The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1915-01-23
THE HORRORS OF WAR.
w. NJ. ScabrOOk Points out Need of
United States Exercising Neutrality.
Editor Daily Item.

Editor Daily Item.
To those Of us who were not SO
unfortunate as to witness the horrors
of war in the days of Sherman, or.
from a casual reading Of history,
have not comprehended what it
means q great object lesson was o.-
fered last Monday by the manage
ment of the Lyric theatre in exhibiting
their four-reel feature "On Belgian
Battlefields." Considering the diff
culties Of procuring such pictures. our
only comment should be, "Excellent.'
And the lesson they bring to Ameri-
cans at this particular crisis is so i'm
pOrtant that everywhere they are ex-
hibited the theatre management
should be requested to repeat them,
and large numbers should attend.
The screen has well depicted some OF
the wreck and ruin Of poor Belgium
from which America may draw the
following moral:
Ruin follows war: war follows dis
trust and misunderstanding. and the
One-sidedness of the private citizen
contributes more to this than the
subtlety of the diplomat who pri-
marily acts to further the interests of
the citizen. We are face to face with
this selfish unsidedness, not only in
our private life, but for striking
example, in our present negotiations
with England over the question OF de-
tentiOn and search Of American ves-
sells. At least some, of the fault lies
with us rather than with the English
people, who are undergoing an abnor-
NAL strain in the gigantic conflict in
which they are engaged. The right of
II belligerent to search suspected neu-
rral vessels is recognized not only by
international law but is expressly ad-
United in the note Of President Will
son to the British government; nor
could the United States afford to deny
or abridge this right, because we have
openly exercised it in the past. and
should always remember that, if we
deny it now, we will estop ourselves
from invoking it's protection in any Of
our own wars of the future.
Great Britain is forced to exercise
this right of search mainly because
there are selfish American citizens and
corporations who seek to make money
b. exporting contraband munitions Of
war to the belligerents. The power
o. the dollar seems to be too much
fer congress in the efforts to make il
legal this crime against cilivization.
Il, one vessel our charity ships food 10
feed the Be'gians: in another our
c. pidty ships guns and powder to
slay them. What an anomaly And
yet We boast Of our neutrality.
1t is recorded that the allies, them
selves, have placed with American
concerns enormous orders for mu-
nitions, among which the following
are samples:
Remington Arms Co.--Three hun
drGd thousand rifles and thirteen mil
lion cartridges.
Union Metallic Cartridge Co.-Two
hundred million cartridges and their
total output of cartridge cases.
Winchester Arms Co.-Seven hun.
dred thousand rifles and two hundred
million cartridges.
Dupont Powder Co.-Eleven mil~
lion pounds of powder, and also two
thousand tons Of powder for artillery
and infantry cartridges.
And there are similar orders from
sucn we'll known concerns as the Colt
Works. the Autocar Company, the
Bethlehem steel Company, and the
Crucible Steel Company. While pay
ing visit to Chattanooga, Tenn, in
October. the writer was pointed out
a factory which was said to be work
ing on an order for ten thousand
saddles for the German army. When
morey speaks. the law is silent!
Noting that the allies are high up
among the purchasers OF American
arms an obvious conclusion looms up
broadly before us in connection with
this British question, to wit: If con-
gress were to make it criminal to
manufacture and export munitions Of
war to any belligerent whatsoever. be
it England, or Germany. or Mexico,
then without an intimation of war.
we would put England in mOSt
awkward position, in that CD we
would. to a large extent. remove all
cause for her exercising the right of
search: and (2) would deprive her of