Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1916-04-14
A Look Ahead

quickly cndnRlHR events Oh
great crisis, it is sometime
worth while to pause and take
broad view of the whole situa
ton and Of all the eventualities
What is to happen after tn
war ends? To answer tina
question is to forecast the histor,
not merely Of Europe but of tn,
human race. There is no coun
try, no community however re
mote and obscure, that will moi
be profoundly affected by the is.
sue Of the great conflict. King.
doms will increase in size anC
power or become extinct, colonies
will pass from one nation to an.
other; national policies will
change; international law will
become stronger or weaker; and
all the neutral nations will find
themselves in greatly changed
relations to the victors.
What of our own country? We
cannot guess the answer; we can
do little more than review some
of the influences that will govern
our future history. Of one
thing we can be sure: we shall
have a larger share of the worlds
trade than in the past; and if we
do not become dominant in the
field of world finance, we shall
be in a position to dispute the
ascendancy of England. But
that is not the important matter.
Let US not blind our eyes to
the fact that, although the gov
ernments of Germany and Great
Britain are officially friendly,
there is a widespread spirit of
unfriendliness toward us on the
part of the people of both coun-
tries. 1t is more rife in Ger.
many than in England. The
Germans, in their homes, in their
newspapers, and even insinuat-
ingly in their diplomatic notes,
accuse us of Immortality in our
trade with the Allies. MANY peo.
pie in England believe that our
neutrality is dictated by sordid
motives; that it was our duty to
take up arms with the Allies
for the sake of humanity and
democracy; and that after the
war we shall have no claim on
the friendship of nations that
have been battling in our inter
est against the militarist ambi-
tions of their enemy.
No one can say how far our in
evltable unpopularity may lead
the victorious governments or
the conquered governments,
Germany has often been sns.
pected of designs on South
America. such as might draw us J
either into a war in the defense
of the Monroe doctrine, or into a |
humlllating abandonment of our
traditional policy. If Germany I
were now successful, it would '
nave no scruples about offending s
US; in view Of our attitude on t
submarine warfare and the ship {
ment of munitions. /
Should Great Britain and it's $
allies win, we should not appre- \
bend war with them. Never d
theless, we might find that there i
was no longer that friendly dis t
POSITION toward us that was of t
no small advantage before and I
during the war with Spain. And c
although our own conscience
acquits us of the charge that we
are Sinking a duty in remaining .
out of the war, the moral con- \
demnation of others may not be Ia
easy to bear. We set out to be o.
Neutral; that we are criticized
and dlsliked by both parties is y :,
o~resumptive evidence that the "
government has honestly re- OF
NAMED neutral. d
Still looking ahead, we NAV a q
'nticipate that the longer the Of
var continues the more unpleas- =
mt our relations with the war ~
ing groups are liable to become.
lready there is a general preva- :
mt idea idea that the United "