Newspapers / The Monroe Journal (Monroe, … / Dec. 17, 1915, edition 1 / Page 4
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THE MONROE JOURNAL Founded in 1894 by th present owners and publishers. G. M. and R. F. Beasley. R. F. BEASLEY, Editor. Published Eah Tuesday and Friday. f 1.00 T year. Telephone o. 19. The Journal Building, corner of JefiersoD and Ueasley Street. H:il AV. Ii:i -EMltEK IT. IIM3. Why War? In the iiu- U-fore the last The Journal had an editorial railing at tention to tiie lutk t'f an adequate oxpb nation it the t-Mstome of war in M'lieral .d i'!-p eially the pivsrn! war. It was pointed out that the present war shows none of the un eit'M hue-; o! tloavate ly rai'e, re litfron or other differences which formerly cau.sed wars, and it was alli ed !.r ;.. the pretli-posing cause ot w;:r i:i modern times, anyway. Tlie 1'. rofush 'to N vs. whose editor wines with v.re.1! versatility and of ten line mialytical power, copied the (iliioiial i;u aa vitcd it. The i-uni of iis an.-wer is; :!ia! war is a result ot human I'.'.mv. and that -the indi vidual w ill l.ht under many of the same conditions ;.nd for the same reasons that other animals will lihi. Men have fought and died for ideals; therefore i; is clear that the fUht -impulse in the human is partly psychic. Nations, or croups of men, tight to K ther in (oiuiuoii cause partly be cause they ;(;o composed of individual animals arid individual souls, and partly because there U n considerable degree of similitude between the in dividual and the nation." Il is precisely the fact thai there is no simtltud.' lie'.v.een a civilized man as an individual and a modern nation at war that The Journal is a. kins; the tiittion. Tlie a.orage civilized man is gentle, he is kind, he abhors the idea of eiu.iug even the guilty, to say nothing of the innocent, to suf fer. He regards human life as so sacred that there is no ethical saunc tiou for relieving the hopelessly wounded from sulfering by inflicting u merciful dcaih. and we will not even permit the sub-normal child to die, and we care for the congenital idiot with tlie tenderest rare, when it would be a mercy to put thorn out of the way. All the world today protests against the logical develop ment of war us practiced by (ier- niar.y, x:'..crc-. if the theory of war is correct, we should admire her cruelties and her wholesale murder of innocents. We assert flatfooted that ever?' -tep in the mental, social and moral development of man as aj Individual is a condemnation of war, and that the individual of every civilised nr.tion is a standing denial of the belief that war is a result of anything inherent in man. For that reason, we again ask, why do modern na:i ns. all the while protesting that they abhor war and are really arm ing to maintain peace, find them selves at war? It is commonly asserted that in going to w:;r men revert to the primi tive instincts of man. We deny it. t'o as far b.nk as you wish in the history of man as an animal and you will find no instinct to fight eeept that common to other animals for defence or sustenance, or perchance in the heat uf anger. Even the low er animals do not light against their kind except as a last extremity. Even the primitive .-avag.s of America did not light their friends. Yet in na tions at war among civilized men, br.it hers will light brothers. Among white nations of the earth there is no enmity whatever among individ uals. English, French, Germans, Russians, Americans, intermarry and (here is not even a trace of racial feeling or prejudice. The very crowned heads of Europe now in a deaii grapple are nearly all of blood kin. The old Emperor of Austria has long been called the grandfather of Europe, so largely intermarried has his blood with other nations. The poets, the philosophers and the christians o;' each of the nations love each other as individuals and kindred souls. It is lolly of the rankest kind to SLiy that vviun these nations are plunged into war that it is on account of a reversion to individual instincts. It is in spite of every individual im pulse. The whole course of civiliza tion and Christianity has been to bring men from (heir former habits of harshness and cruelly, and in the individual this has been almost per fectly accomplished. So true is this that a nation has to be lashed to fur ry by it:i militarists and false philo sophers before it will engage in war. In national warfare there is not the excuse of individual self preser vation, or hot blood, or personal ad vantage. The soldiers who fight liav. nothing personally against ther ene mies and we herald as the finest quality of human nature the action of one enemy doing something for another. No individual in the war hopes to gain a personal advan'age by slaying innocent nen and women and children w ith whom he has no enmity. He is only screwed up to it by being made to believe that in some way h- is helping bis own nation, yet every on? will admit that no matter what the' outcome, his nation is to be on the whole injured, and not benefitted by war. For these reasons war between nations is absolutely illogical, and so far unexplained, and we are w here we started, namely, why do nations go to war? The argument thaj. war is neces sary to make nations virile and per manent is even a greater absurdity. All the military nations have been destroyed, either because of their militarism or in spite of it. Take either horn of the diUemina that you choose. Take the present war as an illustration of the fallacy of the argument. According to the best opinion of the world the very nations that are most unwarl.ke are the ones that deserve to win. The Herman philosophers held in the ut most contempt the people of France and England and said that they were decaying and would go to pieces when they came in clash with Germany. Yet today the world knows that man for man every French soldier is equal to every German soldier. And be cause of her accomplishments as a nation of peaceful and contemptible traders, England today Is, the most powerftil enemy that Germany has and is tho object of the deepest hat red of German militarists. Why? Hecause against the despised Eng lishman devoted to peace, a nation that has not conscripted a soldier, German militarism hurls itself in fu tile hatred. The pope of Home once divided the world between Spain and Portugal, both miliary nations with huge empires based upon force, yet tluy are today of no consequence. Today the last fruits of Spanish mili tarism are over-ripe in blood stained Mexico. If lighting makes fine peo ple we must admit the great superi ority of Mexico. Peaceful, guzzling swine, the Spaniard declared the Americans to be a few years ago, yet ; when the clash came, which went down? The sun never sets upon. Hritish possession today, yet the Spanish Armada was built to crush the life out of the young nation do-; voted to trade and freedom. In all his relations man has left be hind the idea of fighting, except in his relation of nation to nation. And nations make war upon each other not because It is a natural or neces- i sary or useful thing to do. but simp-, ly because man hasn't yet taken his last forward step. It is the next. He is getting away from the idea as fast as the jingoes, militarists and false philosophers w ill allow him to. The militarist writers of every nation be wail a lack of military spirit in their own countries and say that It exists in other. Yet the present cataclysm was brought about by the militarist caste of Germany who feared to let the non-military spirit grow longer. They precipitated the war not be-; cause the German people wanted it. but because they knew that the ' growing spirit of peace meant their undoing. They took the sword in hand and by the sword they will die. How absurd and criminal for America to take up the outworn cudgels and methods and arguments of a savage caste fattening in peace upon the toil of the masses of its own country and in war perpetuating outrages that savagery might well have balked at a hundreds years ago. The fiction of national honor will pass away as the fiction of personal honor has passed. A hundred years ago personal honor upheld the code duello, but today that code is in the same criminal class with assasina tion. We have found that personal honor is vindicated by honest de meanor and not by murdering one who questions it. We are as certain to find that national honor ran be vindicated by national honesty, and not by Zeppelin bombs dropped in cradles of babies. To say that men will not soon learn that war between nations is as great a folly as butchery among individu als is to deny the plainest facts of history. So far have we traveled away from the idea of the necessity for fighting, that we cannot today conceive of a war between England and the Fnited States. The mantle of our government covers more ter ritory than continental Europe, yet who dreams of another civil war in this country? To show that national enmities are false beliefs, we have only to look back within our own living memory. A few years ago the militarist of England and France said that these countries must fight and Englishmen advocated an alli ance with Germany against France and Russia. Rudyard Kipling is not yet an old man, yet his fame had al ready been made secure before he wrote the anti-Russian poem which fired the militarists of England "Beware of the Man That Walks Like a Bear." Japan and Russia today are allies. The statesmanship of Eng land kept the Sick Man of Europe alive for half a century, yet today her guns are thundering upon his last stronghold In Europe, and another christian nation holds his garments while he outrages the women of christians whose God the blasphe mous Kaiser claims as side partner In his own butcheries. Men will not outgrow war? They will unless history Is fiction and truth offers no hope. ALL READY FOR YOU CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS. LISTEN When in doubt make it JEWELRY. We are right in the thick of it, so have little time to write ads. You people are busy, too, picking and choosing, and have little time to read. But keep re membering how Jewelry fits in with the season. When in doubt make it jewelry, is a good rule to go by. Another good rule is to give only that jew elry which is known to tie of the highest possible quality. To be sure of this, come here. Take all the time you wish to look, then buy only when you are convinced that what we show you represents the most advanced thought in design ing and construction, and the big gest possible value for your money. Respectfully, J. E. PRESLAR. Christmas Shoooers Last OF USEFUL GIFTS for MEN, WOMEN and Children. FOR Men Mid Boys. Kid Gloves 50 Neckties in Xnias Boxes (boxes free) Ingersol Watches Initial Linen Handkerchiefs Silk Handkerchiefs Silk Mufflers Phoenix Silk Socks Paris Double Grip Garters President Suspenders Special Neckwear at 25c. Silk Poplin Ties 10c. Ralston and Just Wright Shoes Stetson Hats Wool Sweaters Chalmers Union Suits Pajamas Soft Collar Shirts Flannel Shirts Dress Shirts Bath Robes row Collars Tan and Black Belts Bed-room Slippers Watch our Show Windows for Display of Silk and Cotton Com forts, Large Shawls and Auto mobile Rugs. Comforts priced from 98c to $3.50. Our Notion Counter OFFERS MANY ATTRAC TI0NS FOR CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS. Complete stocks of Satin and Taffeta Ribbons, Silk Linen and Cotton Handkrchiefs, Kid Gloves, Silk Hose, Hand Bags, Ivory Sets, Silk and Lisle Thread Hose, Face Cream, Soap and Talcum Powders, Laundry Bags, Lace Collars, Gold Top Jew elry, Mercerized Knitting Cottons, Columbia Yarns, Wash Cloths, etc., etc. FOR Ladies and Children. W. H. BELK & BRO. DEPARTMENT STORE MONROE, N.C.-WHOLESALE and RETAIL Handkerchiefs Have the Odds as Gift Favorites. Initial Handkerchiefs, Silk Handkerchiefs, Lace Trimmed Handkerchiefs, Kid Gloves, Gor don Silk Hose, Glover Silk Hose, Lace and Collar and Cuff Sets, Ivory Sets, White Brush and Combs, Magnolia Face Cream, Mary Garden Powder, Warner's and W. B. Corsets, Wool Sweat ers, Sport Coats, Long Coats, Plush Coats, Fur Trimmed Coat Suits, Fur Muffs and Scarfs, Infants' Wool Leggins, Bed-room Slippers, Kimonas, Bath Robes. ANOTHER SHIPMENT OF CREPE DE CHENE SILK WAISTS, SPECIAL at $1.98.
The Monroe Journal (Monroe, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Dec. 17, 1915, edition 1
4
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