The Glenwood post., 1914-09-19

War FROM NEW A STANDPOINT
Continued from Page One)
which is not at times without its real
Pesiis to the nations.
Parlor poets and philosophers talk
of var without knowing what they
are talking of-as "the mother. Of
heroes and valor," "the tie ths,
binds classes and masses," "the
revivifying force of nations weakened
BY peace, prosperity and pleasure. -
Wsssver ksows Of war, through ex.
PsFisaes or study, kaows il is indeed
. "6e" sometimes necessary, but
like the Aaadcsff, not always en.ob
lisg. II victory exalts, defeat d.
presses, disturbs and unsettles . a.
tisa for several geaerstions. Defsst
ssd victory are not necessarily tts
certain rewards Of vice and virtue
respectively, or Of cowardiee aad
bravery. Fortune il . mysterious com
pound Of unknown forces which blind
ly and capriciously scatters its favors.
The miseries of defeat fall not always
to the lot of those who have earned
punishment most richly, nor do the
great rewards always fall to those
who have most deserved them.
A successful war may strengthen =
weak government; and this is really
An advantage if the government wise
ly used the prestige thus acquired.
But a society profoundly undermined
by egotism, pride and capricious ty
rannies, which have become the com
mon defects of its ruling classes, will
not be regenerated by war, unless
that war uproots, destroys or dis
perses that very ruling class and puts
another in its place. But then it is
no longer a war; it is a revolution
really and truly revOlution-and
history records very few real revolu-
tions.
A good military literature would be
an excellent antidote to the romantic
fantasies widely prevalent on the sub
ject of war. 1t would teach that if
war is, as Theodore Roosevelt sad,
mot the worst of evils, - ii it may
be, at some critical time, a vital ne
cessity-it is always an evil and
very terrible necessity. To meet such
crisis as it presents with resolution,
courage and skill, is duty; but TO
provoke it lightly is crime, which
is the more easy to commit in pro-
portion ~ the continued duration of
peace effaces the memories of wars
horrors, responsibilities and dangers.
There is another misconception,
very much diffused throughout our
somewhat mechanical civilization,
which such books could dispel or cor
rect allude to the belief that war
has to-day become science, govern
ed by precise and well defined rules;
and that in this modern game Of
mathematical precision. the perfection
of equipment is the deciding factor.
1t is a perverted desire of our modern
life to reduce everything to = scien-
tific basis, to multiply schools and
books; and mechanicians are so pow
erfu, and so enterprising in opr civil
ization, that this misconception has
sunk its roots deeply and firmly into
our minds, even in those of thinkers
and students.
When any war commences every
| one guesses, more or less capriciously,
| according to his sympathies or ~
terests, what the result will be. As
one of the two opposing sides must
win, there must always be number
Of sueeessful-or lucky-prophets.
But NO one can know, whea war
begins, where it will end. aAd il
which way the victor will achieve mis-
sseesss There must logically always
be . large narsiA allowed for the m
fosssen, TIE unknown To consider
these eo.tingeHeie, 10 duty no Sess
ef The gover.nent which carries on =
var tAaa sf IL publie which must
sustain Il BY its aPproval and sup
pssG n nso1set ths duty 10 70
~ 49, - frs~htful Aa1eefs