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Show IN ARGENTINA. Kipling, a few years ago, intimated" inti-mated" that somewhere past of Suez the ten commandments were non-existent, and that "the best was like the worst." There was also something in the poem about the tendency to raise a thirst in that region of laissez-faire, hut that is another story and has nothing noth-ing to do with the moral we seek to emphasize. em-phasize. Human nature is much the same east and west of Suez, much the same north and south of the equator. The people of the Argentine republic react against German insult, treachery and brutality after the same fashion that we, in the United States, or our brothers in Europe, Eu-rope, have reacted. The men of Argentina Ar-gentina like dishonor as little as we do. They arc as little inclined as we to condone assassination. And in the face of repeated insults there is a limit to their patience and forbearance as there was to ours. Perhaps the -well-meaning pacifists, if there are any left, can learn something some-thing profitable to themselves and society so-ciety by analyzing the situation in Argentina. Ar-gentina. If possible, the Argentinians were more opposed to war thau were our own people. They saw no good reason why they should be drawn into tho world conflict. Among their inhabitants in-habitants were the men of all European races and all were living together in harmony. There was only one element, that threatened the peace of the country. coun-try. Argentine ships occasionally carried car-ried cargoes to England, France and othor European countries, Germany ordered its submarine commanders to sink these vessels without warning and without providing for the safety of those aboard. The government -of Argentina Ar-gentina adopted the same policy that the United States had adhered to in similar circumstances. It claimed the right, under international law, to trade with Great Britain and France, and it insisted that Germany abide by all the rules of sea warfare. When the Prussian Prus-sian government, conceding the Argentine Argen-tine claim, promised not to sink any more Argentine ships, the people of the republic were delighted because they felt that peace was assured. . But the Prussian government, true to its nature, na-ture, was unable to do a decent thing in a docent way. It had already been guilty of its usual treachery when it made its pledge to Argentina. The Prussian minister at Buenos Aires had ued tho Swedish embassy as a means of communication for the transmittal of a note in which he urged the sinking sink-ing of all Argentine ships "without leaving a trace." Everybody aboard was to be murdered and all clews destroyed. de-stroyed. When the people of Argentina learned of this they did not conduct themselves at all ns the pacifists would desire. They acted very much like human beings be-ings m Xew York, Chicago, T.ondon or Paris. They were angry clear through. They wanted war, not peace. They were not making ammunition for the allies and could not be accused by Ger-mau Ger-mau propagandists of demanding war to stimulate that industry. In fact, none of the familiar arguments of the kaiseritcs, the German agents in this country, the I. a Follettes, the Gores, the Stones, the Hardwicks and their ilk could be. used with any effect. It was a clear case of Prussian pcrfidv. And the Argentinians, like ourselves, were stirred to resentment and fury. Making an allowance for the fervor of the Latin temperament, they acted just about as we did. If the Argentine republic goes to war, where can the pro-German propagandist propagan-dist find a defense for the Hun? |