The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1915-03-19
Mr.. Thomas Gives Views on War.


colossal and appalling reign OF mad
ness that has ever afflicted the human
race. Ten million soldiers, the flow
er of European manhood, are under
arms. The magnitude of the daily
slaughter proves the fierceness of the
conflict. Eight nations, comprising
the fairest parts of the earth, are
pouring to their dregs streams of
gold and blood I'm to the mad mael-
strom of war. While the thunder of
the guns on land and sea herald the
progress of the storm of death, fierce
vultures of the sky and mad sharks
of the under sea add new terrors to
the awful scene. The number of men
involved, the deadliness Of the instru-
ments of arms and the vastness of
the waste of wealth and lives already
sacrificed so far transcends all form
er wars that the human mind can
but feebly grasp the reign of terror
that now afTlicts the world.
Prayers for peace and offers of
mediation confirm the high purpose
of those who offer them but the calm
student of history will rather wait
with some patience for the fires of
war to burn out than hope to ex-
tinguish them.
This worldwar arose not from the
ambition of an emperor, the intrigues
of courts nor jealousy over CONNER
cial antagonisms. These, indeed,
were incidents of action but the war
really is the painful labor of society
to bring forth an agency for the
maintenance of permanent and uni
versal peace. Our ancestral forest
savages knew no way to adjust their
differences but by the strength of
their arms. The injustice of the
rule of brute strength was recognize
ed AID later disputes were referred
to the popular assemblies for settle
ment. Finally states were formed
and courts established to dispense
justice between it's citizens, and a
body of soldiers maintained to efforce
the DEGREES of the courts when re-
sistance was offered.
Thus society, after many centur-
les of painful schooling in the philos-
ophy of necessity found way to pre-
serve the tranquility of the state.
Simple as it appears to us who have
been familiar with it since our child
hood the system of government by
which the state establishes courts
to adjust the disputes and maintain
the peace of its citizens, and enforces
the authority of the courts with the
power of arms, is product OF re-
cent centuries, and, as this system
for preserving the peace by state
grew up slowly out of the necessity
for restraining the passions of its cit
liens, who INDUCED in frequent and
violent personal conflicts. many emf
nent statesmen are now INDUCING
the pleasing hope that the very
terribleness of the present war will
force upon the nations of the world
the necessity for the establishment
of an international parliament whose
laws for the settlement of differences
between nations shall have all the
armies and navies of the world be-
hind their enforcemnt.
Under presnt conditions each ma
ton is sovereign, and when two SOW
ereign nations cannot settle a dis
pute by diplomacy they have no ap-
peal except to arms. where justice
is too often forced to yield to the
power of the sword.
Nations. like the individuals Of
which they are composed, are selfish
and avaricious. and like the individu-
al will if there is no power adequate
to restrain them, force their advan-
tage upon a weaker disputant. Peace
between the sovereign nations de-
pending wholly upon good will, the
infrequency rather than the fire.
quency of wars is remarkable. The
nations of the earth have managed
to agree tolerably well considering
that relative to each other they are
existing in a state of unrestrained
anarchy. Now it is hoped that this
terrible war will paint the way to a
confederacy of the nations into a
compact for the adjudication of in
ternational disputes and with the
power to enforce its DEGREES. AS the
vicious element in a state is rarely
aroused in sufficient numbers at one
time to endanger the authority Of the
state, it is a reasonable expectancy
that the number of nations at any
one time aroused to the passions OF
war would not endanger the power of
the world-confederacy to enforce its
DEGREES.
II the millions of lives and bill
lions of wealth wasted in this gigan-