Evening star., 1915-06-15

urge you to study what wise French
man has called the psychology Of the
mob
TT would be interesting just at this
time to get the opinion of an out-ano-
out advocate of government by reIer-
endum on the question of substituting
for the Presidents calm, wise, sklliIui
method of handling international CON
troversies. the submission OF these
delicate and complicated problems as
they arise for determination by pop
uuar vote
Your activities as citizens Will e4-
tend over the next fifty years, ana ue
fore the close Of that period we snaii
century what glorious ideals you Will
see realized, And the most glorious
ideal that you can cherish is the ideai
or universal peace. But Wnlle YOU
strive for the realization of this IDEAL
! would not have you pacif1sts. II 10 De
pacifist is to yield unresistingly to
foreign aggression upon our rights ana
neglect prudent preparations TOR SELF
defense and the maintenance or our
national honor and integrity. Where
the pacif1sts, in my opinion, make thelr
fatal blunder is in assuming first. that
all wars are immoral, and secondly
that preparations for war by a nation
make it impossible for that nation to
cherish the ideal of peace.
War Part of Designs.
TO those who live. we do. in the
shadow of great conflict. war seems
unspeakably horrible and appalling;
but who can fathom the ultimate de-
signs of the Almighty for mankind? :?
History and the inspired word teach
us that war forms a art of these de-
signs. So the man who advocates
peace at any price. under all circum-
stances and at all times, must be ready
as part of that price to jeopardize the
lives, liberty and property of his fel-
low citizens, fmperil the safety Of the
nation. and oppose the eternal plans of
Divine Wisdom with tho fleeting con-
cepts of his own human egotism.
Wars must be regarded as steps in
the evolution of the race and therefore
as inevitable. One hundred years ago
the congress of Vienna met to establish
permanent peace in Europe. In the
same year Alexander of Russia, re-
ligious mystic, drafted the treaty of
the holy alliance in accordance with
which the signatories, Russia, Austria
and Prussia, agreed to govern in all
ings of the Prince of Peace OF how
little avail were these solemn agree
ments in the face of the mysterious
forces that control the destinies of ma
tions
Since We declared our own inde-
pendence in 1916 the United States has
had, during these 139 years, five wars,
and in all these wars the loss of life,
the suffering and the cost were enor-
mously increased by our unprepared-
national revenue that we raised and
expended, We spent for the army, navy.
pensions and interest on the public
debt S510,000,0O0. and $190,000,000 for
all other purposes.
DO you grasp the full significance
of these figures? One hundred and thir-
ty-four years after our first war. sew
enteen years after our last war, fifty
years after our greatest war, for every
dollar of national revenue that we
raise we spend 73 cents on war ac-
count. If war is inevitable, is 1t not
the part Of prudence to be prepared
Efficiency shortens War.
The maintenance Of efficient military
and naval establishments does not tend
to precipitate war: on the contrary it
tends to postpone and shorten in
evitable conflicts, decrease their num-
Der and diminish their cost. With our
extended coast lines facing the two
great oceans, ought we not to have a
two-coast navy, maintained always al
the highest degree of efficiency In
ships. armament and men, Ought we
not also to establish a national militia
system. so that all able bodied men
will receive military training a few
weeks every year and always be in
readiness for active service? The
United States, with such an army and
such navy, with well-nigh mex
haustible. resources, with her almost
limitless credit. never giving offense,
never waging aggressive war, strain
ing magnanimity to the utmost limits
in dealing with weaker nations, proud
ly conscious of our untarnished honor
In dealing with the strongest powers,
and still cherishing the ideal Of peace,
could lead the nations of the world in
the movement for the realization of
that ideal.
The reason why the national motto
that I recommend, Prepare for War;
Strive for Peace is not an anachron-
lives and the nations of the earth are
part of the plan extending from ever
iastingIo everlasting of Him in whose
sight a thousand years are as one day
Why should we. the youngest OF the
great nations, imagine in our pride
that the evolution of the race ends
with US?
And because We are part of a Divine
plan, we have been endowed with free
dom of the will and the creative fac
ulty BY this I mean that We have the
power to frame ideals that have no
counterpart In nature and to convert
these ideals into realities. AS our own
ideals have no counterpart in nature,
so they may be at variance with every
thing in our environment. That is
why we can cherish the ideal of peace
without being pacif1sts. The pacifist