Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1917-11-01

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to support whom men and women
and children toilcd and starved.
He had never seen it just like
that before; reared in the family
tradition, it had seemed a law of
nature that he should have sub
=. .iects to work for him and suffer
for him and die for him, if need
be: he had been taught that it was
God himself who had given place
and power to his house; and that,
if other less favored people lived
I'M misery and died in want, why
that was doubtless Gods will, too.
And as for war-why, without
war there could be no glory, no
conquest, no chivalry. 1t was war
which held a nation together,
which made kings more powerful
and thrones more stable! But now
came a man with shining eyes who
talked OF the sinful folly of war,
OF the wanton waste Of armies:
who dreamed OF universal brother
hood, and a world governed by
love! Wild words, foolish dreams.
perhaps-and yet most dangerous
to the idea of the divine right of
kings! SO, that evening, the
prince sat and listened, and tried
to understand.
1t was Pachmann who did most
of the talking, and a great deal Of
it was for the princes benefit.
"We have been considering
your proposal, Mr.. Yard" he be-
gan, "and have discussed it thor
oughly."
AS a matter of fact, he had not
exchanged a word with the prince
on the subject; he had distrusted
him ever since Ward had offered
him his hand, for that action
showed that this anarchist, this So
%cialist, this enemy of kings, had
detected in this young descendant
OF kings sympathy and a certain
understanding. Pachmann thought
of it with disgust and horror.
"We have discussed it thor
oughly," Pachmann repeated, and
the prince, who detected the con-
tempt in the words, flushed hotly,
but did not speak "and there are
certain objections to your plan
which we wish to submit to Won.
The first of these is that war does
not depend upon explosives. Be
fore gunpowder, men fought with
swords and lances and arrows; be-
fore the discovery of iron and
steel, with clubs and stones. Man
has always been fighting even
when he had no weapons but his
fists"
THAT is true" assented Ward.
"Pray continue"
"My argument is" went on
Pachmann, dripping the plural
once for all, "that, tn gh you
may render all explosives useless,
end blow up forts and battleships
and arsenals, you will not stop
war. You will merely compel it to
shoft to another basis-to the old
basis, probably, of brute strength,
of hand-to-hand combat. And if
you do that, the old days will re-
turn Of barbarian invasions. The
Turk will sweep down again on
southern Europe; the Tartars will
invade us from the east. You will
not assist civilization; you will set
it back 1000 years. 1t will have
to fight again for its very exist
ence, as it did in the Middle Ages"
But Ward shook his head.
II have thought of that" he
said. Elm the first place, it will
be permitted to continue the use
Of explosives against the barbar-
ians-ford defense, you understand,
not for aggression = until such
time as we can persuade them, too,
to lay down their arms. As to your
other objection, it falls to the
ground the moment you agree
with me that all the nations of the
world must ultimately become
democracies. At first, it is true.
men fought of their own volition,
but it was to secure food, to guard
their homes, or to replenish their
supply of women. But since those
very early days, all wars have
been wars not of the people, but
of their rulers. They were wars
Of revenge or of ambition, in which
the people Joined because they
had no choice. They were driven
into the ranks, were sometimes
sold by one power to fight for an
other. Left to their own choice,
they would have remained quietly
at home, tilling their fields. rear.
ing their families. The only great
deception 1 know Of ia the early