The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1915-03-17


touch with the soul of democracy
We came to London amid stream
of refugees and remained there until
about September Is. There l SAW
and heard many of the leaders of op--
inion-especially Mr.. Asquith's STIR
ring Guildhall speech. The English
too, are very fine. They are very
complaisant creatures, and it is hard
for the man in the street to realize.
the danger that threatens their in
violate little island, but they are H..
great bred-steady and devoted to-
freedom. Indeed, their faults are
the faults of the free. One Million
men-volunteers in two months IS
not bad. Little, quiet, sylvan STRAIT
ford has sent many hundreds.
Was Seeking Peace!
"I came over this Summer for
quiet and peace! Good Lord! what. ..
an unpeaceful Summer! However, L
am well, though not so obese as I'M,
May and Intellectually quite KEEN
and emancipated from my long
weary, hibernating experience in the
Adirondacks.
eve are about to create a new
world and our quiet, industrial, hu-
manitarian century, it seems, is des--
tined to be enrolled among the
bloody brawling eras of history
What tragic pity!
Germanic Ideals.
81 dare not attempt to analyze>
here the causes of this war. My SYM
pathies are with the Allies not be-
cause I dislike the wonderful Ger
manic race, but because believe.
that Prussian autocracy and belated
medieval ambitions have turned
the mighty German race into wrong
courses. Their ideals are wrong
from the standpoint of a democrat
They are mad with sense Of power
and desire for their. turn at world
domination. Rome, Spain, France
England have had their inningsz
give us ours, has been in their
hearts since 1870. The war, of:
course, is insensate and wicked an6l
should never have fallen out among.
civilized men living nationally. But;
Europe is a cockpit not home for
peace and order, and it must be-
changed or there will be no peace iD
the world. The Germanic desire to
incorporate the Balkan Peninsula In
their scheme is the real cause of this
war. An Empire from the Baltic to-.
the Persian Gulf, and incidentally a.
Germanized France and weakened
England. 1t was the collision be-
tween the Slav and the Teuton i'm
one very real sense. l predict they
will all be fighting Russia by 1885,
War Was Inevitable.
ultimately the war, perhaps, was
inevitable as the mind and nervous;
system of Europe are constituted -
Fortunately Germany is responsible
not the Kaiser so much as the mill
tary bureaucracy which surrounds
him. The gentle, idealistic Germans
have become under the new teach
ings of their historians and philoso-
pliers the most arrogant and efficient
race since the Caesars. But in my
Judgment they will be beaten and
the Allies will dictate the terms of
peace and rearrange the map of Eu-.
rope in some great congress similar
to but wiser, I pray, than the Con-
gress of Vienna in 1914. They ought.
20 hold it in Brussels in compliment
to the idealism and good faith as"
we'll as the unparalleled succoring of
the Belgians. The United States
somehow should have a big say in
this congress. do not hope for the.
total cessation of war in centuries.
though it is the deadliest crime in
the world, but the power to make it
should be taken away from proud
Kings and stubborn chancellerles
and secret diplomacy, and arma-
ments should be controlled if not,
ended. This war will be fought to a
finish. Peace patched by amiable
compromise and lull would be hid
u L