The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1915-09-16
WARS HEA Wy PRICE.

was felt. il even in somewhat vague ana
uncertain way, to be inevitable. None kne"
where and when the blow would fall; none
knew what chain of circumstances Wouid
lead to its precipitation, but all 1elt the
gradual approach Of the dread hour. Other
wise. for what reason did the great Powers
prepare with such scientific exactness TIER
armies and their navles? And for what
reason did they avail themselves Of the
latest products of mans inventive genius
as expressed in the building and malnten-
ance of great engines OF war, powerful
battleships, submarines and alrships,
deadly explosives, and all the dread para
phernalia of death and destruction? Ii
may be that none Of the present generation
expected to see the greatest and yet the
saddest spectacle, consideringi it from alllts
phases, that has yet been presented to the
gaze of mana world at war with itself.
The flower of greed and kingly ambition
burst into its richest bloom in the warning
nations little more than year ago and
the worlds great armies prepared to hight
to the death. The prospect Of conquest,
the glory of military power, might and not
right, the splendor of the wonderful pageant
of arms are yet uppermost in 5he mind OF
the cold blooded tyrant who dreaming OF
world power, madly turned loose the dogs
of war upon his unprepared neighbors,
The edict went forth to do or die, and the
blood Of each brave soldier courses in uni
son with the stirring appeal to victory.
But what of the later days, and what Of
the aftermath? Upon whose heads shall
rest the penalty of sending forth the
young and the old, the brave and the weak,
to struggle as beasts driven forth to slaugh-
ter? Upon whose heads shall rest the pen
atty of destroying the sacred family life OF
thousands OF homes? Upon whose heads
shall rest, more than all else, the dreadful
penalty of casting upon the charity OF the
world the widows and orphans who are left
without protection? We talk of the honor
of the country, Of the call of patriotism, OF
the necessity for piunging into war for the
sake of principle--but what OF the useless
sacrifice Of the millions of lives which have,
been and shall be offered on the battlefield:
What of the suffering and prlvations Of
those who are left behind to endure trials
as unnecessary as they are futile, to endure
too the pinch of poverty and humiliation,
and the loss of all that makes life worth
living, and to endure and yet TO endure
until the soul grows weary, and hope dies
down, and the heart Of life seems tc stop
beating for a time?
Those of US who recall the time when war
swept this country and Sherman, Sheridan,
Hunter and Merritt were strictly and most
heartily obeying Grant, orders during 1861
to desolate Georgia and South Carolina and
make the Shenandoah Valley a ''barren
waste"-therehy starving helpless women
and chldren-Weil know the horrors Of that
period. Those who endured the desoiation
of those days, when famine threatened and
our beloved country lay in ruins can sym
pathize as none else can with the SORROWS
which are being endured by our friends
across the waters. Upon whom does the
burden of war fall the heaviest is a ques-
ton often asked. Is it harder for the brave
men who march so courageously to fight
for country which happens to be their
own, at the will of a ruler whom probably
they have never seen and who cares moth
ing for their lives, or the women and chill
dren who are left behind to get along as
best they can; women whose hearts are
torn over the pitiful surrender of loved
one, but who are forced to take up the bur-
den of life and care for those dependent
upon them, children whose youthful hearts
are forever saddened by the scenes which
that is hard to answer, and yet to -day il
the beautiful Old World so far beyond ttt
seas it is being lived and answered agar
and again. God pity those who face ths
foe on land or sea and God pity those who
huddle together in desolate homes uncon.
scious Of the fate OF those who are fighting
far away, and yet again God pity thost
who know only too we'll the price they have
been forced to pay.
Is it worth it all, this greed OF empire
this wholesale slaughter for the sake o
''glory,' and the REIMBURSEMENT Of geo
graphical lines? 1t is a sad spectacle upor
which we have been gazing for more thar
year, and upon which we are asked t,
gaze to-day. Each report adds to the hor
ror OF it all, and long, weary months ar,
still ahead filled with suffering for thos
who are engaged in this gigantic struggle
unless, by the mercy Of a just God, som
miracle happens to stem the rushing tide
of battle. 1t is all well enough, perhaps
in a way, as long as the prelminaries oc
cupy our attention and the glory of BATH
obscures the pain of later realities, bu
when those realities begin to come, whel
we think that for every uniformed bod,
upon the field of death an anxious hear
Will Dreak, Wnen StafVatlOn stalks OfaZeni'
over a land once rich with crops, whel
smoking chimneys mark once happy homes
when ruined business prospects replace til
prosperity of so short a time ago, wha
then? Must the vital issues Of the nation
always be solved by battle? Must man
inhumanity to man continue forever? Mus
the dream of world-peace be indeed onl
dream?
Crowley Signal: As to the eongeste