why we new. c
Shatter Mathews of Chicago University
shows how the Kaiser and his militarist gang
pounced on democratic world like a wolf pack
i
Besides beinsr an author, editor. Clergyman, und tiiuciui-, iu..
Mathews is a member of the National Security league's committee orga
nized to spread throughout the United States Information on the causes
Of our war with itrmnv. The (nmmlttfp was fnrnwrt hernniiA nf a iwor.
-a'lent belief that many Americans were unfamiliar with the extent of our
grievances and the reasons whl war could innt hs nvrtlrlori Tinntrir
Mathews is known as a student of' international politics. In 1915 he and
vr. a. u. uuiicK went to Japan as representatives of the churches of the
United States.
(From New York Times Magazine.)
fpF AMERICA needs to be told why it Is at war, its
Ignorance Is to Its credit. A nation that has tried to.
live, like a gentleman among nations has naturally
found it difficult to believe, that all nations are not
moved by respect for the customs and the laws which
codify srentlemanlv relations hctweon nntlnn
wvfiv" We liave at tlmes ovenniIsed our virtues and pur
iwvlv" pfilSeS' and in conseuence for tne lagt generation we
v I 'fjA have llstPnc1 wltn a ratner amused tolerance to suc-
troMve iHiM.-imuMuuiis ui uie xuiser ana me laudation
of Germany by subsidized mouthpieces. After war
broke out In 1914 for two years we struggled to treat
Germany and its agents as we expected other nations
to treat ourselves. "
frVi Our attitude might have characterized the Good
l Samaritan' if he had come upon the robbers hnlrlin
up the traveler, and schooled himself to believe that
the whole affair was exaggerated. x We simply could not realize the
"German attitude of mind. Accustomed as many of us had been to
interpret the finer Ideal life of Germany, we could not believe that men
like Eucken, Harnack, Herrmann, and Diessmann could freely and
-without reserve lend themselves to the defense of that which was un
, -worthy of their words as we had understood them. '
. Against our will we have been disillusioned. We have not gone
into war, we have had war thrust upon us. A chain of circumstances
over which we have had no control has brought
liome to the Americans, anxious to maintain their
aith in Germany, the conviction that America's
sovereignty was being outraged, its people killed,
Its inner peace deliberately attacked, and its. Insti
tutions, founded in sacrifice and offered to the'
world, not only despised but in danger of destruc
tion. .
Germany has forced America, as it has forced
almost the entire world, to defend Itself by' arms.
2sTobody but those suffering from myopic idealism
sympathies can see anything else. Some of us
have suffered when the 'scales have fallen cut
away by facts. At last we see clearly. We have
joot been drawn into the war by capitalism, or by
commercialism, or by national policy. For months
we have been living in a state of war, deliberately
planned by a nation whose leaders for ten years
have been preparing some day to fight America
and who have counted our good nature as cow
ardice," our unpreparedness as a lack of national
self-respect. ,
Here are the facts:
We are fighting this war, In the first place, be
cause Germany made war upon us. 4
For years she has sought to build up in Amer
ica a community more loyal to herself than to the
United States. Money has been lavishly" spent in
3ermanlsric societies, alliances, and associations
to win the admiration and loyalty of American
-citizens. Our universities have been flattered,
our professors have been honored for ' this rea-
son. Praise of the kaiser has been Inserted even
In the spelling books of our public school system.
Spies have been everywhere. ,
When the war came in 1914 German officials,
many of them in high diplomatic positions, treat
ed the United States, a neutral nation, as if It
were ' an " enemy. Pro-German publications were
founded and subsidized, strikes were organized,
manufacturing 'plants were blown up; plots
against nations with whom we had treaty rela
tions were formed within our borders, bombs
were placed on ships in our ports. Hatred of
America was systematically disseminated through
Germany and efforts were made to Involve us In
trouble with Japan and Mexico,
i In reply to our repeated- protests against these
and other acts of Germany, to be mentioned pres
ently, we have received promises and explana
tions which were little less than Insults. The
treaty that had existed almost the entire life of
the American republic was set at naught and
effor' were made to coerce us Into favorable
1 modifications of Its terms.
The right of trade with belligerents, which 'Ger
many had always claimed, even to the benefit of
our enemy in the war with Spain, and which at
Germany's own Insistence is universally recog
nized In International law, was treated as the
violation of our neutrality and alliance with her
enemies. And, finally, the proclamation of unre
stricted destruction of neutral ships upon the
high seas was a notification to the United States;
that It was no longer a sovereign people, but
that If it would sail the seas In safety It must
conform to conditions set 'by a power. that defied
International law, humanity, and elemental mor
ality. .
, In the second place we are defending ourselves
against Germany because the German state has
entered upon a program which means the destruc
tion of democratic institutions.
The Prussianlzatlon of Germany means that the
policy of Prussia to carry on economic and po
litical expansion by war Is to be extended
throughout the entire world.
We recognize that there were
U.-U 111111
DflBMnONAL
AC
91
LESSON
School
t
i
(By REV. P. B. F1TZ WATER, D. D..
Teacher of English Bible in the Moody
Bible Institute of Chicago.)
(Copyright, 1917, Western Newspaper Union.)
"The Doors
Being Shut"
1
gU-
By REV. W. W. KETCHUM,
Director of Practical Work Course,
Moody Bible Institute, Chicago
LESSON FOR AUGUST 19
j TEXT Then came Jesus, the doors be-,
j ing tshut, and stood in the midst. John 20: '
: 26.
Is built from the Baltic to the Persian gulf.
Great Britain was maligned and threatened with
destruction. South America was in part colon
ized by Germans, and the Monroe doctrine was
repeatedly threatened. '
The highest authorities in Japan have repeat
edly said that German Intrigues were endeavor
ing to bring about misunderstanding, if not war,
between Japan and the United States.
. As far back as 1903 representative Germans
frankly 'said that Germany would have to fight
America because 'It was Germany's commercial
rival. In Samoa and the Philippines German in
terference twice at least brought us to the verge
of war. Had it not been lor Great Britain, which
has always recognized American policy in the
Western Hemisphere and submitted disputes to
arbitration, German arrogance and ambition
would have years ago brought on the crisis.
With the commercial expansion of European
had seen no fewer than 60S neutral shipssunk by
submarine warfare. ,
We saw Germany precipitating this world war,
in which she has used poison and fire, as a part
of her official policy at a moment when in the
opinion of her leaders she judged the rest of the
world to be unready to defend itself against an
attack for which Germans had been preparing
for 40 years.''
The plain catalogue of facts makes It plain
why America is fighting to defend itself and democ
racy. We have entered the war primarily in self
defense. To have done anything less would have
been to surrender our- sovereignty and to have
waited passively until the German program had
been so far carried out and the truly modern na
tions of Europe so weakened that we In our
unpreparedness would have been forced to fight
a rapacious, conscienceless military autocracy,
whose ends in war are avowedly indemnities, ag
nations, the United States has no quarrel. If, grandizement, and the control of the world. Our
however, such expansion is based, guarded, and alignment Inevitably was with and for democracy.
enforced by the threat of war, the United States
can see the machinations of men who are disir
ous of expansion at the expense of the rights of
other nations.
Since the outbreak of the European war, the
ruthlessness of this German hostility to other na
tions, and particularly to those that have regard
for international law and really representative
government, is apparent. We have seen treaties
disregarded whenever they stood In the way of
German militaristic plans. We have seen con
quered states treated with a brutality worthy of
Assyria. We have seen a policy of terrorism ap
plied systematically In the abuse of prisoners, the
massacring and deportation of civilian popula
tions, the Indescribable abuse of women and chil
dren, the destruction of noblest works of art, the
devastation of abandoned regions, the wholesale
execution of Poles, Bohemians, and Serbians ; the
incitement, of Mohammedans to a holy war, and
the permission of an attempted extermination of
the Christian people of Armenia.
We have seen hospital ships sunk, unfortified
towns bombed and bombarded. We have seen a
medal struck In honor of the sinking of the Lusl
. tania. Up to the date in which we finally recog
nized that Germany was waging war upon us we
had seen 226 American citizens, among them many
women and children, killed by German subma
rines. Altogether, on the first of April, 1917, we
DRIED EGGS TO
U. S. FROM CHINA
I;
I
once, and we
dare believe even now that there are, two Ger
manys, one liberal and the other an autocracy
based on militarism. The struggle between these
two forces since 1815 has been a steady subjuga-
t llfiarallam in Prussia and the other Ger-
- ULX KA. A.. w -
f man owjuco w fiHi v. m
bility. Representative and responsible govern
ment In any true sense of the word has been
fought by Prussian leaders relentlessly. Educa
tion has been made a creature of autocracy and a
source of International hatred.
The same fate has met every land Prusslanlsm
has touched. Austria was beaten Into submission
In 18GG, and all the other1 German states were
made practically subject to the will of the Hohen
zollerns between that date and 1870. France was
robbed and humiliated. The Balkan states were
kept In perennial war In the interests of German
t-xpansion. Bohemia and Poland have been treat
ed with the same disregard of popular rights as
has been Alsace-Lorraine. Turkey became a vas
sal of the kaiser. A great militaristic, anti
democratic state like southern Germany, sub-,
servient to Prussia, has been started and all but
Imports of eggs products this year have amount
ed to about 10,000,000 pounds, valued on the aver
age at about 15 cents a pound. These products
are Imported chiefly from Japan and China and
Include eggs that have been dried, frozen or pow
dered. They are used in this country principally
by linkers in the manufacture of various kinds of
pastry.
The consumption of Asiatic egg products in this'
country has greatly increased In recent years, and
therefore the conditions under which they are
prepared become of greater interest to the public.
The operation of a model plant at Shanghai Is de
scribed as follows:
"The eggs are received at the door of the fac
tory In baskets containing approximately 1,000
eggs, and as the factory offers better prices for
choice eggs It is securing the highest'class of egg
produced within a circle of probably a 100-mile
radius. The eggs are brought lnt? the examining
room, where the contents of the baskets are gone
over and all cracked or otherwise damaged eggs
are separated. The eggs are then candled by
Chinese, who pass them before the candling lamps
at the rate of 500 an hour. The handling rooms
are kept in a temperature not exceeding 56 degrees
Fahrenheit, the range of temperature in the build
ing, used both for freezing and for drying eggs,
being from zero to upward of 100 degrees Fahren
heit In the freezing and drying rooms, respectively.
"From the candling rooms the fresh eggs with
unbroken shlls are taken to the breaking room,
which in pohit of sanitary appliances and atten
tion to details of personal hygiene scarcely is sur
passed by the operating room of a hospital. In
fact, the general effect of the room, aside from its
low temperature, Is that- of a well-ordered hos
pital, but with ten white-capped and aproned
nurses where the ordinary hospital would have but
one. The factory now employs 100 girls, each of
whom Is expected to break and separate from 1.500
An epoch of civilization hangs in the balance.
Not to have co-operated with a .world that is en
deavoring to protect itself and its future from
Germany with Its militaristic autocracy, its ter
rorism, and its disregard of International law,
that noblest product of civilization, would have
been a bid for suicide.
We do not fight for aggrandizement, or indem
nity, or the forcible imposition of our institutions
upon any country; we fight for self-protection.
We do not fight to further British ambitions or
French schemes of colonization. We are fighting
for the institutions which with varying degrees
have spread f rom America all over the world -except
Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and
Bulgaria.
Our success will make it possible, we believe,
not only for our children and our children's chlV
dren to enjoy peace, but for Gorman liberalism
to master the forces which for nearly a century
have been its oppressor.
4
The American Revolution preserved in America
and In England the liberty that goes with Inde
pendence. Our Civil war assured the future of
democratic institutions fh our united nation. The
present war is not born of our Independence, but
of our Interdependence among those nations who
have dedicated themselves to the'task of seeing
that government of the people, by the people, and
for the people shall not perish from the earth.
to 2,000 eggs a day of 12 hours. Owing to the fac
tory paying higher wages than other similar plants
and working only six days a week instead of seven,
which Is the rule of the cotton mills and silk fila
tures of Shanghai, It can pick and choose In its
labor, so that the type of girl employed in the egg
breaking room is far above the standard of any
other Chinese factory, and a composite picture of
them all probably would come nearer the Chinese
Idea of feminine beauty than any other 100 girls
that can be found in Shanghai.
4 As the workers enter in the morning they are
dressed In freshly sjp-llized clothing furnished by
the factory, and after their nails are manicured
vthey are allowed to proceed to the workroom.
The breaking room is solid concrete and is
sterilized each day as carefully as the operating
room of a hospital. The girls are seated on metal
stools at low zinc tables. Before each of them is
a curious appliance which mechanically separates
the white of the egg from the yolk. The giri takes
an e'gg from the can, Into which they have been
counted by the candlers, and with the right hand
cracks it on the bar of the separating machine.
The breaking is then finished by a dexterous move
ment of the fingers, which permits the egg to drop
into a shallow cup, where the yolk is caught and
the white allowed to drain off the sides.
The drying room Is described as embodying all
the latest features in the sanitary handling of this
product. The air used in the drying process Is
thoroughly filtered, being forced through the dry
ing apparatus under heavy steam pressure. The
egg yolks or whites come out of the dryer in flakes,
which are allowed to cool to a temperature slightly
above the freezing point. Then the product goes
to the packing room, where It is placed in boxes
lined with waxed paper, which are stenciled and
made ready for shipment.
For the freezing of eggs the separation and
straining are carried out just as for the manufac
ture of dry yolks, only after the straining the large
cans are taken to the freezing chambers. Here
the temperature is kept close to zero, Fahrenheit,
and the separate whites and yolks are poured into
cans standing on racks that line the walls of th
freezing chamber.
FINDING THC BOOK OF THE LAW. J
LESSON TEXT-II Chronicles 34:14-33.
GOLDEN TEXT-I will not forget thy
word. Psa. 119:16.
1. The Book of the Law Found (vv.
14-17), 1. The occasion (v. 14). It was
found while the work of repairing the
temple was going on. At what part In
the temple we do not know; perhaps
In the treasure house, for It was found
while bringing out the money to pay
for the repairs. Perhaps this was In
or near the ark, for the law was usual
ly kept in or by the ark.
2. By whom (v. 14). Hilkiah, the
high priest, was the finder. It Is
strange that the high priest was Igno
rant of the place where the law was
found. It Is a sad comment upon the
moral and spiritual condition of priests
and kings, since they were appointed
guardians of God's law. It is, however,
always true that when one does not
want to have his life ordered by the
Bible he will put It out of his sight.
The disappearance of the Bible from
our homes, and the neglect of It In our
study, is a certain sign of evil In our
lives. Be assured, however, that
though the law of the Lord be removed
from our sight It shall sooner or later
come before us to judge us. God has
declared that his Word shall not return
onto him void, but shall accomplish that
whereunto it hath been sent.
3. Its. disposition (v. 16). HHklah
gave the law to Shaphan the scribe,
,vho delivered It to the king along with
his report as to the disposition of the
money wlilch had been collected.
II. The Book of the Law Read (w.
18, 29. 30). 1. To the king (v. 18).
This was. a most impressive scene, the
king listening to the reading of the
law of God. If was the proper thing
to do, for those appointed by God to
rule over the people should be anxious
to know the will of God concerning
them. The pious king, believing In It
as God's Word, was apxious to know
God's thought concerning the nation.
His interest became intense, as he was
made conscious of the apostasy of his
people from God's law. His chief anxi
ety was to know what was God's pur
pose as to the nation in view of their
Idolatry. It Is a sensible thing to make
oneself intelligent as to his responsl
bllities, even to know what judgments
shall befall those who have turned
from God. One should know the worst
while there Is time yet to escape his
wrath, for reoentance is the only door
of escape from perdition,
2. To the people (vv. 29, 30). At the
direction of the king the priests, elders
and all the people were called together
to hear God's Word read. This wras as
It ever should be. People have a right
to hear what God has to say to them
as well as the king. To keep the people
ignorant of the Word of the Lord is a
great crime. The crying need of the
age, with all its boasted knowledge, fine
church equipment and cultured minis
try, is for. the Word of God to be
brought to the ears of the people.
III. The Effect of the Reading of the
Law. (vv. 20-28; 31-33). Whe.n God's
Word Is Intelligently read and under
stood there is bound to be an Impres
sion made.
1. The king rent his clothes (v. 19).
The man who will honestly listen to
the reading ofGod's Word will be
brought to his knees, for he will be con
victed of sin, andj will take the place of
self-abasement before the Lord. The
king first saw his own sins and con
fessed them. It Is a good sign when
one sees his own shortcomings and
failures, and not primarily those of
others.
2. The king made Inquiry of the Lord
through Huldah the prophetess (vv. 22
28). His supreme motive In this In
quiry was to find out whether there
was some way to avert the awful judg
ments which were lmpendjng, as set
forth in the Word of God. After all,
the human heart instinctively turns
from threatened woe to Inquire wheth
er there is not a way of escape. Along
side of the flaming, thundering Sinai
was placed the Levitlcal system of
offerings. Law and grace are not far
removed. The law becomes our school
master to bring us to Christ Through
Huldah the message came that God
had taken account of all their sins and
that judgment must fall, but Joslah
would be spared the sight of all God's
visitation of wrath. The penitence of
the king turned aside God's -.wrath
from himself, but the nation would be
obliged to suffer for Its awful apostasy.
3. The king made a covenant (vv. 31.
32). This was to the effect'that h
f
f 'W r i
i' 'SI
fr H S,.
1 J t
V' i 1
TJe door being shut and Christ, not
withstanding, in their midst, suggests
the idea that
while we may se
curely fasten our
selves away from
others, we can
never shut out
Christ.
Of course the
disciples in bolt
ing the door were
not trying to
keep Christ out.
It was their ene
mies they feared.
But if we think
of this incident
in another way,
the shut door
suggests the ef
forts men make to keep Christ out of
their lives, and the fact that though
the door was shut Christ stood in
their midst reminds us of the futility
ol their efforts.
Vast numbers of people persistently
afid steadily resist the supreme claim
that Christ undeniably makes upon
them. Yet Christ stands in their midst
and demands from them a right Intel
lectual judgment. His old question to
the Pharisees is the question he puts
to them: "What think ye of Christ?
Whose son is he 7" Jtfow, no thinking
man can get away from these persist
ent questions ; try as he may, they ever
recur, and Insistently do they clamor
for an answer. Christ is a fact and
not a fabrication, and as such demands
an explanation. Dismiss him today and
be Is here tomorrow; turn him down
'now, and he confronts you In the next
moment There is no door thick enough
nor bolt heavy enough to shut Christ
out of the reason. Even now, as you
read these words it is Christ who is
asking you, "Who say ye that I am?"
And what pray, is your answer? nave
you passed your final and absolute in
tellectual judgment upon Christ? Do
you say "No!" Then I answer, you
must, for Christ stands In the midst of
your reason, even though you have
shut against him that door, and c6n-
demns you to the task of explaining
him.
Resisting the Love of God.
Men also shut the door of their affec
tions against Christ. But even so, he
stands In the midst and asks the heart
question : "Lovest thou me?" What a
blessed thing it Is to be able to re
spond, "Yea Lord, thou knowest that I
love thee." But alas I that is not the
answer of those who have barred the
door of their affections against Christ,
nis great love for them finds no re
sponse In their hearts. Yet, the ap
peal of Christ's love is there just the
same, and if men are honest they will
acknowledge it, for all human hearts
are sensitive to love, and within is an
unsatisfied love and longing that can
never be satisfied without Christ. And
so, though the door be shut, he stands
in the midst and in the Old Testament
word says: "Son, give me thine heart!"
Men shut as well against Christ, the
door of their will. "We will not have
this man to reign over us" Is the cry
they raise; as if he were some auto
cratic despot who desired their sub
serviency that he might crush them
uhdor his Iron heel. Not so, the King
of Kings and Lord of Lords longs
to have men subject to him that he
may have the Joy of setting them free.
Giving Up to Receive.
Men are so fearful of the restraints
of the Christian life and for some rea
son seem to feel that a will yielded to
the master means a life of servitude.
To be sure, there is no true Christian
liberty without restraint; to be freed
fromjsin is to be restrained from prac
ticing it. Christian liberty is not li
cense; It is freedom from the domina
tion of the powers of evJ without and
within and when one enjoys it, he Is
set free for a richer, fuller life, a wider
usefulness, a greater joy. Such Is the
idea in the word of Christ when he
says: . "I am come that they might
have life and have it more abundant
ly." Men do not really live, in the es
timation of God, until they have that
life which Christ came to give. Why
then do they not have it if Christ came
to give it? Simply because they shut
against him the door of the will. "Ye
will not," he said to men of old, "come
unto me that ye may have life." And
that is his word to men today.
Becomes an Open Door.
, ''vjiiie Christ asks you to permit him
,sfr,-p over the threshold of your will
viL-.'our heart that there he may
would walk in the commandments oiClieSl also sas that he wilL i you
the Lord. He also made the peop! i? V to yu an Pen door. a war
jce into salvation ana a way
nto service. "I am the door ;
stand to this covenant. He no dou1
acted from the sincerity of his hep
4. Further reforms (v. 33). Josia
now reached out as far as the nation',
boundaries, took away their abomini
tions and made Israel to serve thS'
Lord their God. The fact that the book .
of the law was found Implies that It
had been lost. The way It had been
lost is not definitely set forth, but nu
merous ways may be suggested. The
Bible Is a lost bgok to many professing
Christians today? maybe through lack
of interest in it, willful neglect or neg
lect through the stress of life's busl
oss and pleasures. May we not each
r-ne inquire as to whether our Bibles
are lost? -
l
A
. 0
ny man enter in, he shall be
shall go in and out, and find
en to Christ the door of
nd he is then to you the
safety and security and
it to runer jnnsuan me.
J.er then shut the door of
yVu'r 4e"lfect, your affection, your will
against Christ? Though you do, he
stands in the midst, the door being'
shut; unrecognized by you, but therf
just the same; not to condemn, but t";
save ; to give you
The freer step, the fuller breath, '
The wide horizon's grander view.
The sense of life that knows no death.
The life that maketh all things new.