The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-08-01
By JAMES MORGAN.

German plan of conquest upset; dis
cusses the extraordinary deadlock that
seems to hold in its grasp the con-
lending armies on every front and
sums up the staggering cost in life
and money.
With 100000 men constantly un.
Ser arms Europe lay for three decades
beneath the burden and terror of an
armed peace more eXhausting than
any war the world had seen.
Slowly the nations were divided into
>wo vast camps by treaties of alliance
that never have been brought to the
light of day. that never have been
seen by those whose blood they
pledged. The peoples only saw above
them an ever darkening cloud. sur
charged with spying suspicion ana
deceit, envy, revenge and the secret
plots and counterplots in which old
fashioned politicians and militarists
we're helplessly ensnarling themselves
and their countries.
The atmosphere had grown ominous-
ly heavy at the opening of the year
1914 and the weatherwise nations
rushed into the market for money to
fill their war chests. Gold was sucked
up as if by waterspouts. Not less
than $S4.0O0.OO0 of that shining armor
of modern warfare was drawn from
the states dloHe III the NISl
six months of the year. when il poured
across the Atlantic in a yellow cur
rent.
The Hush Before the Storm.
Then. in far-away Bosnian town. a
pistol shot rang out on the quiet of a
June Sunday and ran like a flash of
lightning across the sullen skies. AS II
died away there followed a stiffness that
deluded the hopes of humanity. 1t
vas only the hush before the bursting
Of the lons-pent storm.
Not a syllable or d sound of what
went on in those four silent. fateful .
weeks that followed the assassination of !
the Austrian Crown Prince has yet been |
permitted TO escape the cabinets of .
Europe. But even Americans heard the |
/ umhle of Goldladen wagons in their |
streets. as Sl6OO0.ooO of the metal was !
hungrily snatches from the United States |
IN twenty DAYS.
Yet. while the issue of peace and war
was trembling in the balance. and the |
lives of millions were at stake. the
peoples were not called into conference
anywhere. No legislative bodies were
'onvoked. No hint of the impending
onfiict was communicated through the
,rcss. Nowhere was public opinion con-
suited on problem that involved the
iestinies of the human race. Whatever
~ ds uOIlt was upIIt- III tHt udl ny !
craft of the Louis Quatorzo
'eIiod. men without idea under 20
years old.
Turn TO the books of varied hues with
= hIch the laundering ministries have
uod to color the facts to suit their
,"veraI states. and mark the significant
ZAP in them all That gap will not be
1lled until posterity. until history
rings out its black book
For in the ,hooks of red. white. and
'lue. green, yellow. and brown there is
10 entry between June *, when
serbian boy murdered the heir of the
and July 22. when the chan
'"lleries OF the alliance and the en-
onte began to thunder The very next
,av. Austria roarod her uitimatum to .
'"rhia. and in another week the plot
ing military and naval powers that so
org had sown the wind with bayonet's
we're reaping the whirlwind.
When the Cloud Burst.
As Austria fell upon Serbia. Germany
,adc the powers stand aside and keep
heir hands off while her ally Chas- .
iz"d the nation OF the youth who had
lam an Austrian prince. But the fat
.as in the fire. Russia declined TO let :
II. AuStrians march over a helpless and G
rostrate Serbia on the road to Constan- I
inorle. and made ready TO 90 to the c
4 by their neighbors. the Montcne- 9
rims.
Germany thereupon. drew off to strike n
Russia. But. not daring to turn her I
a"k on Russias ally in the west she l
u.ddcnly whirled upon France. knock
ne down Belgium as she went. This
uickly brought England TO the aid of II
er French ally and to the defense of
he opposite shore of her Channel
In he IaJ Y
! their Italian ally. And their only
Their ally was unready to come to their
id. Turkey playing for time while pre- a
airing for war Japan. on the other :,
and, promptly responded to the call Of -
er associates in the Entente and aimed y
er blow at Germany's only Asiatic 81
ossession. a little colony in China.
A medieval twilight descended upon =,
vilizatIon. The market places of two .,
amispheres put up their shuttss6. =,
-ainst the universal panic Railroa0 a.
lat had bound together the Nations of :,
e round earth in hoops OF steel were
IT. and neishbors who had dwelt and IN
'iled side by side through half a CEN ~
Try and a century of peace. savasely n,
ew at one another throat. They knew fc
II why. nor have they yet been told. A
hey only saw their countries and their of
omes in peril. and every man among r
'fense. la
AS the Unlocking world beheld the n,
eat Nations on the march. 1t was in CO
edulous dazed and then horrorstricken. al
he thing was unthinkable. impossible. 4,
would bankrupt Europe in 30 days. 90 bt
Tvs. 30 days. II would overturn all gov W
nment w
But with that guilty enjoyment Of the al
ectaculsr and the monstrous which
& fire. a big flood or big earth
lake arouses, the excited spectators
gerly watched that awful midsummer IT
adness. when millions of weaponeo III
en- FASTENED to battle, their scouts sad d
ing the clouds. their vanguard swift or
borne on by S0-horsepower machines. B,
ID when the mighty fleet OF England
as stripped for action the first time a
nee steam and steel had replaced sail so
ID oak. The war would be terrible. all 81
ew but surely II would be something pr
see the brilliant feats of modern la
ms eclipse the thousand wars of old. to
That morbid curiosity has been dis gi
pointed, and perhaps for the best. st
n there is no gallery in this grim tr
me. The interests which. for forty
ars. had censored the politics that bred tn
: war are censorinE the war itself. m
where. They even begrudse the ri,
dowed and orphaned the lists Of their sn
ad. which are the only reports that al
We been made from some OF the cam at
igEs. no
borrower, modern war presents no b
geants, makes no pictures, unfolds no tn
mas. The theatrical heroism of war tn
e In the past 10 gone. and the new Nc
rfare II as imrersoffal and uninter- Of,