The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-10-09

Rev. DR.. James Cannon, Jr.. writ
ing in this weeks issue OF the Chris
tan Advocate. says:
had seen few papers during the
last four days, and when / reached
Richmond the sinking OF the Arabic
was headlined in the papers, and COM
PEELED ones thought. no matter how
much absorbed i'm other matters. The
continuation of tle bloody conflict
for more than year has not made
il any less difficult to realize that
over one-haif OF the civilized world
is at war and that the chief object
Of interest among those nations Is
conquest of one side by the other, and
that tie greater the number Of per
sons wounded and Killed in battle on
the one side. the greater the satisfac-
ton, not to say the delight of the
other side. And this is true not only
of the men in the armies, engaged in
The fik'lt. but is also true of men of
all classes and occupations. and of
gentle. tender women, and of young
boys and girls. The horror of the
situation is not simply that the war is
on, but that now that ii Is on, it is
carried on with all the horrors of the
most savage times.
The men and women among us who
remember the suffering of the Civil
War do not need any lesson to CON
vince them that war is horrible. And
now oar young people, as they read
the accounts of slaughter and death,
can but hope that such evils may not
invade our shores.
Our people do not want any war.
There may be a few who rejoice in
the exciting and the spectacular who
would like the United States to get
into the war. and give them an OPP
.io,,. J.,tt
the fathers and mothers of the coun-
try do not want to send their sons to
battle, and the men who long for a
soldiers life on the field of battle
are exceedingly few In number.
The President and Mr.. Bryan.
President Wilson has had the sup
port of the nation az a whole. because
it has been generally believed by the
people that he would not only not
lead the nation into war, but that
he would do everything honor
ton out of the war. 1t has
been the cause of great regret
among the admirers of both men that
the President and Mr. Bryan could
not agree on all the details of the
policy to be followed Both of them
are fully agreed that the arbitration
treaties. thirty in number. which have
been successfully negotiated with most
OF the great nations. express the true
attitude of the American people, These
treaties, while made through the De-
partment of State, under Mr.. Bryan's
immediate supervision, are at the
same time the work of Mr., Will
sons administration. and are there
fore expressive of the convictions of
both Mr.. Wilson and Mr.. Bryan. IT
is hardly possible that our country
will ever get into a war when those
in authority are really anxious to
prevent war.
The Folly OF Unnecessary
Preparedness.
With the principle of arbitration
strongly emphasized rs our national
policy. and with treaties concluded
with thirty nations. 1t is amazing tol
read the literature Of the Propagand
of Preparedness which Is being scat
tered broadcast all over our country,
I say propaganda" advisedly. for it
is evident to the observant reader that
the greater part of the stir to increase
the appropriations for the army and
navy To build more battleships and to
increase the size of the standing army
comes from those who have a none
tary interest in said increase.
Preparedness Brings War.
II the present war has demonstrat
ed anvr,TT11g. II has demonstrated the
fact that preparedness, carried even
to the extreme limit as in Europe, Isl
no sort OF security against war. The
people of Europe have poured out
billions in taxes To be ready for war.
their young men have lost years of
their time training in the army, and
yet preparedness not only did not pre-
vent war. 1t actually brought on the
tt,1te r4f nm n far xr-ar
fare, the continued study of the war
game" is the greatest possible incen-
tive to war Had ii not been for the
wariike iunkers of Prussia there
would have been no war. These war
lords" Of Germany had been prepar
ing for war since 1870. They had
studied the situation. they had de-
veloped their plans, they had stored
up munitions of war, had built mill
tary railroads, had sent their spies
through every country Of Europe, and
were so we'll satisfied with their prep
arations that they were ca ger to try
It out and show he world how
thoroughly prepared they were. And
this is the logical result of this pre-
paredness policy. Just as the mani
who carries a pistol in his pocket is
likely 10 shoot upon slight provoea
ton. so a nation IS more likely to go
to war Why should we burden our
people with heavy taxes and take our
sons out of tae peaceful avocations Of
life and train them To fight? Who is
going To attack us? What greater
da niger is there today than there has
been from the birth of our nation
when has ii ever been necessary to
have a large standing army?
Less Need Than Formerly
If there ever was time when there.
was no need for a great increase in
appropriations for war purposes, now
Is the time. Does any one suppose
thai when this war closes. the people
of any of the European nations will
want any war with the United States
Staggering under Dle burdens put