The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-06-15
I. R. TAKES WHACk

I. R. TAKES WHACk
Continued from First Paseo
cate for the nation would. of course.
not only mean peculiarly craven
m otdancs of national duty by our peo-
ple at this time, but would also inevi-
tablv tend permanently to encourage
the spirit of Individual cowardice no
less than of national cowardice. The
professional pacifsts. the professional
peace at -any-prtce men who, during
the last Ave years have been 80 active,
who have pushed the mischtevous all
arbitration treaties at washington,
who have condoned our criminal IN
activity as regards the questions raised
by the great world war now raging,
and who have applauded our aoject
failure to live up to the obligations Inn
,1osed upop us as siRnatory power
OF The Hague convention, are at best
an unlovely body of men. and, taken
as a whole. are probably the most I'M
desirable citizens that this country
contains, But II Is less shocking to
see such sentiments developed among
old men than among young men. inc
college students who Organize or join
these pesce-at-any-price leagues are
engaged. according TO their feeble
abilities. in eultivattng standard OF
manhood which. II logically applied.
would make them desire to "arbitrate'
with any tough individual who slapped
the sister or sweetheart OF one or them
in the face Well meaning people, as
we an know. sometimes advocate
course of notion which lie infamous;
and, as was proved by the great Cop
perhead party atty years ago, there
are always some brave men to be found
condoning or advocating deeds OF ma
tional cowardice.
Preaching 'sPoltroonery!"
sRut the fact remat tins that the advo-
oates of pacinsm who have been most
! prominent In our country during the
past Ave years havs been preaching
noltroouery. Such preaching, IL per-
/ severed in long enough. softens tho
( fibre OF any nation, and above al OF
those preaching It; and II II is reduced
TO practice II is rutnous TO national
! character. These men have been doing
mir hest to make us the China of the
+ OccIdent. and the college students,
such as those OF whom you speak. have
already reached n level considerably
below that to which the higher type
of Chinaman has now struggled on mis-
upward path.
"On the whole. for the nation as
for the individual, the most CON
/ temptible of all sins Is the sin OF
cowardice: and while there are otner
Gins as base, there are none oaser,
The prime duty for this nation IL 10
prepare itself so that 1t can proteci
( itself. and this Is the duty that you
are nreachins in your admirable vol.
nme. II Ia only when this duty has
been accomplished that we shall be
able to perform the further duty OF
helninp the cause of world righteous
I ness by backing the cause of inter
national peace OF Justice (the only
/ kind of peace worth haWng) not
merely by words, but deeds. A peace
! conference such ms that which some
/ of our countrymeh propose at this
moment to hold is purely noxious
| until, as a preliminary. we put our
! selves in such shape that what we
say will excite the respect and not the
derislon of foreign nations. and fur-
I thermore, until we have by practical
action. shown that we are heartily
ashamed OF ourselves for our craven
! abandonment of duty in not daring
! TO saw a word when The Hague con-
ventions were ruttnlessiy violated be-
/ fore our eyes. Righteousness must
he nut before peace. and peace must
4 be recognized as of value only when
+ It is the handmalden OF justice.
An Unworthy DOCTRINE
/ THE doctrine of national or indi-
viduai neutrality between right and
wreng IL an 5gHeele doctrine Hn-
! wrong is an ignoble doctrine, un-
/ or honorable man. It is wicked TO
| be neutral between right and wrong.
| and this statement can be success
/ fully refuted only by men who are
: prepared to hold up Pontius PLATE.
/ the arch-typical neutral of all time.
as worthy of our admiration. An
ignoble peace may be the worst
! crime against humanity and right
eous war may represent the greatest
! service a nation can at a given mo-
ment render to itself and to mankind
"Our people also need to come 10
their s.enses about the manufacture
and sale OF arms and ammunittons.
F, or course. the same moral law APP
/ plies here between nations as be-
tween individuals within a nation.
/ There Ia NOT the slightest difference
between selling ammunition In time
Of war and in time of peace, because
wfieiJ sold I'm time of peace II Is
! only sold with view to the posi-
, bility or likelihood of war, 1t should
never be sold TO people who will make
! bad use Of y. and II should he freely
sold al all times To those whs will
use II for nrapera pnrpese. IL is
4 absolutely essential that we should
have stores where citizens OF ma
lion can buy arms and ammunition.
I II Is a service to good citizenship to
sell a revolver to an honest house
| holder for use against bsrgiarK Or to
| a policeman for use against guaHaen.
| II eaes an - outrage against humanity
! knowingly to sell such revolver 70
burglar or gunman, The inn
morality OF the sale depends upon
! the purpose and me probable tise.
J This is true among individuals. II u
m 1eas TING arnnnn rnafinrhs / am