The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-11-02

From Other
Editorial Pages
CHARM THEY NEVER so WISELY


Christian Science s,onitor The fact
which has been stated repeatedly In
these columns. that the war can be
brought to an end with the coming
winter, should not blind any one To the
other fact that all the forces OF In.
triguc at the disposal OF the Central
Powers. their sympathlzers, and sup
porters. are. at this very moment. be.
ing exerted To sap the endurance of
the Allies by fallacious arguments. and
30 TO achieve false convenient peace.
Because these arguments have hither.
to fallen on stony ground. said well
known allied statesman. only quite re
Gently. II need not be supposed that the
last has been heard OF them. So long
as grain OF intrigue remains. II win
be flung out In hopes that II may
somewhere fan on fruitful soil. The
eternity OF the hope springlng In the
Central heart viii be limited. in other
words IL the paradox may be forgiven.
solely by the date OF the signing of the
inevitable treaty Of peace which viii
end the present war.
II Is well TO remember. then. even
il the argument be ad nauseam. that
the present war Is not mere war OF
beasts at Ephesus. II is not a war
IN which two dogs have fallen out over
bone. II is not "A war brought about
by the Vaccinations of capital in an
effort to exploit itself at the expense
of labor. II does not. in short. rep.
resent any futile struggle over non.
essentials. II is in plain English. a
war OF Principle Such war was
inevitable. unless, as the world grew
older. il grew wiser Now wisdom IL
not the wisdom of men, certainly not
of statesmen maneuvering politically;
IL is not the wisdom of capitalists
manouvering for new markets. any
more than IT is the wisdom of trade
unionists maneuverigg for greater
share of the profits OF commerce: nor
is il the wisdom of those who have
lost all faith in truth, and have com.
mitted themselves to an expression of
a cynical disbelief In Principle. II is,
on the contrary. 1t knowledge of this
very Principle, and Il Is expressed by
an entire obedience to Principle. IT.
therefore, the world failed to gain this
knowledge. and 10 manifest this obedi.
encc, in u sufficient degree for this
wisdom to gain boodless victory. a
collision between those who are hum.
anly endeavoring to obey Principle, and
those who. in their confidence in ma.
terial forces. manifest disregard for
Principle. was inevitable
Such collisions took place. and took
place constantly, in the past. They
are recorded IN the struggle of the
chosen people against the kings OF Sy.
ria and Assyria, in the struggle of the
Greeks to hold hack the tide of Per
sian invasion. in the effort of Christen-
dom to dam the Ottoman flood. in the
Of England to win politl-
sistance offered by the Netherlands to
the overbearing nominations OF Spain
and Rome, and. finally in the effort OF
United States 10 make a free world of
the new world. These struggles were.
however. in a way local. no matter
how large tney may have loomed. to
those engaged in them. in the ages
in which they took place. 1t was only
as the world narrowed before the steam.
ship, the electric cable and the press,
that all the forces OF good and evil
could be concentrated simultaneously
in that terrific Armageddon which was
forseen and prophesied. again and
again. by those who had won a suffi.
ciently clear spiritual perspective.
Now the present war, which is Ar.
itself. is the first, but only
the first, crash of these forces in n
universal conflict. This is why Ameri-
ca and China, Australia and Serbia.
Great Britain and South Africa. find
themselves involved in a struggle be
tween Austria and Serbia as to the dis
position OF a tiny thirty-four thousand
square miles OF Balkan territory. in
habited by some five millions of neo.
pie. What was let loose on the day
when Austria's ultimatum t. Serbia was
launched. was not an irresponsible
conpuoror. any more than
II was a war OF Jenkins ear" 1t
was the sudden. crashing of the pent-
up energies of human power tyranny.
and materiaism, against all Of the
bulwarks of freedom, peace. and IDEAL
ism. which Il knowledge of Principle
was gradually fashioning into a city
foursquare. Anybody who fails to see
this is thinking back in terms of the
war or of the struggle
between Florence and Pisa, as to who
should be greatest There was no such
in the Prussian outlook.
Peace. in the philosophy of Treitschke,
was immoral. and the destiny OF the
state above morality. And it was out
If such conception that the kaiser
-oi ged that amazing proclamation to
he Army of the East on the outbreak
If the war:-"Remember that you are
The chosen people, The Spirit of the
Lord has descended upon me because |
am the emperor of the Germans. Let
hem perish, all the enemies of the
German people. God demands their
destruction. God who. by my mouth.
bids you do his will" Here. indeed.
you have the fun development of that
famous saying of the kaiser's own
grandfather The empire is nothing
lut an expanded Prussia
II must be perfectly obvious. then.
20 any person who IS not mesmerized
by the suggestion of pacificism. that
no matter what the pope may say in
'avor OF conformation. IL Is impossible
t,,alrn fat-,,,s xt-ffb Snrh ~ apaunx- In,