The Robesonian., 1917-09-20
WRATH OF MAN TO PRAISE

Clarence roe III IloSieSHi't
Do YOU remember that strange
massage in one of the Psalms Where-
in the inspired writer says OF V'e
Almighty, "Surely the wrath OF man
shall praise Thee? A strange
thought at first glance: tnat the A.
mighty will convert even the "ra'a
Of men into a glorious lalfillment OF
divine purposes; and yet I believe
that is what we are seeing today
For almost two years after war be-
qan I looked upon it as a horrl1
and almost profitless butchery; a
nightmare Of modern history;. a re-
version to barbarism ard mediaevai-
ism: a heart-sickeing putting BACK
of the hour hands of human prog
ress. What adequate compensation
could come from all this world-Waste
Of blood and treasure l could not
But since then the air has cleared.
We see now, as we could not See at
first, what mighty issues are at
stake, what mighty purposes OF gooo
the Divine Power is working OUT
from a conflict forced On the World
! bv Germany's lust for power and ter
ritory:
1) We are in the war to end the
system Of war: -,
(2) We are in the war to erd the
power of autoeracy and set up the
| rule of the people.
(3) We are in war which / pc
lieve is going to result in making
the governments of the earth more
responsive to the needs of the toiling
masses than they have ever been be-
fore.
| Because l hate war and love peace
| I do not want to See premature
peace. l do not want to see a peace
that will leave the three great pur-
poses unfulfilled, to be battled for in
later wars. AS J. z. Green says:
"We all long for peace to come
but the most terrible thing that
could come to the world now would
be an inconclusive peace. Five years
more Of war would be better than
peace tomorrow if that peace left
the world divided into two hostile
camps, each preparing for another
struggle"
No, let US settle these issues while
they are Up for settlement. We are
warned against those who cry
"Peace, Peacew when there is no
peace. The North and the South
might have patched up a peace af-
ter Gettysburg. The North might
have agreed to leave slavery in the
South in some restricted form if we
would agree to Keep it out Of other
sections or something Of the kind;
but if such a peace had been patch
ed up, there would have been anoth-
er war to fight. We should have
had a truce and not peace. The
time had come when the institution
Of human slavery had to perish ut
terly and forever from the face Of
the earth, and it is we'll that the war
went on till it was seen that hu-
man blood would never again be
spilled over any form Of that ques-
ton.
Today in like fashion we are fac
ing Germany. There is the Hohen-
zollern dynasty mad with the lust of
conquest, and with autocratic power
handed down from father to son, the
people being only pawns in the
game Of war the Kaisers play. For
generations Germany has stood pre-
eminent as the exponent of the mill
tary system. Mirabeau said more
than a century ago that the chief
industry in Prussia is making war.
"Of all the kings Of Prussia from
100 until now," it was said, "only
one failed to wage an unjust war
and that one lived only three months
after he was crowned" This men
ace of a Prussianized Germany has
driven every other nation to higher
navies and bigger standing armies
and heavier taxation of the poor to
support such armies and navies. II
had to be so-and will have to be
$3.50 long as Germany is an arm
ed camp Of expert soldiers ready tt
spring, wolf-like, upon whatever ma
alton a war-mad Kaiser chooses tt
select as his victim: Kaiser wht
dismisses treaties as ''scraps of pa
per" when they stand in the way O.
ed to keep the peace with any ma
ton.
While we are about it, let us max,
an end forever of this system, evel
as the Civil War made an end for
; ever Of human slavery. England
France and the United States ar
, pledged to Establish Suprem
Court Of Nations to Settle interna
tional disputes hereafter and so en-
the system of war and the olerabl
burden of supporting colossal armie
t and navies. But the Kaiser has n
: sympathy for this ideal, and with a
unwhipped Kaiser the plan canno
succeed. The German dynasty too
e the sword and brought on this wa
t and not until it perishes. or is con
: quered by the sword can the world
peace be secure.
S The October American Magazine
: Mary Roberts Rinehart has writ
ten wonderful, inspiring articl
e called "My Creed" for the Octobe
An1or1can Mauaziyo Sbo