The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1917-07-28
The Young Man

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to the Central powers, delayed the in
evitable triumph Of the Entente Pow
ers, and 50 prolonged the bloodshed |
and misery of the war In saying /
this there is no intention of casting |
the slightest aspersion on the good |
faith or purity of motive of either, 1t
is only intended to question their po- !
Iiticai acumen. The Socialist, CT |
course, it Is possible to class as a !
body. In Germany, as Herr Bebel al |
ways insisted they would, they have
marched to the beat of the drum In
France they have rallied to the flag
at the call of Monsieur Herve and
Monsieur Thomas. In Italy the ma
! jority have obeyed the call OF slgnor
| BoseIli. In the United Kingdom 1t is
| only a minority which, under the lea
dership of Mr.. Mcdonald and Mr..
! Snowden, have separated themselves
from the overwhelming majority OF
/ their countrymen. In the United
| States nothing has so far occurred
definitely to demand any alignment.
Now that the great body of pacifst
and the minority Socialists really be-
lieve, that they are, by their attitude,
consulting the best interests ofhuman-
ity, there is no reason, as has been
u
be extremely interesting to know in
what way they imagine the liberties
/ of the race would be subserved, or the
future peace of the world assured by
the trump of the Middle Europe
group Perhaps If they had exper-
fenced, in their own persons, the gen
tie mercies of the Turk to the Armen-
ian, the Bulgar to the Serb, the Aus
TRAN to the Rumanian, or the Ger
TOo1r ,1r-N,[ hra
less academic in their views on the
situations. Let US imagine, for the
moment, that the powers of Europe
rushed into the war with the uncOn-
trolled passions of the cats of Kilken-
ny. Let US try to imagine that the
great oversees dominions are peopled
with bellicOse aristOcrats and pluto
cratic journalists intent only on dOmin-
= ion and dividends Even then there
= remained still the one just man, de-
termined upon neutrality, the Unit
= ed States of America.
l For two and one-half years the just
man watched from across the Atlantic
= the hurly-burly of slaughter, from the
= banks of the SOmme to Bagdad, and
= from the Baltic to the forests of AT
i RIGA. Then one day the just man
: spoke He explained just what he
e thought of the murder of the Armen-
y
0 ed of the sinister conspiracy planned
e by an autocracy running amucb
:. Through the world for its own perso-
e nal ends, and he announced that in
n the name Of humanity, IN the name OF
= civilization, III the name of right and
: justice, he too was coming into the
n weller to insure liberty and progress
d from being blotted off the globe. AnC
d for this purpose he also called out hi:
f yOun men.
} When a nation goes to war it /.
right that its army should be raised
Is by means of the seletive draft, only
t, there must be no question of the com
- plete integrity of the drafters. TX
al permit the burden to fall on thOs,
families which are prompt to answe
y the call of duty, whilst those wht
II hesitate or fail are permitted to es
4 cape is both weak and unstatesnan
r like. A free country makes its owl
4, decisions, and there is q great gull
V. fixed between what the world Ia
Ie termed the human cannon fodder O.
y men arbitrarily driven into the rank
Y and the self-sacrifica made by fire.
nation for righteousness sake. Mel
I'd who enjoy the liberties of a fre
4, country, and yet decline to make sac
k rifices for that enjoyment, are un
D. worthy Of the privileges of their cit
d zenship. The pacifist who can onl
see the blood of war, and who hold
all warfare up to Reproduction, simpl
values human life higher than Princi
b. pie, and condemns the conduct o
m those forefathers who paid with thei
= blood for the freedom he enjoys
What would he have done, it ma
y quite frankly be asked, in the hour O
i the Revolution? If his ideals are tru
'e ideals, then Paul Revere was mer
Sc maker of mischief, the minute me
were agent provOcateurs, Israel Put
nam was setting man against man Z
Bunkerhill, and as for George WasI
ington instead of being the Fathe
ne OF his country he must have been tn
er chief william of the tragedy There /
to of course, absolutely no escape frol
ri the argument. IF it is wrong to figi
@ today, it was wrong to fight then. An
nj If it is unjustifable for the Unite
- States to assist the Allies today,
was then more unjustiiable fl
III France to assist the United Stat;
wv then.
M Of course if anyone were to mail
ng tain this, they would be compelled
rs. go a little further, and to blan
North and South alike for the Civ
War. If the action of Mr. Wilson
. reDrehensible today, the action of NJ
Lincoln who devised the idea of S
lective draft and he devised it fl
precisely the same reason that NJ
Wilson has adopted it today, in ordt
that Liberty should not perish fro
off the globe. But if it is wrong
any circumstances to fight, then itw;
wrong for the English to resist Il
Armada, for the Dutch to resist tt
Inqusition, for the American colol
lists to resist King George, and f,
the North to free the slaves by fore
Of course, if the pacifsts knew no
to restrain without force, their arg
ment would be irrefragable. {
course, if the world knew how
maintain its freedom not by arm
but through knowledge of Principl
Dacifsm would be not theoretical
but in practice. the strongest of Z
forces, but until it does it is better
fight for right then to see wrong paC
fically triumphant.
Waf being, then, a necessity
mans ignorance and sensuality, it
best that war should be conducted {