Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-05-30
aELE PREsERvATLoN AND PEACE

There are man who decry the popu'
lar belief that force is necessary
factor in the preservation OF peace
These men insist that they cannot see
any logic in the argument that pre-
paredness will make for peace. Ihey
contend that peace is the ideal OF
every nation and that therefore al
that is necessary to secure peace, IS
t. cease making ornaments and ais
band the armies and turn the naVles
into vessels of commerce.
It is a beautiful theory but 1t leaves
entirely out of consideration that most
important element of all-human ma
ture. Nature has provided that no
two men are exactly alike in looks
Thoughts words. deeds or inclinations.
In this respect they are like all other
products CT nature. No two sno"
flakes are alike; two blades OF grass
that are identical cannot be 1ouha.
There are peaceably inclined men ana
there are men who will go out OF their
way>to find trouble. There are men
, who will do what is right and Just
without compulsion and there are
others who will fight and II need pe'
die to do wrong. Men are not unanl'
NOUS in their views; no question was
ever propounded which did not result
I'm a division of sentiment.
Nations are but collections OF lncl-
yiduals. Men of the same nation are
believed to have many characteristics
in common but even in nations there
is wide divergence of beliefs ana
opinions: there are good men and
there are bad men; there are factions
that are working for the right and
factions that through error or malice
are working for what is wrong. There
are times when the right factions tri-
umph. but there are likewise times
when the side that is wrong, rules. 1t
therefore follows, as surely as the
night follows the day, that nations
sometimes do what is wrong and what
Is unjust to other nations. For that
reason, nations cannot always agree
on what is right and what is wrong,
any more than can individuals. The
time has never been and probably
never will come when all nations will
be Of the same mind upon any one
subject. There is not the slightest
reason to expect that the time will
ever come when all nations will be in
accord on all things
:, What Is the conclusion we must
necessarily reach when we admit the
truth Of the above statements? Can
It be other than that the nation which
is In the right and which wishes to
retain its life, must be, able to uphold
it's claim in an argument or a war
With a nation that is in the wrong?
Can it be other than that the nation
- 1v 9
bent, must be prepared to defend itself
when some other nation decides that
the time for change in plan is at
hand?
II ten men were put upon an island
out of reach and influence of the world
and if they were fair representation
of the various classes of individuals
that exist, what would happen on that
island? Suppose one man was
vicious, that one was peace-at-any-
price advocate and that the others
represented the stages in between II
the vicious man armed himself-as he
has done from the time of Adam
would It not be incumbent upon the
others to arm likewise merely for self
preservation? And suppose that the
vicious man was not amenable to
reason-and you know there are some
men who are not-would he not DOM
mate and make slaves of the other
nine II they refused to stand for their
rights? And supposing still further,
that the eight men of the intermediate
grades armed themselves and put on a
bold front, while the peace-at-any-price
man stuck to his belief that peace can
only be had by casting weapons aside.
Would he not be the first victim of the
vicious and armed man?
OF course If there were two vicious
men, instead of one, the likelihood is
that they would be the first to come
together and that one of them would
succumb before the survivor turned
his weapons on his next victim.
And can you doubt for minute tha.
the man who best armed himself and
at the same time, paid the closest at
tention to his own business, would be
q survivor?
II you think otherwise. you have