New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-04-06
To the Editor Of The Tribune.

To the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: | read in your valued columns this
morning the plant of a sincere Christian
from the depths of the Catsklls lie says:
II would have no argument to offer or reply
to make to any non-Christian supporter Of the
mlitaristic euphemism. but it does seem hard
to believe that follower Of the Greatest
Lover Of Humanity the world has ever known
should not be able 20 how antithetic Is all
that Christ taught TO the taking Of the life Of
enc man by another whether he be in khaki
or not. or even the advocacy OF such taking
o, l;fe and the preparation for IL"
Where will such measured phrssing go when
the SKY begins to crack with alien artillery
r. such a day comes-and force Away, oper-
ates along the line Of least resstance-mere
arguments will not be heard. There will be
no papers to print them, no halls TO carry
their mellihuOus echoes, nothing but grim
black expanse where life is reduced to the
basic problem Of survival.
With a 42-centimetre she'll dropping into
his place Of worship, what would this Chris
tian do? Grim-lipped men, saying nothing,
moving 70 the click-clack of breechiock, to
the pounding roar and swirl Of death shell,
will be his only arguments. II he is willing
to die for his professions, as Christ did, he
will be among them For those who believe
in preparedness are Christians; believe
am. | know that Christianity had TO be
fought for through long agcs-like every
human institution that has survived Il was
fought for through generations of religious
wars, through decades of crusades, through
the individual efforts of men like Martin
Luther-all of this before it could reach the
hallowed understanding Of your Catskill cor
respondent.
All this seems so plain as 10 require no ar
gument. In fact, argument ceases with the
first scream OF an invaders she'll. Any one
who has will not stop to argue about
II. He will clinch his teeth and oil his gun.
What Of Belgium, its cathedrals and its meat
markets, alike shattered? What Of women
and babies and toddlng children strewn in
the fields about? It's all very well to say
that such suggestions are "horrid"-a. one
pacfst, with whom | talked did say. They
are "horrid"-horrid facts
All OF us hate war, fellow pacifst. War
is brutality. barbarism, anything and all that
you have called it; we are busy acting against
| it, not talking Practical preparedness IS.
first and foremost, preparedness against war.
Where war can be prevented, our method
does so prevent; witness Switzerland. With
forest fires generally raging, lot OF us are
eat in our shirtsleeves shovelling dirt. Do
you suppose We like to do it? Don't you sup
pose. fellow pacifists, we'd much rather sit
in the wagon By you and discourse upon It
If the fire comes through. you'll have TO whip
up your hobby-horses and look out for your
selves. Why sit there talking patitudes
/ about whi1a .hs cf af ma rD
over facts?
We don't turn our backs on war; We fac.
| il the safest way, If war is coming; tn.
safest. II il is not. And il is quite possible
that We shall have 20 fight. II We do not have
20 1t will be- thanks TO preparedness. no,
peace lectures. II we want survival and the
survival OF all We hold dear, we must fight
history tells us-or be prepared to fight n
we hold our Christianity dear, we must be
prepared TO fight for that It's not the alb
stract question OF taking lives" it's the
vital ono Of preventing lives. our own lives.
from being taken
| honestly believe our paciists will he our
best fighters. once they are aroused That's
the hope in the outlook. in case they prevent
us from preparing If they fight for their
country as they are now fighting against II,
We may survive. Paciists are not all pol
troons; | disagree with most people on that
Some are men Of considerable courage or
they would not take up their theoretical po-
sition in the face OF natures facts. No; the
sincere pachst either lacks mag or
has too much sees too far toward the mil
lonnum. Rolling down the avenue on cush-
Ions argues paciiism. Introduce a Zeppelin
above; pacihsm ceases assume here the
sincere pacfst not the kind who would run
around the corner, anyway-tho sincere pa