Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1932-02-05
<<Dugout Dope y
(This column published weekly in the
interest of the Ex-service men of
Rowan County,.

glonnalres some uneasiness and much
speculation as to what the outcome
will be. They are wondering and ask
ing if they are again to be called to
the colors to fight a war they once
fought to keep from fighting. They
remember wildly the promise that
if we fight this time we will fight to
end war and there won't be any more
war. Some of them also remember
that the populace raised the cry,
"motbng is too good for Our soldiers"
Now they are wondering if they are
going to be required to listen to more
of the same kind of hooey. One mans
guess is as good as another, here is
the Lance Jacks.
AS a one time soldier, we prefer not
to fight any more wars, even if those
wars were fought in the comparative
safety of mid-continent training
camps, (which they were not) but
there are a great many things we pre-
fer less to do. Having been taught
that as an American citizen one in
herits the privilege and duty of be-
ing the protector of the weak, good
samaritan of the oppressed, and pro-
wider of food to the hungry, the
atrocities practiced in China by the
japanese raises many temperature.
Discounting fifty percent of the re-
ports as untrue, or biased by preju-
dice, there is still much to arouse the
anger of the American people. The
bombing of Shanghai with the conse-
quent slaughter of defenseless women
and children, even though they are
Chinese women and children, and the
destruction of the homes of these peo-
pies, will cause much bitter criticism
of the japanese. Some of us will be
so aroused that we will openly speak
for war, others will demand ~retalia-
rion Through trade channels, still 9TH
ers advocate stern warnings by the
government. All Of these will be I'M
official, and will bear little or no
weight, but may prove effective safe
ty valves to let off surplus steam.
Officially the United States will do
what they have always done in like
instances, write notes of protest,
crouched in language that is calculat-
ed not to give toe great ofense to the
Japanese, which in turn will be an
swered by a note not too insulting,
and the Japanese will continue to kill
Chinese regardless of sex or condition
of servitude of said Chinese. This note
will be answered by another note,
which in turn will be answered by a
note, and so on-until the files of each
nation become crammed, when the
whole mess will be carried to the base
ment and burned in the furnace. In
the end China will do what Japan de-
mands, japan will do what she pleases,
and America will send some more mis-
sionaries to convert the heather Chi
nese to our way of thinking and liv-
ing. 1t is possible that their labors will
be crowned with success, but we
doubt it. Were I Chinese, l believe
that I would look rather closely at
the man or nation that opened the
door of a tigers cage and failed to
take precautions against the tiger
coming out and clawing me up, while
the opener sat back in safety seven
odd thousand miles away.
The concensus of opinion seems to
be that America should adopt a hands
off policy and let the Japanese and
Chinese fight their own battles. In
that opinion I agree in part. We should
have done just that, but we should
have started the policy about seventy
years ago. 1t would seem that such a
policy now is hardly the thing to dc
after this nation meddled with the
tiger cub, fed-it raw meat and let it
get it's growth, unlocked it's cage and
threw away the key. Having started
this mess we really should be willing
to clean up our litter, it would b
more becoming to a nation that loud
ly and continually asserts superiority
over all the rest of the world. I,
would cost money to do it, lots Of
money, but, there is a possibility that
it could be done without the loss ir
battle of a single life. Then on thu
other hand it might not be possible te
avert bloodshed, if it were not, ther
we would be forcibly impressed with
the fallacy of that old boast Ameri-
cans are guilty of, one American sol
der can whip ten of any other nation
Time wusen't, time amt, and time
amt going to wus,' when and Ameri'
can soldier could do that, and we viii
Jolly we'll find it out if and when VT
tangle with Japan, which will be SOM
day, if not now then later, unless
those volcanoes upon which the Jap,