The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-02-10
CHAOS Of MADNESS HAS
CONE FOR GERMANY
Declares DIR. Calisch In Speaking On
Break With TcutOnic Government
At Beth Ahaba Last Night.
PRESIDENT WILSON JUSTIFIED
His Patience Adds Force TO HIS
Actions. and Actual Conflict VIII
Follow, Says Speaker-GcrInahs
Has Lost Idealian of Early Days.

Has Lost Idealism of early Days
The light of the law Of righteous
ness has gone out for the German
government officials, and the chaoS
Of madness has come, oeciafeu ~
Edward y. Calisch. last night IN ms
address at Beth Ahaba Temple Whei,
he spoke on the recent international
dcvelopment i'm the affairs of this
country. In referring particularly TO
the break in our relations with Ger
many, DR.. Caiisch stated that Presi-
dent Wilson would have been )usti-
fed in taking this action long before
this.
Patience and Moderation.
but he has shown patience and
moderation, both of which add to the
force Of his action he declared. 1t
appears that the coming Of actual
conflict Is inevitable. In its frenzy
Germany is defying every interna-
tonal law; every dictate OF human
ity."
Beginning with the thought that
some. people are prone 10 regard the
Jewish conception as crude and print
tive. in that they claim that the pun
ishments described in the Old Tesla
ment are extremely severe, and that
Gods wrath appears to he in very
frequent and. drastic ctiNance. Dr.
Ga.lisch said in part: Without DONG
more than merely refer TO the Iacts
that understanding scholars take
large account of the Oriental imagery
with which almost ali Biblical state
ments are clothed. that most Bioiicai
numbers are exaggerations, and that
in primitive days heroic measures
were doubtless the most salutary, We
may dispassionately study the prom
lem, of divine government TO see II
q the Jewish writer's did not after all
catch the true conception OF inc
world economy with vision that was
keener and clearer than We MINK
Divested of the particular garment
OF individual Incident or condition we
ma, perceive the same fundamental
principle that underlay all events. and
upon which the whole course OF his
tory is built. viz. the basic ideal OF
Justice
Penalty Naturally Follows sin.
The pain and penalty that follow in
the wake of sin are not the outhurst
a. divine wrath over any one ofrense-
They are rather the logical and In
evitahle consequence Of the character
q fthe deed The reign OF law in the
physical universe has its counterpart
Ia the Nbftd VI S3iF SPtii'- ksfAN - A'HN'
- account at the bank We are
credited with what we deposit, We
are charged with what we draw out.
When We speak ~ n splendid consti-
tuition ii is nothing more than sur
nlas Of strength placed to our credit.
hasing been saved by the physical
thfiftnc~S Of clean and wholesome
living. either by our forbears or our
ewes.
Morally the same condition pre-
walls. We me- not always discover il
in the short span of a single life.
though il L. even here manifest.
What man thinks in his soul that
he is SAYS the writer In Proverbs.
Children are more than the physical
offspring OF their parents The viz
tees as we'll as the sins OF the fathers
are visited upon the third and fourt h
generation. IN increasing or decreas-
ing strength, according as the third
and fourth generations bear them
selves
A Latin wfiter has voiced the
trnth---' whom the gods wish to de
s4roy they first make mad with tina.
madness that scorns truth. that de-
nias justice, that condemns righteous
ness. that plunges il into its own in
evitable defeat and possible tiestruc-
ton" After referring to illustrations
Of this truth among the mightiest
empires of ancient and medieval
times, DR.. Calisch continued:
1t appears that Germany IL d pal
pable modern example Of this truth.
Germany is modern marvel. At the
outbreak of the war. Germany was
the most intellectually advanced, the
most scientifically progressive, the
most mentally efficient, nation on the
face OF the earth. Its commercial.
Industrial and practical scholastic
progress for the past forty years was
amazing. 1t controlled certain lines
at trade and manufactures by reason
of Its intense application of scholar
ship to utiiitarian purposes. Even in
government II led the nations along
certain lines, notably OF municipal
control and sociological measures 1t
esta blished the authority OF govern
mental law as had no other nation.
Bnt--and here was the Achilles heel
in the armor of its power--it forgot,
or IL IL did not forget. II chose to
ignore. the fact that the moral law
IS greater than all else. 1t succumbed
to the seductions of it's own greatness
yts intellectual power became an OBJ
session rather than a possession. 1t
lost the splendid ideaiism of the Ger
man of earlier days. the days of
Schiller and Goethe and Leasing, and
In their place exdited a NietSzche, a
Treitschke and Bernhard. Its
intellectual arrogance overwhelmed
every element OF human sympathy.
every sentiment of humane consid-
Grafton. Its spacious Recommendations
to Justify its actions is on no higher
nlane than that the wolf gave in at
lacking the lamb drinking at the same
stream. II has arrayed the moral in
djgnation OF the world against 1t. II
js afflicted with the madness that
cbriies to those whom the gods wish
to destroy"
Presidents Action Justified.
Speaking OF the severance of diplo-
matte relations between the United
states and Germany. DR.. Calisch said
that while President Wilson would
have been justified in doing so long
hefore this, yet his very patience and
moderation add to the force of his
action. 1t appears that the coming
az actual conflict is inevitable. In its
frenzy Germany is defying every in
ternational law, every dictate of hui
mainly. The holding Of the Amcri-
can am bassador and consuls. II the
,,-Dorts are true. was a huge blunder.
y 7. IN !, breach of International cour-
tesv that no civilized nation in its
.e,,scs would be guilty Of But Ger
man government officials are simply
reside themselves. They no longer
fnossess even the imagination to con-