The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-08-09
FOOLISH AND MISGUIDED ARE THOSE
WHO OPPOSE PREPAREDNESS FOR WAR
OPINION OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT
Excerpts from Copyrighted Article
by Theodore Roosevelt In the
August Metropolitan Magazine.


In the 33rd chapter of the great
prophet Ezekiel. the first six verses
run as follows
l. Again the word of the Lord came
unto me. saying:
2. Son of man, speak TO the chill
dren Of thy people. and say unto them,
When ! bring the word upon land.
II the people of the land take a man
Of their coasts, and set him for the
Waterman:
g. II when he seeth the sword come
upon the land, he blow the trumphet
and warn the people;
4. Then whosoever heareth the sound
OF the trumphet and taketh not warn
ing, II the sword come and take him
away. his blood shall be upon his own
head;
5. He heard the sound OF the trum-
phet. and took not warning; his blood
shall he upon him. But he mat taketh
warning shall deliver his soul.
s. But if the Waterman see the
sword come and blow not the trum-
phet and the people be not warned: If
the sword come and take any person
from among them. he is taken away
in his iniquity; but his blood will /
require at the watchman's hand.
very heartily commend these
verses to the prayerful consideration
of all those in high political office.
whether presidents. secretaries OF
state. or leaders Of the Senate and the
House at washington: and to all male
and female college presidents. clergy
men, editors and publicists of pacifist
tendency; and above all to the some
times well-meaning souls who have
fallen victims to the habit of prolong
ed and excessive indulgence in attend
ing universal peace meetings and Civ
ing, and listening to, lectures on i'm
mediate universal peace and disarma-
ment.
There are persons who are against
preparedness for war and who be-
lieve in the avoidance Of national duty,
who nevertheless are honest in their
belief and who may not be cowardly
or weak but only foolish and mis-
guided; and there are hundreds OF
thousands of good and reasonably
brave men and women who simply
have not thought of the matter at all
and who are misguided by their lead
ers. But Of most OF these leaders 1t
Is not possible to take 50 charitable
! a view. The fundamental character
istic of the peace-at-any-price men is
| sheer. downright physical or normal
| timidity. Very many of the leaders
among the men who protest against
I preparedness and who are hostile to
| manly action on our part-hostile to
| the insistence in good faith upon the
| observance of The Hague Conventions
and upon respect for the lives and
! property of our citizens In Mexico and
on the high seas--are easily cowed
! by any exhibition of ruthless and bru-
/ t,J
! denim wrongdoers who make them
selves feared. This fact might Just as
well be faced. To II Is due the further
! fact that the professional pacifist usu-
ally turns up as the ally of the most
! cynical type of international wrong
| doer.
This has been made evident by the
| attitude of the great bulk of the mer
I and women who have shrieked loudes'
for peace during the last clever
months. 1t has been made evident By
the men who have poined In th'
peace conference, peace dinners anC
peace congresses during that time
and by the women of the same type
| who on this side of the water. or af-
ter travelling to the other side of the
| water, have advocated a peace with
out honor or justice. These men and
| women have demanded peace in terms
that would not merely disregard right
| eousness, but that would crown un-
! righteousness with success. They nave
not ventured to make one profess
| against any concrete act of wrong
doing; they have not ventured to raise
their voices in denunciatton OF the in
| iquity wrought by Germany agains
| Belgium, the most wanton, the mos
hideous wrong, and the wrong on the
| largest scale, that has been perpe'
| trated for oyer century, Some Of
the women in question were abroad
actively engaged in exciting contempt
and derision for themselves and tsneil
country by crying for peace without
justice and without redress of wrongs
at the very time that the Lusitania
was sunk American women and chill
dren were at the time being slain or
this high seas: Belgian women anc
children. French women and Children
In Belgium and Northern France were
at the same time suffering the las
! extremities of infamy ar outrage
and our own women In Mexico mac
been subjected to nameless infamies
But these amicable peace prattler!
had not one word of effective swmpa
thy for any of the women and chill
dren who had suffered these dread
lut All tiisy ulu was W QAtSl
silly platitudes. which were of com
fort to the wrongdoers, and which. II
so far as they had any effect, con
founded right and wrong and put {
premium upon wrongdoing by max
ing 1t evident that. II possible, 1t would
escape condemnation, because the
condemnation was so uttered as. 4
anything. to bear more heavily or
those who resisted wrong than upor
those who inflicted wrong. There II
no meaner attitude than that Of 6
timid and selfish neutrality between
right and wrong.
Let no man propose treaty unless
he has reduced it to concrete terms
mas proposed II in these concrete
terms to his fellows. and has deter
mined whether when thus made con
crete, 1t ought to be and will be OBJ
served. Take few illustrative cases
The ultra pacifist movement, tht
peace-at-any-price movement. hal
seemingly been as strong on the Pa
cific slope as on the Atlantic sea
board and in the interior. Congress
men and editors have made speeche.
and written articles In which they
have advocated disarmament. ant
have demanded treaties by which the
United States would agree to arbi
trate everything Worthy people, sill,
people, have encouraged schooiboyi
! SOlpmnly To debate such questions