The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1914-08-10
CONGREGATION AT NJ. P. TEN.
PIE HEAR 9 ELOQUENT SER
IS MON ON IMPORTANT
I SUBJECT.
EUROPEAN CRISIS SUPPLIES
THEME FOR INSTRUCTIVE
DISCOURSE,
THE CAUSE AND ULTIMATE RE
SUITS GRAPHICALLY P0R.

war supplied the theme for his dis
course.
The. theme discussed. was "Thc
War in Europe, Its Causes and What
We May Hope Therefrom.p
The text used was Matthew 24:G,
"Ye shall hear OF wars, and rumors
Of wars, see that ye be moi troubled
for the end is not YETI He said in
part: The unprecedented colossal
scale Of this war causes every on.
to think. The only war in liistor,
approaching this one was that of Che
allied armies Of Europe one hundred
years ago, against Napoleon. Il
seems Strange that. the region round
about Waterloo should witness thu
beginning ofsthis, awful war, even NJ
It saw the close, of the war against
Sap9leon. Europe, of "a century. age
is not the Europe Of today, hence
the .terriblcness of this war.
As We thing oft we are impress
ed with the strangeness of two o.
its features. First, the strangeness
of the time of the beginning Of IL.
We were beginning to thinis of war
among the great powers as being
well nigh impossible. The signs Of
the times justified our thought iM
this regard. The Million Dollaj.
Peace Palace at the Hague, the new
home of the International Court Of
Arbitration, has Just been dedicated
Three great International Peace
Conferences were about to open, tho
lnter-Parliamontary Peace confer.
nee at Stockholm, Sweden; the
Worlds Church Peace Union at Con
stance, Switzerland; and the Inter!
national Peace Congress at Vienna,
To these conferences delegates by
the thousands were travelling, Our
own congressional representatives To
Stockholm, were at Bar Ilarbor, Me-,
a few mornings ago. lTliesc confer:
ences have all been called off. In
the midst of peace we lihave bean
breathing war. gyay 10. ~ "a
The people engaged in this. war
furnish the second, strange feature.
There arc approximately 100000
600 Christians on the earth, and of
this number 400, O00, 900 arc direct
ly involved In this struggle. The
.hcatlien Chinese" might we'll ask us
TO revise our reading of Psalm 81.
and make 1t read. "Why do the
Christians" rage, and their people
imagfnesa vain thing?"
The Car. of Russia, the King. of
England, and the Emperor OF Ger
many arc proressed followers of the
Prince of Peace. and their nations
arc regarded as Christians. Then
why this war? Has Christianity
failed? The very strangcness of the
situation leads us to enquire earnest
~ for the cause of it.
1t is three-fold, racial, economic,
and political. Racial because the
Tcuton is arrayed against the slav.
Tho Servians are a Slavic people and
so arc the Russians. II you will con-
suit your geography you will discov-
or that the duai-monarchy, Austria
Hungary, has pushed Its territorial
frontier so far eastward as to lie like
a dividing wedge between Russia
and Scrvia. This barrier acts con-
slant irritant to these Slavic peo-
plcs. 1t also acts as a deterrent to
the plans Of Russia to get to the
Mediterranean; hence Russia's I'M
mediate support. of Seryla., Bitter
feelings have existed between these
races. for generations, and the
growth of the Russian Bear has been
answering the scream Of the German
Eagle. a
The economic situation in Europe
has much to- do with this war.
Those of us who live ip,this land Of
Astounding elbow-room, can have
only a faint conception Of the strug-
gle, for existence in Europe. The
last fifty years have witnessed, the
Iwaging Of a relentless economic war
among the nations concerned In this
strife. The German people have
forged their way to the front, and
whilst it still may be said "Britan,
linia rules the waves" it can also be
said "Gcrmanicuss rules the marts.,t
Made in Germany" has circled tho
globe, and is growing increasingly
supreme. Germany has made the m.
lions Of the earth economically sieal
Gus.
As in all great wars. the outstand-
ing cause in this war Is political
and relates to territorial extension
and governmental control. This wal
is the natural harvest of the seee
sowing of Bismarck, the Iron Chan
,cellor Of Germany. Not satisfied
with the realization of his dream Of
empire in united Germany, ht
formed in 1883 the now famous Tri5
pie Alliance. This alliance. compos
ed Of Italy, Austria and Germany!
was formed to preserve a Fictitious
something, called In the diplomacy
Of Europe .the balance Of power.s3
Italy today regards her oblfgationsir
this alliance as confined to defensive
warfare. hence her refusal to join
tie other two In a warsof invasion
aud ofIense. To match the Triple