Hermanner Volksblatt. [volume] (Hermann, Mo.) 1875-1928, 1916-02-04
BLAME FOR death CARGOESr
PUT UPON WILSON BY
PASTOR.
Rev. L. NJ. Wagner of Cascade, No.
demands Explanation From
President.


Evangelical Lutheran Church at Cas-
cade, Mo-, criticizes President Wilson
for his failure to stop the shipment of
arms to the warning nations of
Europe, in an open letter to the presi-
dent, made public yesterday. He de-
mands that the president make pub
lie his reason for failing to heed the
protests against munition shipments
to the belligerents. The minister's
letter follows:
"Hon. Woodrow Wilson, President
of the United States, Washington, D.
C.
Dear Mr.. Wilson-More than a
year ago, nea the outbreak of the
present deplorable war in Europe,
you issued a proclamation calling up
on all our Christian people to meet IN
their churches and pray for peace.
Responding to your call millions of
our God-fearing people met in their
s~anctuaries and there lifted up their
united applications to Almighty God
for peace. And from that day to this
millions upon millions more of pray
ers have followed up to the throne of
God, beseeching him to speak the
word, stop the countless miseries of
war and restore peace among the a
ring nations of the Old World.
"But, alas! These prayers have not
been answered. They are all unheed-
ed. Is there no God? And if there
is, will he not keep his promises? Yes,
there is a God and he has said, the
effectual fervent prayer of the righte-
Gus man availeth much And If two
or three agree as touching the same
thing that they shall ask, it shall be
DONE and the Lord is not slack con-
corning his promises Hence there
must be a weigthy reason why all
these millions of Christian prayers go
unanswered. The fault is not in God,
but in man 1t is our duty to search
Gods Word and find the reason.
"By turing to the prophecy of
Isaiah, the first chapter and fifteenth
verse, we find the reason our prayers
have all been fruitless. There we
read: When we spread forth your
hands l will hide mine eyes from you,
yea, when We make many prayers l
will not hear; your hands are full of
blood There, Mr.. Wilson, is the rea-
son. These words seem to have been
uttered by Jehovah especially for our
nation and our time.
Ever since the great war has been
raging, our factories furnishing war
munitions have been running day and
night turning out the missiles of
death to the belligerent nations. Car
go after cargo of these instruments
of death have been shipped to the
fields of carnage. Each cargo means
death to thousands on the battlefield,
besides countless widows and orphans
and bereaved parents, as well as all
the other miseries and distresses that
follow in the wake of val.
"And what have we for all this I?
What reward do we reap for all these
sinews of slaughter? Why, our ma
ton fattens on the coin of belliger-
ents. Millions yea, ever billions, of
dollars of their money come to our
shores for these war supplies-and al
SO we have our hands stained red with
the blood of u fellow men! What
should u nation care for orphans
tears and widows means if we get
the money? But, MI. President, is it
any better to kill a man for money
than it is to kill him for hate? Is it
not even worse?
"But you say such traffic is legiti-
mate. That may be, according to
mans law. But is 1t according to
Gods law, or according to the moral
law? Before the American civil war
it was legitimate to buy and sell and
traffic in human slaves, but was it
right? Neither is this traffic in war
materials right, and we shall not es-
cape Gods just punishment for our
part in this war.
Here, then, is the great reason
why our millions Of prayers for peace
still go unheard. Our hands are full
of blood, and our God will ever hide
his eyes when we hold up these bloody
hands in prayer.
"Now, Mr.. President, you hold a
great office, which we gave you. Your
constituents have the right to know
why your course has been shaped as
it has in some particulars. Since you
had the authority to warn American
citizens to leave all their possessions
in Mexico and come out destitute and
bankrupt, leaving their property to
the mercy of bandits, why did you not
warn American citizens voyaging on
Il fha birh Saac - boar, nff xyacca1. f1x,s