The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-08-30
INTERNATIONAL
SUNDAY SCHOOL
LESSON
BY WILLIAM T. ELLIS.
For September Is Christian Giving.
Luke 6;30-3s; 21:1-4.
Giving or n Getting War

3>oAO oroo-oo
A Giving or a Getting War.
Recently there befeif~ an incident in
street car running from Philadelphia
to the neighborhood of the munition
plants on the Delaware river that por-
trays two, attitudes concerning the
war. A Ioud-voiced woman was. talk
ing across the aisle. of the car to an
acquaintance, recounting the prosper
ity that has come to her since her
husband went to work in a munition
factory, at high wages. She wound
up smugly with, $50 I don't care how
long this war lasts!"
You don't? don't you!" exclaimed
a woman IN the seat behind. suddenly
rising and bringing her umprela
down upon the others bonnet. wen,
army! So take that!--and that!-and
that" wha cking the astonished prof
iteer at every phrase The otner
women in the car, moved in their
elemental impulses, applauded the
mother.
Grass, but real, the incident sug-
gests the line of division that the war
has drawn between two major classes
of people. To some it is a getting
war, a time for money-maklng ana
for enhanced social position. and for
improved worldly estate. This prof
iteering' class includes a wide variety
of persons, from the craven. calculat-
ing Stacker who gets the job or the
business of the real man who has gone
to France to fight, to the business man
whose war profits have added milIions
TO his assets; from the social climber
who has used Red Cross work to I'M
prove her social position and to get
her name into the papers, to the para
site who has made this upheaval an
occasion for proving upon men.
cffr
to all who construe this greatest OF
mankinds tragedies as an occasion
for personal advantage. There is
something instructive in wholesome
human nature which revolts against
this vulture quality. "Blood-money
we murmur as we watch the osten-
tation of the war-enriched ghouls
LEGISLATION and common sentiment
are growing stronger against all forms
of war profiteering. The person VINO
has merely made money out OF nu-
manity's Calvary is like unto Jeru-
salem. Jew who peddled stools to spec
tators for witnessing the Crucifixion
of Jesus. Unless / am very much
mistaken these profiteers are not
only mourning personal odium them
selves, but they are also selling their
sons and daughters to the shame of
be pointing the finger of scorn at GER
tain families, crying, They made
their money out of the war for the
worlds liberty"
The Glory of the Trenches
We are testing our time by the T.
square of the Cross. The glory of our
land is that our best are meeting the
divine measure For God SO loved
that He gave" This is the proof
of the presence of the spark. Kin
ship to the Creator Is revealed tit is
the family blood showing itselO by
the way in which our people are Civ
ing-parents giving their sons. wives
and sweethearts giving their beloved,
young mon giving their services and
substance and sacrifice. Thank God,
the heart of the nation bears the
brand of the Cross.
Soldiers show this spirit. They are
not reluctant slaves to a system.
! dragged unwillingly into the war.
They rejoice in the service, and deem
| it the proof of their manhood. They
share themselves with the world, and
offer up their all upon the high altar
| of sacrifice. Every record of the
| trenches is a record of self-surrender,
| of holy giving. I found the thirsty
| massachusetts, boys in action without
water. because they had given their
canteens to the wounded. OF course:
| that Is what being a soldier and a
comrade means.
| Nobody should pity our men IN the
| trenches: they are to be envied. They
have drawn the sting from life and
| won to the grandeur of vicarious ex-
istence. They have achieved the
| heights of audacious. self-spending ex-
: perience, following in the train of the