The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-05-16

be a truth which is half a lie. To
| quote Tennyson again:
Peace in her vineyard-yes.-but a
! company FORCES the wine"
When peace in her turn becomes
| the breeding ground of sordidness
when life sinks to the cult of com
fort and the dollar, then the spirit
| of man turns with tragic Impotence
TO the other half-truth and the same
poet to whom we owe the exquisite
picture of an earth robed in univer-
sal harvest,
Universal ocean softly washing all
her warless isles is found calling for
THE blood-red blossom of war with
heart of fire"
The second cause of war is the
existence of the army and navy, with
all their historic tradition, their rit-
ual and pageantry, their atmosphere
of music and bravery, and the sub
conscious desire which they beget in
their members for professional eXpe-
rience, and in the nation at large
for utilization of these vast assets.
Who can believe that any nation is
ripe for the disarmament of historic
regiments. the scrapping of warships?
War in fact has had a flip by the
invention of airships and submarines,
for curiosity as to the practical work.
ing of all our novel engines of war
is added to the itch for action.
Must BE Paid I'm Blood.
The third cause of war is nation
ality, with its struggle first for
breathing space and then for places
in the sun: and its semifalse con-
ceptions of national glory. The price
of nationality is war, and so long as
nationality is believed to be worth
the price, war there will be. The
boundaries of nations are drawn in
blood. They stand by their military
strength or their strategic alliance
with military strength. To relieve
them from the pressure of enemies
would be to sap the nerve of nation
ality.
There are those who urge that ev-
erythinC is at bottom economic. But
if l have not given the economic
factors the first place. a high place
they must surely have.
The vested interests of war are gil |
Santic. An expert. addressing the Royal |
Statistical Society of London calculated |
that the total cost of the first year Of |
this war would be nearly ten thousand |
million pounds. Even in peace the trade |
IF death is the livelihood of millions. and |
any attempt to cut down ornaments will |
10 resisted insidiously or openly by forces |
DuI ALMOST 1nN1nClDle. ana l
besides the interests already vested there |
ire the interests sought-the trade mo-
,opoIies and markets. the exploitation Of /
mines and oil wells and food-supply |
lreas.
Dynastic and holy wars are diminish
ng but far from extinct, and tho clergy
" never failing to bless the war banners
,eep up the notion that every war is
,"ly. Color and race still maintain that
islike for the unlike, which Is fruitful
ource OF strife.
Autocracy makes for war through the
to cover UP failures at home
" spirited foreign policy and
Democracy makes for war because the
masses are easily infIamed. Add to
hese war factors the personal quarrels
{ monarchs and statesmen Tor their
and the chapter OF accidents.
md you will see against what titanic
orces Mr.. Carnegie arrays his posse of
rofessors and pamphleteers. Even II
here were no other causes Of war, the Il
reat historic and romantic tradition
Tould suffice to kindle it. No generation
kes to die without seeing this famous
its own eyes. Every
must have its war, and SO the
atest date for The Next War is fixed by
he life of the genral now being born