The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1915-02-09
An Appeal for Belgium


CONTINUED from Page One
the most terrific contest the world has
ever seen, man of them show an un-
worthy eagernesS to work up"
suspicion and i~ll-feeling between the
combating parties, rather than to hold
the balance equally and with dignity.
Insult, cheap sneers and vulgar jest
ing are all out of place in the pres
ent tremendous clash Of conflicting
powers. When the gods grasp their
th~underbOltS it is no time to listen to
the chatrering of apes.
And when We are told by the ire
sponSible Journalist Of more battle
horrors and OutrageS than seem hui
manly possible of occurrence, it does
us good to learn, through plain, I'M
vanished fact conveyed in simply
written, Straightforward letters from
brave men at the front and in the
firing line that, left to themselves,
the Germans and their allied foes
would be glad enough to play football
together, if allowed, like healthy
school boys, and hat even as it is
they give each other cigarettes across
the trenches-proof positive that
when not acting under orders they
are human, normal and friendly and
have no thirst for each others blood.
| L 4OOIc Tic lOllOWI1S from a letter
OF a brave young Englishman serv-
ing in the third battalion Of the Rifle
Brigade:
"On Christmas morning some of us
went out in front Of the German
trenches and o hands with them,
and they gave us cigars, cigarettes
and money as souvenirs. We helped
them to bury their dead, who had
been lying in the fields for two
months. 1t was a strange sight to
see English and German soldies as
we'll as officers shaking hands an 1
chatting together. We asked them to
play US at football, bu they had no
time. l got n conversation with
one who worked at Selfridge's in Lon
don, and he said he was very sorry to
have to fight against US"
Reading this and various other let
tiers Of similar tone from men in
the very thick Of battle, ali bearing
ample testimony to the same truth,
l cannot believe that the foe is 50
utterly a monster as to wish to see
six million innocent people slowly
starved to death, for such a dire
business would serve his purpose lit
tie. while strongly intensefying his in-
mediate unpopularity.
Neutrals' Privilege Of SOftening War
Horrors.
War is war, II if, after all, civili-
cation is SO poorly advanced tina war
must still play it's barbarous part in
the worlds policy, then, Of course,
there must be experiences of war
which a neither be amelioraied nr
minimize9. Bur the deliberate starva-
ton os six million innocent human
beings, more or less useful to their
kind, does not and cannot come un.1er
the head Of military ~necessitz. ;"
Therefore,, it should be the pround
privilege and duty of "neu,rals'' to
do ali tina is possible TO soften nd
mitigate the fearful conditions II lie
as at present lived in unhappy but
Ddaunted Belgium.
The Commission for Relief, acting
in London and comprising representa-
tives of the Spanish, Dutch and Italian
Embassies as we'll as the American,
has undertaken a task which is al.
most herculean. Work as they will
and there is no pause and no shirk.
, ing-it is like coping with the wav q
of an engulfing sea- The needs al
!, the people becone more urgent ever
!. day that the fierce tug-of,war grows
. closer and more inSistent. C>rp,t pL
: tam has found it imperative to stor
the importation Of grain into paI
: gum, and all this is coupled with th1
= fact that under the Hague Conyon>
. ton the German army has the rich,
to requisltlon food supplies and is no,
oouno tSase morally to feed tn.
. enemys population. ~
nevertheless common sense and a;
} piomacy, as we'll as mercy and inc
Z uce, may here step in and shou, -,
seaIFauon and sickness NAV hreer
EeVi among the Germans themsalva
: as Wei as among the Belgiun1s J.,
y sHeer .ofce or cOntagion-eyil of
. KIND which might Just as conya,n
e y be avoided. Anv eta 49, a..!H.
claims instant helm and cornn a