The Washington times., 1917-04-07

of our army and their foes that they
had served but
ITO feed the crow on Talavera's plain
And fertilize the field that each pre-
tends to gain"
And now, II IL said, matters are
worse. We sterilize the field that
each pretends to gain. But is this
so? The artillery major who obliging-
ly blew half a field to bits for me
50 that might see how II was done,
assured me that he was doubling the
value Of the farmers land by q super
blowing which no farmer could az
ford.
But" said 4, show. are these pits
to be filled up and smoothed over for
the tillagew
II could shove them together with
q few charges OF dynamite" he said;
and 1 lent a ready ear, as have al
ways held that "to pkow and hoe, to
reap and SOW, and be a farmers boy"
is an uncomfortable lot, and that artil-
lery will find its true service In ag-
riculture, as II has already done In
locomotion (for your motor-car cylin-
der Is q cannon).
But how OF the effect OF all this on
the men? Here there IL nothing reas-
enable to be said; we are face to face
with the fact that pugnacity IL still
part OF human nature, and that civil
Iization is in its infancy. Men will
play at war when there are no bat
ties to fight: their cinema films and
magazine stories prove that war is a
favorite food of their Imagination:
they volunteer for war without walt
ing to be compelled; and they go back
to It after suffering its worst hard
ships. When Garibaldi offered them
starvation, wounds and death. they
Jumped at the chance; when Mazzini
offered them In the millennium they
took no interest in him
FaseInated By warfare.
At the front you see men coming
from the trenches so tired that their
mouths hang open, and you have only
to read the pages of Mr.. Patrick MAC
gill to learn that nothing but the
fascination OF war could make their
lot bearable. Others. returning TO the
trenches after their respite, are more
serious and concerned. All Of them
would describe themselves as com
pletely "fed up" with war. They are
not joking, nor singing songs, nor
making the least pretense Of enjoying
themselves. But they are no more
nOpeleS9ly WTeIcneQ IMAM l.
An officer with whom 1 Icondoled on
the unutterable Boredom OF war ad-
mitted 1t to the fullest; but men
toned, as a set-ofr, that there II al |
ways something exciting" And this |
Is nothing but war itself. |
Men torn from civil life OF the most |
and comfortable kind, and |
engaged in the most perilous service |
under conditions that would, one /
would suppose, make them envy a
polar explorer, say without afectation
that they have never been so happy.
They seek terrors and hardships more
than warm clothes, com
flresides, and security.
The never again" OF the. civilian
papers. the apology for the war on the
ground that IT is to end war, finds no
echo at the front. The soldier may
pity those who have been driven from
their wrecked homes to wander on the
face Of the earth in helpless vaga-
bondage, and are the victims of war
without having any part in it, He
1oes not pity himself; Great CORE
,pondents like Mr.. Philip Gibbs, finely
sensitive to the miseries OF the troops
and with literary power enough to
convey heartbreaKlng sense of 1t,
nevertheless seek war out and see IL
through, fascinated by the spirit
which drives men to endure and defy
10 much outrageous mischief and
ianger.
Hell, But Net q Crime.
The soldier says that war is hell;
out he does not say that is q crime.
We make many accusations against
Germany. some of them ridiculous
enough in view OF similar exploits os
'ur own; but when a man becomes
/ soldier he ceases to blame her for .
bringing war upon Europe, though ,
hat is the real grievance of pacifist /.
morality against her. Therefore |,
he moralizing which represents the
waste and destruction, the tortures
md terrors and sufferings of the war, !
Is quite unmixed horrors. may be edi-
ying and human, but it is not true to
nature at the front.
Csds Made Gentlemen.
1t is quite reasonable to hope that
many a man who has gone into the
Irmy a commercialized cad will come
nan. There will be ennobled men to
et against MANNED ones, and saved
ouls to set against dead bodies. This
s an argument, not for the perpetual
ion OF war but for the publication
Il peace: but as long as peace re-
mains unpurified, and war remains
n some respects nobler, let US give
{ its due and not deliver ourselves
o the oppression of an unrelieved :,
Iorror.
There are drawbacks; for IL COM 2
nerce at its worst makes a man q
ogue, discipline at its worst makes
i'm an automaton; and q rogue Is
'etter than an automaton, and often
much less cruel. But the military
utomaton of the barrack Is a peace
roduct OF whom the vicissitudes and 4
urprises OF war make short work.
he main objection to the huge mod
m military systems is not that they
roduce wars, but that they are re- r
uced to absurdity for such long
eriods by peace. For the soldier In
he field there Is something to be r.
aid, for the soldier in the barracks,
othing. We had better reform the n
arracks and get rid OF war: for,
1hen all is said, war is a frightful \,
and can be defended only
n the ground that our inertia Is so
ross that nothing but gigantic "a
will ipduce us to reform. L
Politicians Possess Power.
The power to make peace. and the re-
for war and It's enormous
,ischiefs doees not rest with the arny A.