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EVENING LEDGER-PHILADELPHIA, MONDAY, APKIL 5, 191d.
I SSumttttg
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PUBLIC LEDGER COJirAN Y
, cfncs it. jc ctmTis, Fsesidist.
ftirt ll.tAidlntton.Vlee-VrnldentS. John C.Mnrtin,
HfctT1" J""" Tturr; Philip 8. Collin. John n.
willlamt, uirtatota.
on-onr Ai75oAnD s
firsts It. K 'cutis, Chalrmn.
K It. WltAtBV: , ... .. Executive Editor
JOliM C. MAHTIK'. ........ .Central DuslnfM Manaser
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rniLAnbLriiiA, mo.mia. aimih, , iji,-..
That oluttonv kills mora than the itwnrd tvn.i
tdtd before machine puns were Invented.
A Great Comedy in Preparation
FORTUNATELY for Mr. Wilson, Thomas
Jefferson Is dead, and he cannot rise to
ask Impertinent questions of the speakers at
tho Jefferson birthday dinner, when an at
tempt Is to be made to commit the Democ
racy of the State to the support of it move
ment for the renomlnntlon of tho President.
The great Democrat, tho father or his party,
believed that that Government was best
which governed the least, and not nil tho
king's horses nor all the king's men could
have pulled out of him an Indorsement of a
project for launching the Government Into
tho shipping business or for creating a gov
ernmental commission to tell business men
how to run their business or for regulating
tho prices at which commodities wore lo bo
sold.
So it will be Interesting to observe the wny
In which tho Democrats, gathered to honor
Jefferson, steer their eulogies of Wilson
through the dangerous Held of mines loaded
with common sense that surrounds tbo phi
; losophy of tho man who wroto tho Declara
tion of Independence. Their efforts will add
to the gaiety of nations, whether they in
crease itr. Wilson's glory or not.
Is Uncle Sam to Neutralize Neutralizes?
THE suggestion for the neutralization of
Mexico City, with which Mr. Bryan has
been toying, is said to havo como from a rep
resentative of Great Britain in tho Mexican
capital. It was thrown out as a posslblo
way of protecting the foreigners of all na
tionalities whoso business iutetests keep
them In Mexico. The Englishman, It seems,
did not think that tho Mexicans could do
any neutralizing on their own account. lie
thought that tho United States, possibly
assisted by ono or more of the other inter
ested Powers, might send a sufficient armed
force to Mexico City nnd to tho important
stations on the Vera Cruz-Mc.xleo City Rail
road to protect the lives and property of na
tives and foreigners alike.
Such a way of bringing about noutrallza
tloruwmtjd also be a sort of peaceful Inter
vention. But if our neighbors across tbo
border are to be allowed to kill and murder
one another to their hearts' content while
foreigners who happen to get in the way of
the bullets must accept the consequences of
their proximity to trouble, how Is It possible
for us to Interfere with tbo freedom to riot
and plunder which President Wilson praised
the last time he permitted tho public to know
what was In his mind about Mexico?
Neutralization might succeed If tho United
States should sot out to neutralize the nou
trallzers. And then, again, it might not bo
any more successful than when Washington
set out to get Huerta to apologize for insult
ing the flag.
The Poor Man's Fertilizer
MORE good than evil was wi ought by tho
Easter snowstorm which swept along
the Atlantic coast ftom North Carolina to
Maine. If It had been rain, It would havo
run Into the streams, washing surfare soli
away with it. Instead, it lay on tho earth,
a warm blanket, melting slowly and sinking
Into the ground, watering tho toots of all
the growing things nnd carrying its benefi
cent moisture to tho subsoil, wheto It will bo
stored until It la needed later. Such a snow
' is. known In some parts of tho country as
the poor man's fertilizer, because of Its rec
ognized benefits to the farmer.
The Inconvenience which Is caused the
town dweller was slight In comparison with
Jts blessings to tho country. Saturday after
noon' and evening might havo 'cen In the
heart of the winter, but Sunday morning
dawned bright and sunny and the walks
were quickly cleared, and mnny or the
streets' by night wero almost ns dry as before
the snow began to fall. There will he little
of It left In town tonight. Yet it will bo a
topic of conversation for tho next 20 years
a.nd the time of tho Easter blizzard of 1915
, will be o; date from which to reckon, like the
year of the great wind In Ireland or the
' blliszard of March, 1888.
An Effort to Can the Deficit
THE Treasury Department Is showing
commendable zeal in Its effort to get rid
of the deficit. The interesting Government
'r periodical, known to the curious as Treasury
-Decisions, contains each week one or moro
rulings taking an imported commodity from
la. classification at a low rate of duty and
putting It In a, classification at a higher rate.
fTtie desire to raise revenue Js so strong
fftliat the? Democratic instinct for a low tariff
, Js overcome. No thlck-and-thln protection
law could increase the duty on Imports with
more satisfaction than the Democratic oill
t rials are manifesting.
The latest application of tbie -eal for rev
est, regardless of Democratic theories, has
lien upon imported beets in cans. They
suvfr bwm admitted at a duty of 5 per cent.
valorem, levied upon "beets of all kinds."
nne4 vegetables, however, are taxed at 86
&p cnt. sd valorem. The New York, Collec
tor of Customs Baw an opportunity for more
fvenue and ha advised the Secretary of the
t-frmMuty that the classification of beets
.jihouW toe changed. After a careful consid-
i-ittlon ot the case In Its legal and economic
uohtu-al bearings, .Assistant Secretary
tm has Informed Collector Malone that
bis "have let their identity as
" and are properir lutlMf ft canned
(bpprtabteife 4 Mrectt4 Itajt ht c ta-
Wcstorn beet growers whoso Industry Is to
bo destroyed by tho removal of tho duty on
sugar; but tho nomocracy would not be
guilty of such a serious Indiscretion ns try
Ing to protect on American Industry. Tho
ruling Is realty mndo In an effort to can tho
deficit.
Foolish Fight Against Local Option
TT IS of paramount Importance to the men
who havo money Invested In liquor prop
ertles that the local option bill bo passed at
llarrlsburg.
The measure contemplates a sane and tem
perato solution of the problem. It represents,
It may be, a last compromise. Certainly If
by trick or crookedness It Is defeated, the
feeling against tho liquor ring ns tho in
variable foe of good government will bo
Justified, and tho next plan formulated for
the relief of citizens nnd communities will
glvo little consideration to this sort of vested
Interest, but fanatically or otherwise will
seek to uproot It and dtivo It utterly from
tho Commonwealth.
Liquor mon assert that a slender majority
should not be allowed to deprive n lingo
minority of Us right to drink alcohol. What,
then, shnll bo said of tho right of n. small
minority to deal in liquid poison In com
munities where the vast majority Is vio
lently opposed tn the continuance of such
traffic? Those men would compel whole
counties to license "booze" against their will,
but they are horrified at tho suggestion that
a few cltbcns hero ami there should be de
prived of tlio privllego of converting them
selves Into beasts. "Peisonnl liberty" for
those who want to drink, but no "personal
liberty" for those who want good govern
ment and desire to rear their children lit safe
and sane communities! It la an untenable
position.
Tho liquor ring should read tho hand
writing on the wall. It should Itself
sanction the bill to permit each county to
decide for itself whether or not to license
the sale of strong drink. By so doing it
would remain In possession of Its strong
holds, at least for a time, nor would it be
weakened structurally by tho loss of terri
tory which Is even now held against the will
of the people. The only chance the liquor
ring has rests in the local option bill. It is
a rope for a drowning cause and cannot bo
refused without extreme peril.
Let tho advocates of local option flock to
Harrlsburg tomorrow. A great demonstra
tion will save tho Stato from tho humiliation
of a political liquor light later on. This is
the great opportunity to keep "booze" out of
politics, to prevent it from splitting parties
wide open and dedicating the Commonwealth
to the woes of. a fanatical campaign.
But tho strongest of all local option en
thusiasts should bo tho liquor interests
themselves.
Daniels Should Imitate Bryan
SECRETARY DANIELS may have a plan
for reorganizing tho navy and putting it
on a lighting basis, but It is worth nothing
unless It has the approval of the experts In
his department. Lnjmen have been known
to go Into a profession with which they wero
unfamiliar and by tho force of their genius
tell men long engaged In it where they could
Improve their methods. But the most servllo
admirer of .losephus Daniels has never
charged him with the possession of genius.
Mr. Bryan lias set an excellent example for
Imitation by the Secretary of the Navy and
by every other Inexpert politician put In high
office, no goes about the country making
speeches, while Mr. Lansing, a man trained
in international law und the arts of diplo
macy, attends to tho serious work of the Stato
Department. For Mr. Bryan is the kind of a
wise man who does not know and knows that
he dors not know. Hut Seeietnry Daniels Is
the kind of n man who does not know that
ho does not know. It Is not surprising, thete
fore, that the whole navy Is seething with
suppressed insubordination.
Does It Pay to Do Courteous?
BEING courteous Is u habit which Is likely
to develop Into a bank account. There
havo been surly men who succeeded In busi
ness, perhaps because their employes were
not surly, but fortune, nevertheless, has
usually preferred to keep steady company
with gentlemen.
Good will is what every business is look
ing for; It is a part of its capital. It is never
got by sour faces. Tho public will not accept
discourtesy even in fiction. It demands good
humor, a happy ending, a"thcre-I've-pleased-you"
attitude on tho part of tho author. And
ono ot tho strongest nssets of a corrupt
political organization Is tho fact that pub
licity concerning its acts Is necessarily more
or less discourteous, wherefoio the public
does not like It. Vice becomes attractive
when descriptions of it are impolite, so much
does humanity applaud pleasantness, which
is another name for courtesy.
Yes, courtesy pays, In business or out of It,
even If the dividends uro sometimes deferred.
It pays in politics, often nt the sacrifice of
public morality, but It pays most of all right
In the home In the form of happiness
coupons.
Mexico seems to be another victim of t"ho
rnana for reform.
Getting to Constantinople is Just the loss
of one battleship after another.
A Councilman In contempt of court may be
a novel thing, but a Councilman In contempt
of public opinion is quite usual.
The Prlnz Eitel Frledrlch probably decided
that there waa not a fighting chance of
passing the seven sisters,
China and Japan are said to have reached
an agreement, Japan having done all the
reaching and China the agreeing.
The Austrians know more about retreat'
Ing than any other army In Europe. There
is no other with so much experience In
'coming bapk."
Secretary Daniels has probably learned
more about the navy than any other Sec
retary before him there was so much more
ha did not know.
I
Understatement Is a literary vice, of which
the writers of the weather prc-gnostlcatiaJis
snouts! bwar. They eaid tin Saturday tnt
It wwU jwebAbly la, whleb. wa tardly
t dRtt descrlrt ' at what happened.
THE APPEAL TO
PUBLIC OPINION
Business Men Are Waking Up to a
New Kecognition of Their Civic
Importance, and for a Weapon tho
Choice Is Publicity.
By VANCE THOMPSON
DURING tho last flvo years of Mr. Roose
velt's wordy and actlvo presidency over
62,000 laws were passed by Congress and tho
Stale Legislatures. That makes for thought.
But there Is more to como; for In addition
lo these 62,014 new laws tho national and
State courts of last resort handed down
isn,379 decisions.
You sco that neither the politicians nor tho
Judges wero Idle. What was tho meaning of
thelf swift nnd fierce activity? Against whom
did they moblllzo this savage army of laws
nnd decrees? Well, you know tho politicians.
You may bo fairly sure they did not permit
this army of laws to march against nny po
litical stronghold. And It is a. fact (gloomy
In Its significance) that these laws, In a great
tiegrco, wero nlmed nt business, at the con
duct ot business and at business men.
And the business men woko up.
There Mifjht Hnvo Been No War
Anrl who (I would ask In nn oratorical
luncheon wny) Is the business man? The
answer belongs to A. R. Marsh, and ho put
It this way: "Whatever the politicians (even
tho most persuasive of them, President Wil
son himself) may think or say, the welfare of
modern society depends upon tho 'merchants,'
tho business men. From them nnd from
them alone flow the streams of creatlvo en
ergy nnd of sagacious Initiative, of continuous
fruitful effort, which turn to tho ndvantago"
of all every now means which is discovered
for improving tho lot of mankind." And ho
ridded emphatically: "In a democratic so
ciety, where tho end and aim of public policy
Is tho ultimate good of all citizens and not
somo object extraneous to this general good,
It is to tho business men that resort must
bo had for tho determination both of what
should be done nnd of tho methods of do
ing It."
You see. tho basis of modern life is not pol
itics but business; in the discussion of all the
high problems of the Stato the voice of the
business man should bo most loudly heard.
Indeed, Judge Elbert II. Gary (at a dinner)
Went a bit further; he said the affairs of
nations should be settled by the business men
of the world, lie referred to a meeting in
London nt which representatives of the Iron
and steel Industries of America and Europe
met In friendly concourse. And he snld:
"If the large nunibeis of business men who
represented on this niemorablo occasion nil
of the countries engaged In the iron nnd steel
Industry could have had opportunity to con
sider and determine the questions leading up
to the war which Is roglng In Europe thero
would have been no war. These intelligent,
experienced, practical, sensible and Christian
men, being from time to time In close con
tact and therefore well acquainted with each
other, would hnvo been patient, considerate
nnd fair-minded nnd would have made ad
justments and reached conclusions calcu
lated to protect the Interests of nil and to
prevent the possibility of the present deplor
able hostility."
Stern and Thoughtful Luncheons
At a dozen thoughtful luncheons nt a
f-core of grave dinners this new note has
been sounded. It lias been pointed out to tho
business man that he, and not the politician.
Is tho basis of national life; and that he, and
not the scheming politician "progressive" or
teaetionary should make tho laws and en
force tho national policy. And Elihu Root
(eating the oysters of the Union League Club
of Philadelphia) declated that in the hands
of the business men lay our national destiny.
"Business men," he said, "should not re
ceive the nspprslons which have been heaped
upon them, lying down. Don't be afraid to
assert yourselves! If you cringe to bureau
cracy things will go from bad to worse, and
the most vital possession of a free people
will be lost the Independence of Individual
character." And again, at n stern meditative
luncheon of tho Merchants' Association of
New Yolk Mr. Root said that the machinery
of government would have to bo reformed;
"we must learn a lesson from business, from
business men, from tho great business
geniuses of our country and apply that les
son to tho arfalrs or our Government."
Tho business men are awake; they havo
"learned to speak" at menacing luncheons
nnd dinners. In tho past, as George W.
Perkins tald at a dinner of tho Economic
Club of New York, tho business men of our
country havo been so obsessed with chas
ing the "almighty dollar" that they havo
neglected their civic duties. That day has
gone by. He would bo a poor observer who'
did not see that hereafter the business men
and tho business organizations will have
to bo reckoned with. They have come to a
sudden teallzation of the fact that they are
tho essential part of the nation, the makert
and the merchants; and that, in these days,
a nation cannot live unless It is founded upon
CONVENTIONALITY
EVERY one reckons among his acquaintances
a few persons who profess a proud superi
ority to convention. Not for them the starched
collar, the humdrum four-ln-hand tie and all
that goe3 with them. No doubt these persons
feel very original In this. And superior, too.
They have emigrated to Bohemia. They have
turned their backs even upon the Turkish
cigarette now, once their trusted friend, their
Indispensable badge ot Identification. These
people Beek the mythical land where the neck
tie flows, where the hair waves In defiance ot
the barber, -where thought Is unblushing and
speech U unconftned.
The Jke on these people Is that nothing Is so
conventional as their way of escape from the
conventions. They Blmply swap a large cage
for a smaller one. They sit In a prison and
rail at the cramping fence around the universe
outelde. You have seen these persons of the
loose locks and rolling hats at their eatlngr
places little green-paneled cellars, always
French or Italian by profession always down
ing with widely advertised delight the same old
olives, little bitter ones; always the same mines
tra, the same Philadelphia fish In a disguise or
bay leaves; the same cold storage Chicago
chicken, labeled "Cacclatore' on the oleaginous
"carte du Jour" always the bill of fare Is" a
"carte du Jour."
And then track these persons to their lairs,
and what do you find? The same little cell up
three flights of twisty stairs. The "ati
rnosphere" conaUU of the usual pipe or cigarette
araell; there la the Inevitable Venys de -Mllo.
the usual etelns on the rail, the usual picture
called "peetfcoven." the tumbled cuaWoju. the
same clutter about art, accompanied by mucb
r&lliAjr ol the eyes awl t fln disregard of tha
1 w.. v ,. nw - sim w m j wus xwHSGiwu- ilUR'rON KLIN'K. J im rh.w .!) .. ''. . awre oe no compansauoa ,m
p&mw
the broadest and kindest Industrial co-operation.
What that troublo is has been stated In,
perhaps, tho most philosophic way by
Georgo W, Perkins when ho said It is a
conflict between the old economics nnd tho
new; In recent years a myriad of Inventions
having to do with steam ami electricity have
mado posslblo the expansion of man's ener
gies and opportunities; and at tho same tlmo
a myriad of laws havo been enacted, having
ns their ono and only object the contraction
of man's energies and opportunities. "The
inventor has beaded in one direction, the
lawmaker in exactly the opposite direction."
This is sound thinking and It Is sound crit
icism. In an Industrial and commercial na
tion prosperity is impossible unless the Gov
ernment, ns defined in its laws, goes with
and not against tlio makers of Industry
and tho agents of commerce, bo they inves
tors, laborers or consumers.
To tlio Polls
It Is, you will say. the fault of the busi
ness men themselves. They have loft I ho
direction of public: affairs lo tho faddists, the
old book badgering professors of archaic
economic doctrines and the roaring play
boys of tho political world. Their bad Idea
of political influence has been tho dirty chaf
fering of tbo legislative body or the dirtier
bartering with corrupt and predatory Judges.
That old bad way of doing things Is well
nigh at nil end. The new way leads straight
to tho primary and the polls. And Its chief
weapon is publicity. I do not mean tho pns
sionato oratory of tho dinner table, but tho
higher prlnclplo of publicity in business. It
would bo unfair to uso my own words when
Mr. Pel kins dined nobly that his might be
heard, so hero they are:
"I am a firm believer in publicity as a
curcull for most industrial ills and as a safe
guard for the public's Interest. Tho law ot
publicity is about tho only law governing tho
President of tho United States, to whom tho
peoplo glvo vast power. It would bo Im
possible to havo nny code of laws, minutely
defining tho power ot the President that
could possibly be as effectlvo as the power of
publicity which constantly regulates and
controls him. What better pieeedent could
wo havo for the regulation and control of our
semlpubllc servants In our great industrial
world?"
In other words the business men are going
to appeal to tho high court or public opinion
that they who make tho nation may make
its laws.
SPRINGTIME IN CAROLINA
Out in the lonely woods the Jasmine burns
Its fragrant lamps and turns
Into a royal court with green festoons
The banks of dark lagoons.
In gardens you may note amid the dearth,
The crocus breaking earth;
And near the snowdrops tender white and green,
The violet in Its tcreen.
At times a fragrant breeze comes floating by
And brings, you know not why,
A feeling ns when eager crowds await
Bnforo a pulace gate
Some wor.dious pageant,
Henry Tlmrod.
OF BOHEMIANISM
hours immediately succeeding midnight. They
are all alike. Rohemlanlsm produces little but
a feeling of sleepiness the next morning.
Whereas the conventions are tho soil whence
everything unconventional Is sprung, you can
do anything within the conventions. Most
crimes, even the interesting ones, are con
ventional. If four-ln-hand ties had been vogue
in Homer's time, he would certainly havo worn
one while composing the "Iliad." Certainly
you may say this much here and now that
the wearing of a four-ln-hand does as little to
prevent, as eating bitter olives does to pro
mote, the composing of an "Iliad." The late
Augustus St. Gaudens dressed like a. business
man, without hurting In the least the qualities
of his statue of General Sherman. The trouble
with Uohemlanlsm Is that R Is such an occu
pation In itself. The Bohemian is kept so
tarnal busy Just being a Bohemian, The ef
fort to be original (eaves him so little time for
originality.
No, being a Bohemian Is taking to the fire
escape when there Is no fire. The real escape
from the conventions lies Inside the( human head,
not on the outside of the human person. The
real esoape from the conventions Is not to
defy them, but to use them. Conventions are
great labor-saving devlcea-thafs why they
have been Invented. A man dresses like other
men In order to have time In which to differ
from other men in his deeds. The ordinary
pants of commerce are not a hindrance, but the
greatest al4 to originality. They walk you to the
office, to the studio, to the counting room, to
the stage door, where originality counts for
omethlag
Ko man ta such a slave to convention as your
true Behewiaa, BURTON KLINflS.
RIGHT HERE AT HOME
SViyVASK A5" A4
BEST THOUGHT IN AMERICA
DIGEST OF THE MAGAZINES
(1) Atlantic Monthly "Tho War and
tho Wny Out."
(2) Collier's "A Visit to tho Kaiser
and His War Lords."
CI) World's Work "Old Fisher and tbo
British Fleet."
(4) Everybody's "Russia's Red Road
lo Berlin."
WAR
S SPRING draws near and tho snows
Xjli
melt and the roads open, tho millions of
troops, who have been marking tlrno In their
trenches for tlio last four or flvo months,
nro preparing to strlko decisive blows from
their various vantage points. In this coun
try, magnzlno interest In the war, which
lagged a bit toward tho end of tho winter,
has burst forth with corresponding vigor,
presenting nearly 40 war articles in the
April magazines, ns muhy as tiicro were In
tiny of tho first few months following the
beginning of hostilities. Six of the leading
magazines nlono present 2i of those articles,
and tho subjects of theso are: Ten general
and descriptive, five on England, flvo on
Germany nnd four on penco and tho prob
able results of tho war.
An nrtlclo by G. Lowes Dickinson in De
comber, considering tho possibility of estab
lishing permanent peace, has been perhaps
ono of tho most notable and widely com
mented upon articles produced by the war
thus for. It is succeeded In this month's
Atlantic Monthly by another nrtlclo on "The
War and tho Way Out" (1). Mr. Dickinson,
who is nn English publicist, writes with al
most ns much frankness aH did G. 13. Shaw
In his memorable "Common Sense About the
War."
Policy playing on Ignorance that is tho
origin of wars. Tho war camo out of tho
European system of Stntos armed against
one nnother and dominated by mutual sus
picion and fear. While that system contin
ues, war will continue, says Mr. Dickinson.
Ho continues:
At tho origin of this war thero was no
good cause nt nil. It was ono of the mnny
wars for power and position. Englishmen,
it Is true, havo been strongly moved by tho
Invasion of Relglum, nnd I throw no nouht
on the genuineness of their feelings. Rut it
was not the invasion of Relglum that made
tho wnr. Tho origin of tlio war was ambi
tion and fear.
Those who really desire a settlement that
will securo peace In tho future must aban
don tho idea of "crushing" Germany. Wo
nro fighting, say our best spirits, for free
dom and against domination. What do
theso terms mean? By domination wo mean
tho imposition of rulo by force upon un
willing subjects. In the relation of man to
man, tho simplest form of domination is
slavery. In that of stato to state Its form
Is empire. By freedom, on tho other hand,
wo mean tho power nnd right of Individuals
and of nations to live their own lives and
unfold their own capacities.
There can bo no peace, not oven genuine
desire for peace, until mon realize that tho
greatness of a peoplo depends upon the qual
ity of life or tho Individual citizens. It Is
because our peace Is so bad that we fall into
wnr. If men had given to tho creation of llfo
a tltho or tho devotion they havo offered
again nnd again to its destruction, thoy
....I.... imiD in. nit) in mis worm so glorious
a placo that they would not need to take
refugo rrom It In tho shambles.
An Interview With tho Kniser
Ex-Senator Beveridgo describes in Col
lier's n two-hour Interview with the Kaiser
at his headquarters In northern France. It
might bo called the "scoop" of the war, If
only the Senator had told us what the Kaiser
said. But aside from a minuto description of
the Kalser'n height, weight and complexion,
tho Senator Is diplomatically dumb, gliding
deftty on to Interviews with the heads of
the German army and navy. Says, the Sen
ator: There is nothing pompous, nothing even
pretentious in the bearing of William II.
One's first Impression Is that of a grqat man
who is also a pleasant, simple-mannered
gentleman, with an ngreeabla personality,
charged with that engaging quality called
magnetism. One's second impression Is that
of Immense vigor, abounding physical vital
ity and searchlight mental alertness. With
It nil you are Instantly put at your ease.
Ills Majesty does not look older than his
age, 57, suggests. The mustache (s gray, and
the hair almost white, the gray-blue eye Is
clear, Us expression Intense and full of
nervous force. The complexion la pale, with
a faint tinge of color; the lips are health
fully red. Under the eyes are wrinkles, but
not more than ono sees on the faces of most
active men of tho Emperor's age. The fea
tures are not full, as shown by portraits of
a year ago: still less are they haggard, as
they appear In photographs taken soon after
the war began. While physically ns well as
mentally the Emperor shows extraordinary
animation, there Is a calmness and steadi
ness that surprises you, because of the de.
scriptlons to the contrary so universally
published. '
The Paradox of Warfare
Many of the strongest antU militarists, who
are rnost violently opposed to war under anv
excuse, feel that when war doea befall us.
tt should he carried on wtth every imaginable
brutality, in order that it may wear itself
out of ita own violence a rapidly u pos
sible, Theysm!le at the so-called rules ot
' ( !( k 'SUIUO til. LIID &! 1S1 I f Vtf I Fl I IHU AF w . . . ., W
t&J
JZM
civilized wnrfaro as sonhlstrle.s n.nri nr.
U doxes. Lord Fisher, tho admiral of tho Eng-
.1011 imvy, expresses this view very force
fully in an article by William Crobln in the
World's Work (3):
,iT,ai0.for ci'atnP'o Lord Fisher's celebrated
description of war: "Tho humanizing of war!
You might ns well talk of humanizing hell!
fi.nLtt s'".y .Q8,? B.ot up at Thc UaBUo con
fcrf,nco nnd talked nbout the amonltles ot
fnt,t .warfar. Putting your prisoners'
feet in hot water and giving them gruel, my
f?ii.? .we?ret l? ,say was considered to
tally unlit for publication. As If war could
10 civilized! if I nm In command when war
breaks out, I shall isauo as my commands.
Tho essence of war is violence. Moderation
In war Is imbecility. Hit first, hit hard, hit
?, , ime' hlt everywhere!' Humane war
fare! Whon you wring the neck of n chicken,
nil you think about is wringing it quickly.
1011 dont give the chicken Intervals for
,Lflt .mu iciresumeni.
There Is no snbtlptv n, ,-or.. ,.. i j
nlrnl Ishers alms. Nor has thero been In
I, ''''enients. Ho came to the leader
ship or the fleet with a definite purpose. His
overmastering idea was to make tho British
navy Instantly prepared for war.
When the war broke out. we read with
thrills descriptions of shells bursting a mile
away, and the war correspondent's analysis
of his confused state, half-elation, half
fright, when first under fire. But now the
writer has to do more than that to get a
response from his reader. Perceval Gibbon,
who 1ms represented the London Dally
Chronicle with tho Russian troops in Po
land ever since tho wnr began, gives an ex
tremely vivid and thrilling description of a
German charge In this month's Everybody's
W.
Tho nights havo a Russian flavor; they
are acid, edged liko a knife, ranged like a
wolf with cruel cold. Tho wounded who are
not found till the next day die or It. Y'et
these aro tho nights in which the Germans
come down from behind their foremost
trenches, backed by a tempest of rifle fire
and shelling, a couple of battalions at a time,
onti surge across tho narrow strand between
their defenses nnd tho water, the lines of
them swaying back and forth under the
scourge of tho Russian fire.
Down into tlio water they go. tho water
thnt bites like vitriol, stamping through the
ico under tho bank, bearing ever forward
against the farther bank that is lighted like
a festive street with tho blaze of rifles and
mitrailleuses. Armpit deep, with their rifles
uphold above their heads, clear of the water,
tho searchlights that mock the night, slash
ing across tho sky and settling upon them
bewllderlngly, pointing them out to tho Im
mediate finger of death, they come! I was
In tho positions when thoy attacked in force,
four times between dark and sunrise. Four
times down into that water in tho faco of
lire, iour times mown off their feet by the
rifles and tho pretty little machine guns that
do their work so devilishly, four times shat
tered and ground Into a water staining pulp
ot broken flesh and next night they nt-
!f,?kf.d Bnm- Tnev lleId the'r A
till the enemy was within 40 feet," said
nn official account; but I havo better Infor-
n,.1,.onithey' ,loId ,l t,n tho enemy was
within 20 feet. They wnited in the shelled
trench, peering across the breastwork, while
the charge raced down upon them.
Dying men, slaughtered by shrapnel, were
writhing at the trench bottom among their
feet, or shrieking In tho Insupportable agony
of wounds; pain, deadly wrath nnd murder
were alight in men's minds like opposltb
fires In the frosty night; nil is frantic, a
nightmare of noisy horror, and the Siberians
holding their fire! Holding It. watting in
t ho sto 0 calm of their half-Mongol minds
till each bullet would drive through a file
of Germans; and then at the tactical mo
ment letting go tho nurrlca.no ot bullets that
mows down the charging men like u scythe
shearing through grass.
Tho Bsurn Is a. llttlo river, but still It is
50 yards wide. Upon that night It was
dammed by the German dead, a barge of
bodies that held up the water for awhile and
then floated with It, going down the cur
rent to the Vistula. German husbands and
fathers traveling back to Germany upon that
river which has borne In its time so many
dead down to Dnntzlg.
WE GO BLUNDERING ON
The whole universe goes blundering on, but
surely arrives. Collisions and dispersions In
the heavens above and failure and destruction
among living things on the earth below, yet
here we all are In a world good to be In! It Is
as If the Creator played his right hand against
his left what one loses the other gains John
Burroughs In the North American Review,
HOLD THE FORT
By I. O. TRACY,
Ho, ye freemen in the battle
With the hosts of sin.
Gird ye with God's mighty armor
We will surely win.
Hold the fort, for we are gaining;
Brumbaugh leads the way;
We will work for Local Option
And shall gain the day.
Long and fierce the conflict rages.
But In God we trust,
For In him we have a leader
uonquer now we must.
We are gaining in the battle
For our cause so dear.
All the olouda are dlsappearlng
Ylctory is near.
In the warfare with thU evil
Make no compromise: I
l
m
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