The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-02-08
WAR ECHOES

NleW or fkeFleWS TUT FeDIudTy iiO peasant soldier of Servia knows today that, if he loses in this stuggle against Austria, he will be deprived of not only his political but also his economic free dom Hence his heroic efforts to defend that for which Black George and the Serbs of the rebellion of 1904 sacri feed their life-bloo
 Servia was not prepared for this war. Moreover she was totally exhausted by the two Balkan wars. And this makes the present struggle extremely hard The success of the Servian arms thus far must be attributed to the extraor- dinary enthusiasm and herosm of the army as whole, and of each individual soldier. l Military critics long ago pronounced the leadership of Servian generals as equal to any in Europe. In the present conflict, the poor health of King Peter has placed the burden of political and military affairs mainly upon the should CTS of the Grown Prince Alexander. The heroes of the campaigns are General Putnils and General Yankkovich.
 Leadership and heroism, however, will fail if the supplies of the army fail
 Russia England and France know this and will see to. it that Servia and Mon | tenegro are well supplied with means necessary for their heroic advance Nevertheless, the fact remains that most | of the soldiers in Servia today wear sandals and have no uniforms. Their i retreat before the Austrian host, during the dark days of November, was due, believe, to lack of ammunition When | ammunition arrived. in the nick of time, they drove the Austrians out of Servia like a flock of sheep. The country. how ever, over which the Austrian army had passed was left a desert. Over 100000 south; and there they are today, facing | all the horrors of homeless paupers. Dr. C. W. Saleeby, in the Youth 5 Companion: There is fact of life called | heredity, which plays a dreadful part , in determining the longest price of war.
 According to the laws of heredity, We
 are all largely dependent upon what our l ancestors were for what we can be;
 consequently, the future of any race
 depends upon the quality of those who
 become it's fathers and mothers. That
 is true not only of human beings, but
 of all living things.
 Some have found in this theory an
 argument for war; they maintain that
 since life advances by struggle and su--
 vival, strong nations must crush weak ones if the future of mankind is to be
 strong. None of the champions of war who declare that peace corrodes and
 ruins nations have thought about the
 matter deeply enough to learn that the
 argument they quote is the most fatal
 of all to their own horrible creed. For
 the truth Is that war brings about Ire
 versed selection"-in which the best
 are chosen to be killed, and the worst are preserved to become the fathers of the future.
 Rome and France furnish illustrations
 of this awful truth. The greatest em- pire of the ancient world was Rome.
 When she had conquered all her ene-
 mics she fell. Ever since then thinkers and historians have sought the reason.
 Today there are many who believe that l IL HdS bccll lOunu. ftOule was alWayS fighting. She had far and wide iron | tiers, which must ever be defended, The defense needed the best men she had
 and got them great German his- torian, Professor Seeck, says that in Rome. out of every 100000 strong men S0,000 were slain, and that out of every 100000 weddings 90,O00 to 95,00O were left to survive. The Roman empire per-
 ished for want of men. says the great English historian. Sir John Seeley; and when the living foundations of empire
 thus decayed, all the rest came dowr
 with a crash. The descendants of the vigorous race that had conquered the known world spent their time shouting for bread and games" The laws ol heredity were not at fault; the vigorous in fact, had died, and 1t was the rejected those unfit to be Roman soldiers, tha1 stayed at home and became the Roman
 fathers of nation whose course wa'
 run.