Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-07-13
WHAT A SPANIARD WROTE.


y few weeks ago America was hor-
rified when one of its ambassadors
publicly voiced a materialistic view
OF this country's participation in the
Great War. Every man and woman
Who had done his bit for humanity,
whether 1t was at the battlefront or
in the equally important economic
trenches at home, shuddered at the
brutal coarseness Of the words of the
fellow w-countrymen.
That envoy cynically said that we
entered the conflict only TO save our
hides. and AT the last minute. and
most laggardly at that. He ma
hciously tore all the glory from the
shrouds Of our hero-dead, and mock
cd the living. whether they be former
lighters, or the great masses who
devoted every waking moment to
backing up the men behind our guns.
After that douche of Justification,
after that stream Of canards which
flowed from the bilious ones soul, il
IS refreshing to discover that some
others. who are not even Americans,
take different view OF the partici-
I.ation q the United States in the
world War.
Vicente Blasco Ibanez, the noted
spanish author who wrote that cele-
brated bit OF war fiction, The Four
Horsemen Of the Apocalypse. as well
ss ~core Of other books, recent.t
trncntal hfe, The Enemies Of
Women" After you have read more
than fve hundred pages. describing
tho JOYS and the sorrows Of his hero
and heroine. he brings you to the
point where the United states de-
olares War on Germany.
Docs Ibanez. subject of that
country which the United states
ihrashed in IS. say that We entered
Only 10 save our hides? An, no. He,
being a member Of a vanquished
nation would have been pardoned if
~ had let his prejudices overcome
his Judgment; he could have criti-
Cized our actions, and even his most
ardent admirers in America would
have said; You must remember
that Ibanez is a Spaniard, and has
not forgotten the Spanish-American
war" But Ibanez did
not criticize US. Instead. he pictur-
I'd the mental point Of view which
the residents on the Riviera took Of
our war entry.
Here is what Ibanez. a former
enemy Of the United States, wrote
about US:
a people has just risen above all
the peoples OF the earth. Never in
history has such a rise been known.
1t dominates through friendliness,
through its generous acts. and by the
t.nefcent strength Of its activities;
.sDt through terror. the base Of all
greatness in the past.
80 one would have believed that a
people without armies could irnpro-
wise military force equal to those
OF old Europe. And in only few
months the United States had or
.anized and transported two million
men TO decide the outcome Of the
struggle and the worlds fate.
Arriving at the last moment, they
bad literally given their share of
dead In FIVE months Of campaign
10000 Americans had perished,
huge proportion compared to the
losses Of the other nations during
nve years Of fighting.
Two great wars are the most
striking incidents in its history. one
within, for the suppression Of slavery;
tht other, without. 70 prevent the
glorifcation Of war, the brutal hege-
mony Of one people over all. the ex-
altation Of a mystic imperialism.
"For the first time in history,
democracy has intervened in the fate
OF a world through the centuries
subjected 70 the rule Of kings The
modern republic until now had lived
an inner and retiring life. The wars
Of the French Revolution were de-
fensive. The Republic of the Con-
vention fought to exist, since all the