The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-08-02

| dCt ana utKfrAnCe auynOrlEcu p$ HUI.
There Is and can be no ex-post facto
| division of sentiment in this country
| about any stand which the President
actually takes. He is the President
of all the people and his actions are
the actions of an undivided nation.
| But In the formulation of opinions
and official actions, while the matters
| that concern tho whole nation are in
| process of consideration, the disinter-
ested advocates of reasonable and
| honorable peace. have as good right
| TO be heard, and TO an unhindered &C
i cess 10 the President and his advisers
as the politically and financially in
tereste6 advocates OF war.
| There is a great deal of sneering
these DAYS at the professional paci-
| fist" He Is counted a theorist. an
| academic advocate of an impossible.
semi dishonorable state of society.
While the military man is counted fle
man of honor. and the man who has
invested his millions in powder works,
in ammunition plants, in factories for
battleships ard submarines. is the
leyel-headed. sane and practical bust
ness man.
II is these latter influences that we
/ have to fear. 1t Is their voices that
are insistent in ts1e public press and
great war plants that are springing
up over night throughout the coun-
try have TO he reckoned with in
sha ping the future policy of our gov
eminent. They are here. Their null
titudes of influences. their money.
their employees are to be reckoned
with
All this cry for prepa ration, the pro
gram Of enlarged army and navy i'm
TO which we are being hurried is rot
for Immediate need, II is for future
consumption of the vast stores Of war
material that are TO he turned out
by these same factories after their
contracts with European belIigerents
have been filled. We've got tn take
care Of these plants, therefore We must
put our country on a vast war foot
ing undreamed of I'm the sarer DAYS.
Of the republic. The owners OF The
great war factories and their safe
litesv are members of Congress, oud
have their Hobbies around the I'resi-
dent and q persistent aggressive war
spirit Is being fostered by these Ereat
interests.
These are warm days. We are IN
danger Of being seized with war-ms d.
ness The spirit of frenzy thar has
been carefully fostered in Germany
for a generation. by the Kaiser and
the Krupps, IL the same spirit that isl
being fostered in America by curl
Roosevslts and DuPonts The same
EDITIONS and the same interests are
at work with US as in Germany. And
when those same people ard those
anne interests have built up their war
machine TO the same extent and per-
lection. they will plunge us into the
same terrible vortex as the Kaiser with
81 IA =.
their greed plunged Germany a year
ago.
Mr.. BRYAN resigned from the State
Department that he might go forth
and try to build up a peace sentiment
70 counteraet the growing and agrees
eive war sentiment. Whether he could
have done more for peace in the Cab
met than outside may be a question.
Certainly he had no other motive.
If the war party combine TO crush
him, and the war press conspire to
silence him, It Is not his fault, but
theirs.
In the speech reported In my morn
ines paper, Mr.. Bryan sums up the
situation in a single pregnant SEM
tence: ITO go to war with Germany
now would be like challenging an In
sane ASYLUM" We will back the
President in any stand NE may take.
But in formulating his positions for
us, we have n right 10 ask thar he
remember that we are dealing with al
warfrenzied people. Not only Ger
many, but England also, and the all
lies are in the grip Of a terrible war
madness, and every act and every at
titude of mind with them is colorcd
and distorted by the scenes OF blood
and carnage by which they are SUR
rounded and from which they suffer.
Concession and kindness are rot
weakness when dealing with an IN
sane man. No more is Il when deal
ing with insane nations. What would
be an insult from a sober man. is a
matter of indifference TO he passed
by. from a drunken man.
From Germany. or England sober,
we may demand the last iota of in
ternational right and Justice. From
Germany or England. drunk either the
| terrible draughts OF war and blood
! facing as they both do humiliation
and defeat. II not destruction we can
we'll afford to hold our rights in
f. heyanea ard Nsa and @sga ,apea 0Ari
citizens every precaution to keep cut
| Of the war zone and prevent. as far
as possible, anything that will tend
TO embroii our country in the great
conflict
That, as 7 understand II. Ia Mr.
Bryan's position. IT is the position
that every patriot and lover of his
II ,,& h.