Putnam patriot., 1915-07-30
THE WAR GOD
No Civilized Warfare
The Coming of lhe Prince Of Peace Will
 End Ii Forever

To fhe Editor As I read the appal- ling details of the awful catastrophe of war that daily eonfFonts Us in the press. l am reminded of the reply made by sthef to his boy who asked, ssPa, whai the difference between civilized man and barbsrian2' The father answered, A barbarian k a man who knocks your brains cut with club at arm's length. while civil ized man blows them out mite away
 The present situassen in Europe de- monstrates, II any demonstration is needed, that there is no such thing as civilized war.aGe. War is buiehery. It is wholesale murder. It stands for sorrow, suffering, and death. As well talk Of a constructive tornado as civil ized warfare.
 Like some mighty Samson. the war god seems 10 be at work to pull down the temple of civilization, and turn the block of progress back into the Dark Ages Half of the world is Cor vulsed by the earthquake of war. ] he devastations of fire and sword go on daily. A continent is torn and ruined by this awful Moloch. Through the l inventive genius of man, new and tre- mendous dangers face the dismayed i inhabitants in the cataclysm of war. In terror they must flee from their homes in the dead of sthe night, ieav- ing ,all they have behind, lest some l bomb spreading ruin and tdeath is dropped upon their defenseless heads l from the sky.
 The nerve-racking terror and the awfu catastrophe of ruin caused by ali that attends a war of such vast propor- tions as the present one can only be realized by those who are compelled to face the situation. Human suffering is the inevitable symbol of war. It'is sufficient to stagger the imagination, and cause the heart to grow faint. Tens of thousands of men are but the pawn in the game of the nations, to be slaug htered, fed to the cannon, to maintain what is called national hon. or and commercial supremacy. Many of the sufferers are the widows and or | phans who are left 10 mourn in power | ty and unspeakable loneliness as vic tims of the great military struggle. | Poverty, ruin, hunger, land famine are the real memb bers of the alliance.
 Then comes the burden of grinding l taxation to foot the bills caused by the enormous expenditure of funds neces- saTy'to defray the expenses of the bloody contest. What the tremen. dous total will be, no one can ever guess. If the war is much longer con tinued il is sure to bring financial dis aster, resulting in the obiiteFation of credit. War means pafalssed indus tries and staggering debt. Alter the glory of victory and he despair Of de l feat will come business depression.
 And when wil war cease Never
 while sin is in the earth. Tae present death struggle VIII doubtless end soon CT or later, when some nation has won
 a conclusive victory or all have worn themselves out. But peace VIII not be permanent or ioug continued Not tit the Prince of peace comes, and all the
 nations afe earried away like chan from tue threshing floor, and the ever.
 lasting kingdom ol God is uShered in,
 viii there be real peaee.
 Men may talk of peace and peace compacts may be negotiated with the nations, and all this is laudable, to be sure. But in the end the work will come to nsught War will come again. 1 Arma2tadon is ahead of us, a struggle before which the present contest psles in comparison. The hope Of the world | is in the advent of the Prince of peace. And it should encourage our hearts to know that His coming is near, even at the doors. By His advent He will make war to cease to the end of the earth. Glad day.
 Evangelist E $. Hartwell