand on almost every in
dustry? IT is not wagcd for freedom,
nor for the defense or propagation of
some great principle. Some give one
reason, others another Some blame
one person, others another The real
cause Of the war we believe to be the
preparedness for war. The advocates
Of peace, who for many years. have
been advocating the settlement of all
international disputes by judicial, rath-
er than warlike methods, have always
been met with the declaration that the
best way to preserve peace was to be
well prepared ,fpr war. This was the
plea of the rulers and STATESMEN of
Europe. 1t was, the plea Of some or
our own rulers, and statesmen: Now
we see the falsity of the plea, and that
the surest way to bring on war is TO
hav its complex machinery always
ready. such a machinery as exists in
Europe today. Soldiers trained by the
tens of millions, battleships that cost
as much to build as a whole navy cost
few years ago, ships that will fly in
the air and deal out death where men
have been safe before, guns that will
kill while the foe is out of sight. sub
marines and mines that will blow up
| fleet to atoms i'm a moment. Troop
| trains that in a few hours will carry
armies to the scene OF conflict. For
decades Europe has been spending
millions upon millions perfecting these
machines of death Since the war of
| 1871 France and Germany have been
building navies and constructing ar
| maments that are the wonder of the
| military world. Since the war with
| Japan-the Britons of the East-Rus-
| STA has been strengthening the weak
| ness disclosed by that war. Britain
depending on the world for bread has
| for centuries striven TO maintain a
navy that will guarantee safety to her
wheat-bringing ships. Austria. loose
| union OF Earring races, is supporting
a large army to enforce the power OF
her ruling family. All this has brought
the insolence OF power and that inso-
| lence is bearing its fruit today in the
crime of the ages Many an individu-
al has committed murder because he
was well armed. If private citizens
| were armed as nations are there would
be frequent fights and murders. Were
the officers and wOrkmen of the G. 4
| II. mine armed with deadly weapons
last year when the strike began. blood
would have been shed in abundance
Men fight because they are armed and
trained to fight Fighting IL their
business. They talk about it, read
about IL until il becomes a mania, and
they are eager for the fray, being con-
| iident that they will win because they
have confidence i'm their skill and
| equipment Wholesale murder is COM
mitted in Europe today. because of
oNer-confident managers of tremend-
Gus fighting machines. Were the ma
chimes not so perfect there would be
no war.
What is the cure for war?
| Obedience to the commands of Jes-
us TO sheath the sword and love our
| neighbor as we do ourselves. Ii is
because these commands have been
| disregarded that the earth has been
deluged with human blood. The sword
must he sheathed, not only sheathed.
but broken SO that II can be used no
more That day is coming because God,
the ruler of nations. has promised IL.
lie said the time will come when the
| implements OF war shall be turned into
instruments Of industry and peace, and
when men shall learn the arts Of war
no more. They shall heat their swords
INTO plowshares and their spears into
scythes; nation shall not lift up sword
AGAINST nation, neither shall they learn
war any more" Notwithstanding the
present war the signs OF the times
point To the fulfillment of this promise.
The leaven Of the gospel is at work
and the sentiment for the abolition of
war as n means OF settling interna-
tion disagreements is rapidly growing.