Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1915-01-02
NOTHING NEW IN BERNHARDI
II the Days Best Cartoons.
ny JENNINGS
Professor Science virginia military Institute

|
General FREDERICK Won Bernhard
seems to have set the world agog with
his book. Germany and the Next
War" Ministers In their pulpits. pro-
fcssors In their lyceums and statesmen
from their rostrums. are all. except
those OF the Teutonic persuasion, now.
engaged in bitterly assailing the doc
trine of Bernhard. And this Is pass
ing strange. l say that 1t Ia strange,
for the object OF all this vituperation
III not the prophet. but only one OF the
many disciples Of the doctrine-'Durch
nacht und blut EUR LIGHT" (Through
night and blood to light.)
The explanation of tho remarkable
reception OF Bernhardrs book is q psy-
Geological one. 1t Is only now that
the mental attitude of the world has
become such as TO cause it's mind to
FOCUS upon those principles which
Bernhnrdi has sought to diiruse
writer's innumerable have preceded
him. but In the world at large their
teachings went UNDECIDED why? For
the reason that until now war and It's
doctrines were regarded as matters Of
special interest. of interest only to the
military man. and the world would not
pnuse to consider the jargon OF the
soldier
My purpose is not to champion tho
trine OF war is predicated. nor Is II to
refute the cold blooded" arguments
presented by Bernhardi. My sole OBJ
1ect Is to show TINT Bernhard il
foundering in error, is the victim Of
school OF thought by no means en-
comprised BY the boundaries Of the
German empire
Prcscnts No New Thought.
FIRST. wish to deny that bernhard al
presents single original thought with
respect to the nature or concerning the
justice and righteousness of war He
is. like every military leader in Ger
many, the pupil OF Carl Won Clause
WITT, who placed In the hands OF his
countrymen near n century ago Il text
book Of principles. That text since
1880 has served as an eXtra-legal con-
stitution for the ruling case OF Ger
man. and no man has risen to power.
or has been allowed TO come into no
ntical being. in the German empire
who has not accepted the creed OF
Clausewitz
The philosophy OF Clauscwitz Ia
fundamental and It is profound Withnl
II Is adapted TO the military nature as
Is the Koran to the den!zens Of the
desert. Since II was first enuncia ed
hundreds OF philosophers have e1-
pounded the creed doctrine of Clause
WITT. yet there has been but one In
experimentation nacht und blut
eur LIGHT"
Thirty-six years after the death
OF Clausewitz. John Ruskin contributed
10 the world his celebrated essay,
War" In that memorable exposition
the great EnSlishman outdid Clause
witz. He told us that war Is not only
the foundation OF all arts, but Of all
the high virtues and faculties OF men
He declared that great nations learned
their truth OF word and strength Of
thought In war; that they were nour-
ished In war, and wasted in peace;
taught by war. and deceived by peace
trained by war. and betrayed by peace:
that they were born in the bloody
cradle of strife and expired in the
convictions Ruskin approached very
nearly the evolutionary theories of that
great trio-Spencer. Darwin and Hulk
ley. While these great philosophers
claimed for 1t by their contemporary.
they did proclaim 1t to be an agency Of
selection In the evolution Of men and
nations. Indeed. was 1t not Huxley
who declared that the supranational
society Is continually in danger of re-
verting to the state of nature In which
contracts are void and the binding
force OF treaties unknown. n state in
which the only way OF settling dis
putes Is to fight It out
Gave Birth to Nation In Arms.
Ruskln wrote his essay on war in
1866: Huxley presented his essays on
Method and Results In 1871. These
dates are significant. for 1t was In the
year 1866 that the doctrine of Clause
WITT was indicated in the eyes of
Prussia. and 1t was in the year 1871
that it prevailed In Europe and actually
gave birth to the German empire and
the nation in arms. 1t was perhaps
these facts that caused the brilliant
Colonel Maude. Of England. to declare
| that what Darwin accomplished for
biology generally. Clausewitz had done
| for the life-history of nations nearly
half II century before him.
The views Of Darwin, Spencer and
Huxley on war, and those of Ruskin,
| tary state of Prussia. 1t was Walter
Bagehot, OF England. who first devel-
| oped in striking form for his country
| men the idea that red war hath much
| virtue. The main thesis Of his epochal
| work. Physics and Politics" US72) is
| the development of race character and
| the advancement of civilization
| through the continuous struggle OF
| competing groups for expansion and
| supremacy, in which the process Of nat
| ural selection operated. rs in the case
| of all organic life, to bring about the
| survival OF the fttest. the word flttest,
| OF course, having no necessary refer
| ence TO moral status. Bagchot merely
| extended Spencer's biological principle.
The evolutionary application of the
| In England, Steinmetz has made In Hol-
land and Lester Ward in America.
Ward. our great sociologist, declares
| that war Is one OF the prime factors of
| social progress; indeed. that 1t is tho
| chief and lending condition OF human
| progress. This fact. he asserts, must
| be obvious to any ono who perceives
| the meaning OF the struggle OF races,
| for when races stop strugglinf prog