Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1915-06-11
WHENCE COME WARS
We Have Become Interested in Ger.
tain Causes-What Has Been Dis
cOyered-Words from the Lips of
President Wilson-The Havoc of
SuspiciOn-Dr. Dunning Answering
Our Question The Way to Cure
Our Suspicious and JealOusies.
w. T. Williams.

Inc neaQlng OF this article has been
read and written times innumerable
of late, and at this we should not be
surprised. For, owing to the predic-
ament of our day we have been com
pelied to make certain investigations,
and amid our daily inquiries, this is
one of them: Whence come wars /?
Men and women in all avenues of life
nave become interested in the causes
OF war, and their searchings have been
dIllgent and earnest beyond estimate
This is proven by their findings, be-
cause they are profound, true and i'm
partial. Never was anything more i'm
partial, true and profound The peo-
pie of the high places as well as the
people of the low places are included
and held responsible according to their
position and place. In fact, they are
openly and tersely impeached. The
Indictment includes even ourselves,
and the question is-are we guilty?
We will withhold our judgment until
we have considered the various dis
coveries, which are said to be the
direct causes of wars. We feel that
we ought to know them, trusting that
we will study them unto the day when
the plaques of wars shall be no more.
There are four items in this catalog.
They are the following: "Lack of
mutual love among men; contempt
for authority; injustice between class
es; and the passion for material gain
as the ruling object of life." These,
1--we have been told over and over, are
the causes of wars, and what ugly
upon them without coming to the
conclusion that they are black enough
to have emerged from the bosom of
his majesty-The Devil; and as such
worthy of an everlasting place in his
hot abode. But the serious aspect of
this indictment is that we have been
accused of perpetrating these hideous
and venomous items among our fell
lows. We have been told to our faces
that we have been mean in our con-
duct. Are we ready to plead guilty?
Can we rid ourselves of the feeling of
responsibility for the horrors of the
season-the horrors of which we read
day by day? Let US wait a bit, be-
cause we can easily trace the response
bility of governments back to indivi-
duals, and to say that war is the eli
max of a long-continued encourage
ment of strife among men, is to say
the truth. This in no wise can be
denied. 1t is verified on every turn,
and if we have given the attention we
ought to certain matters, we know
that such is the case. 1t is unmistak-
ably the simple, unvarnished truth.
Last November, in letter to Secre-
tary MsAdoo, President Wilson refer
red to the last decade in our country
as bad dream. He said that it
brought her business ideals into ques-
tion, condemned her social standards,
denied the honesty of her men of af-
fairs, the integrity of her economic
processes, the morality and good faith
of many of the things which her laws
sustained. Those who had power,
whether in business or politics, were
almost universally looked on with
suspicion, and little attempt was made
to distinguish between the just and
the unjust" These are sad words
and if they had come from a mind
lesser than that of our good and learn
ed President, we would be tempted
to throw them over our shoulder with
derision. But they are now the pro
perty of the world, and the task Of
discrediting them is more than We
can do. They have been accepted a!
a truthful expression of the very evi
that undermines our welfare, socially
politically, religiously. They max,
manifest the cause of our sad plight
| 1t is true, however, that conditions
like these are not peculiar to us as I
people, although they have takel
forms among US which are heart
rending. They sicken the soul as w
ponder them. We come in contac
with suspicion so frequently that W
are actually shocked. At times W
tremble to the bottoms of our being
We know by experience the havo
which is wrought by the persons VIII
entertain this demon, suspicion. The
destroy on all hands. The just is o
no more value than the unjust. The
must be gratifed in slaughter. TIL
restraints of law are nothing. Natu1
al obligations and mutual respect ar
worthless. The confidence in tn
| honor and good intentions of neigh
bors is looked upon as something to
| silly for the minds of men. Fault
L are exaggerated anu Virtues HilHliIlll
| ed SO much that often we are devoi
of the idea of fair play. The trut
is not in us, and men and women al
trampled down as the offscourings {
the earth. This is done to further tn
cause which we champion, misreprt
senting the characters of the person
| whom we oppose without compun'
ton. Do we not in this manner TO!
ter the spirit that makes war po!
sible? Is this too much for us to a.
cept? 1t is rancorous enough to t
called, hell-fire.
| Every one who encourages di'
trust, suspicion and jealousy takes r.
sponsibility for war. Expressing III
guarded criticism of persons not ba
ed on full knowledge, nurturing pr
| JUDGES against neighbors, again
races, against members of bolitic
~ Continued on page 10)