The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1916-01-18
HAS MERCY FLED
FROM THE EARTH?

AS OHe, IuOHtn dlter UlOHtn, TeduS
the war news, he is more and more
reminded OF Col Roosevelt's descrip-
ton of his months OF hunting in
equatorial Africa. There, since a
time to which the memory of man
runneth not back, there has been a
constant warfare between the myraids
OF animals great and small, animals.
reptiles, birds of prey-the savagery
OF the animal life that is teeming
there on plain, in morass and forest.
All the myriads Of the deer family,
zebra, the different species of ante
! lope and the Gland have fed before
the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus, the
leapord and the lion. The lion has
been lord, only fighting shy of the
rhino and the hippo.
The contest has been unceasing,
the IGNORANT and the raven have
followed in the trail Of the perpetual
killing. The serpants have kept up
with and Joined in the savagery, and
1t is difficult for men, contemplating
the perpetual suffering and fear, to
understand why such everlasting
cruelties should have been shining
brightly, and the songbirds, when not
menaced by birds of prey, have been
singing, and the landscapes have
been brilliant with light, with tropical
green and wealth OF flowers indie
soribably beautiful. The impression
1t all gives is one of sadness, II the
observer has any sensibilities, and
he keeps asking over and over, why
all that suffering and all that fear
should have been ordered. The low
races of men and women existing
there are not much advanced over the
beasts Of the field. Where little bit
civilized, the Colonel tells that In one
place In a few weeks prior to his be-
ing there, man eating leopard had
killed two or three women, and FIVE
or six boys who had been guarding
their little flock of sheep, and It was
a frequent occurrence for a hungry
lion to steal into their slight houses
at night and carry off some member
OF the family. In those regions. he
himself slept with camp fires
around him every night and his gun
by his side. II one cannot compre-
bend why that should be So to turn
to the European battlefield and see
how similar the conduct of men has
been to the immemorlal contest in
the wilds of Africa for untold ages, it
is difficult to fix the place where the
acts or men are much Improvement
over the sayageries OF the lion, the
hippo, the leopard, the buffalo, the
cobra and python. We are taught
that the world was given to man that
he might subdue 1t that he might sub
due the wild beast. convert the wild
erness into fruitful fields, subdue him.
self until he became a creature of
order and of law, that he might drain
the swamps. make smooth trails over
the hills and finally with the order
established bring himself comforts
and Injuries, and at last establish JUS
ice and build temples to learning and
awaken his soul until the atrocities
1f this world should be disposed of. |
Finally, In the procession of the years
he Saviour came, and for nearly two /
thousands years his teachings have
been calling on the children OF men
70 do away with their savageries and |
10 learn the blessings OF peace and
good will, but suddenly, In the most
centers of the world, |
where there was the most ostenta.
.ious worship at the Prince OF Peace,
he nations all at once sprang to arms
and now, for wellnigh eighteen |
months they have adopted only the
method of the lion and the leopard, |
the rhino, the cobra and the python
NJ barbarous Africa. 1t is not a good |
outlook for humanity. 1t shaves
ones faith in the ultimate humanity |
and salvation of mankind. For the |
strong to prey upon the weak has
been the rule from the beginning,
and though the intelligence of men
has greatly increased, the methods
of nations seem to be the same as
In the wilderness with the wild
beasts; the strong prey upon the