Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1915-06-12
RABBI WISE SAYS
WAR UNNECESSARY
Points to the Way This Country
Abides in Peace with It's Neigh
Dor on the North.
WILL BE NO WAR WITH JAPAN


Rabbi stephen s. Wise OF New
York swayed a great audience in the
Brandeis theater Thursday by the
power of his eloquence and person
ality. They felt in succession the
thrill of patriotic fervor, the hor-
rors of war and butchery. the beau
ties of peace that is now the hope OF
the race. And in between, often and
literally. was the scintillating wit
and almost-grim drollery Of the fin
ished humorist.
On the stage during the lecture were
fifteen prominent citizens. including
Jewish, Protestant and Catholic clergy
men, judges, businessmen and members
Of the city commission.
Ex-senator Norris Brown presided and
introduced the celebrated rabbi. who In
n few moments had the audience wf1s-
Cling with laughter at his droll deserip-
tion of his own delight at seeing the oity
hall welcome" sign with his own name
Gin letters as big as myself"
'Is War Cureiess?'' was the title Of DR..
wise's address. BY logical steps he ar
rived at the conclusion that war is not
cureless. and reversed the old proveIb
by declaring that what can't be endured
must be cured"
secret Diplomacy the Cause.
First taking up the material fosses and
devastation and destruction Of. war, he
named secret diplomacy as the great Inn
mediate cause.
do you think for one moment" he
said, that II the people of Europe had
known what was going on in the chan
celIeries of Europe in the time from
July 2s TO August Of last year, that
there would have been WARP"
He painted q picture of the horrible
immoral standard set by the war, bride"
provisions OF churches and states in the
warning countries whereby women are
reduced to mere breeding machines and
in which one out OF every five children
will be fatherless."
He declared that the material losses
the lives and treasure sacrificed in the
war, the sSo.0Oo.Ooo day7these are but
the smallest part OF the devastation. THE
price that posterity will pay for the loss
of the fittest and finest of the youth OF
Europe, the regime of disgenics when the
lphysicaIly feeble the immoral. the UNI
patriotic shall be the fathers of thu new
generation. here will come the most hor-
rible harvest of the war lust"
THE BEGINNING Of the end of war will
NOT como until the other hah-let US
say the mother half OF the race has q
share In the governments"
Dropping into drollery for moment, he
declared: t,sc-sl
There are patriots Of Senator Browns
party who are willing for tbs sake OF
miHtarism to go down to Washington
and there live for four years az president
There are such patriots. l. say. and moi
alone in the republican party but in al
least one other party. or perhaps In thres
parties, assuming for the sake of argu-
nent that there are still three parties"
Touches ON T. n.
The belligerent utterances of ct. r.
were reviewed with a tranchant sarcas
tic wit and the doctrine OF military pre-
paredness as a panacea for war wa
torn to pieces.
why haven't we had a war with Can
ada for century, he inquired. why
the answer is very easy-because we ar
not ready for war. We have no army
no forts on the border. no gunboats Il
the great lakes.
And we're not going TO have q wa
with Japan, either; that Is. we need no
have one. OF course, " can IL We wan
10. We can permit our elves to be Rich
nnond-Pierson-H obsonized into a war o
Hearst-ified into one. Thank God, ther
are newspapers in this country that ar
not satfron-hued, but honest, conscien
tious. patriotic.
" I'VE can avoid war with Japan. net b
building great army ana navy and man
forts. but simply by treating little tar-oi
Japan like gentlemen.
IF we are going TO avert war wit
Germany on the morrow" he said. AN
We will. It will not be because OF on
army and navy. but because of tw
things. The first of these is the mas
nificent self-restraint of the America
people during weeks and months IT tel
rifle strain-a restraint that has bee
made largely possible by the press OF n
nation. The second is even more In
portant. II is our complete confident
in him who Is incarnate OF Americ
Woodrow Wilson. His and ours win |
the victory OF peace.
Enactment Futile.
War cannot be cured-by legislative Ell
actment," said DIR. Wise, near his col
elusion. Most public wrongs can. "
must remove its great underlying oaus
= and that root-cause is jealousies o. n
tions, OF peoples. OF religions.
Il remember Journeying once to Il
shrine OF the holy manger In Betnlehe
and seeing there on guard Greek prize
and Roman priest. And rememb
the look OF hatred on the faces OF tho
two men, both priests OF a great. Twin
peaceful church.
And on the same journey I came
the River Jordan. In which Il hal lol
beer my desire to dip my hands. And
stood and rolled up my sleeves pI
aratory to LAYING them In the river
my ancestors an old woman came rus
ing up and she gestlculated and spo
swiftly, and my guide told me she "
To- bidding me, because I was a Jew.
Eash In her river Here was I. retuI
lng after many centuries 10 the river
ny fathers. to my river, and this go
Woman forbidding me from washing in
fiyer that my fathers bathed In long
fore her ancestors had begun the luxu