The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-12-29

men VIII 9I9C these were fha
taken - a FEW days before -
aheh n village with Tho Haa
.HfiS the street in which -
49, SueWlng it's length viz -
rTV"au and the dead Of tba nj
49, me Khaki clothes tie tains
re were still horrible "
linas IS oI them, between the rigid
ts OF the guard, the general -
headed, was upon hi snaas
ns Staf kneeling behind him q
ny elderly face frownad hea OIL, 80
oe, 0diheStneSS as he c~0ssed him
80 again ana again over the .r6e-v
Gnu medals that shone on his breas,
80 80 vent by MN without haltine and
49, 49, Al al the gates Of the church
ana TILL tie last of her escort 80
within, none rose. Then
Abruptly, the Staccato b; rk of tho
oilcer commanding the guard IF
homor restored the note of EVERYDAY
me gold alone is said to be worth
lVo'"oo ruhles." said the big Jew to
head. ~ Oh nus
/, The crowds along the roadside
broke and began to drift, taking ,nd
!ausnlng; the great was over
from the church there sounded
mornentary snatcheS of music su,alls
OF splendid bass singing by tho
bearded popeS, where a service was
IA progress before a congregation OF
mgr officers. But for he men, h
mad come and gone, and life had
again its commonplace aspect. They
moved away in slow groups toward
the camps behind the village where
the smoke of their fires rose in the
air in slim spires of ghostly
gray. My W way took me by a
stony path under a breast of hin
1 IA rrpG nv tho hnrrA liD.o - - .
arriving Cossacks. Where the path
wound ahou the end of it, a man was
kneeling.
lie was +, 2efooted; his hands were
stretched forth in front of him: he
was clad in the long, wide skirted
parach of the Caucasian horseman.
For him, there was no picture re-
~Splendent in q setting of gold. no
gracious and visible presence to awe
and uplift him. His back was to the
dull west, his face to the east where,
beyond the early dusk hat was al
ready thickening over the bleak
lands, Mecca and its tomb were
potent and holy.
Great empires, we know, atropf.y
They die of their ease and comforts.
or their security and freedom from di-
rect attack. They are fed and fought
for by aliens. They raise a small pro
f~essional military class OF high grade,
but their levieS OF troops come from
DalInatia, from Gaul, from Africa,
from the far ends Of empire, from
rude, coarse, lighting peoples, whose
sons are whipped into shape and
taught h use of the short sword.
Great Britain is using Pathans and
Gurkas, Hindoos and Sudanese, Cana.
dams, New Zealanders, and Austrians
Is the British empire arrived at the
DiOcletian period of the Roman? Is il
in the glowing and glorious but van
iShing period of Sunse which precedes
the twilight? Is England now fed anG
fought for, sticking close to its case
and seeking its amusements n com
forts, devoted to its games and nut.
ton. unwilling to discard shelter AND
take to hardships?
Specifically the facts might star
this thought, but the same facts viii
bear investigation. In the first place
the rush to enlistment at first il
England was so great that h gov
eminent, which had TO arm, clothe
feed, and train these volunteers, call
ed a halt in self-protection. Untrain
ed volunteers are SO much cannon
fodder, and they are dangerous t
any line into which they may be in
jected. Great Britain, an unInilitar.
nation. was u~nprepared to take car
Of the masses of men Who Offered
themselves.
1t was typically British that in de
Ginning the services Of the thousand
who offered themselves, the &C
should have been neither gracious no
explanatory. Men were simply toll
that they were not needed. The frs
fine impulse of patriotism, %involvin'
the Willingness of Self-Sacrlfice in
measurable, was stopped. Now it ha
to be revived artificiaily.
This also is TO be considered. L
:. generation after generation b Brit
ish have fought wars or foreign polic
and one of self-deTense. A caoine
might make a war and the BF1tas
= went out to fight it, purely a war c
policy, which might be accepted Q
. avoided. If the king in the old day:
or the government in these days, dc
; cided to fight, the British fought.
4 Sir Edward Gray might have avoid
!. ed this war. In Such case the Brltls
> would not nave fought. No popula
! pressure would have been brought
: bear on the government. You cann