Show l i. i When Might Made Right J 0 A MINOR newspaper item sometimes t gives ives one a realization of the changes brought by bv time more forcibly than anything lse ise Here for instance is a paragraph from on clipped from a New York ne' ne news news- s d Admiral of the Fleet Sir Edward Hobart died Monday at the age of 88 He Heison Hev v son ison s' s on the active navy list for well over half halfa a century his family having supplied naval officers since the days of the Tudors The story briefly recounted some of Sir SirI I dwards dward's experiences He served as a c cadet det the an-the Crimean war fought in the war with Cl ina in the late 5 os was wounded in off the coast of Africa in 1870 corn com n. n rn the China station at the close of century and commanded the naval forces that were were landed to help put down the Boxer There isn't any particular reason Why hy the thc little story about that man should bring such a clear realization of changing times and nd customs Yet it does It brings to mind norder of things that is passing emphasizes t the e way in which old codes and standards tre re giving way to new onesto ones to t.- Life was simpler when Sir ir Edward began career A mans man's duty was clearer One did not question ones one's country's actions It itis w is s taken tOT for granted grante that the he whole whole ear earth h belonged to a few rich white nations and 0 one doubted that it was quite fitting that these nations should seize as much of it as they needed and fight with each other over portions of it j The Crimean war the ancient enemies and France combi ing to check Russia The in China Britain war compelling corn com eIling a weaker nation to permit the opium trade The fighting on the African coast coast- a grabbing for territories which were to be bett tt taker en by force from their native owners Service on the China the station mailed fist notifying the orient that it had no rights those that Europe chose to give it That is the picture as we see it now Y t in iii Sir Edwards Edward's day there were no doubts about about any of it The rule of might o w w nt unquestioned No one ever suggested there might be a viewpoint broader than that of selfish nationalism f Ve are are slowly working our way into s methin different England's labor govern govern- for a time actually refused to fortify the great naval base at Singapore When English and American warships hurried to China hina ready for action a couple of years o there were plenty of me mell in boti coun coun- 1 les to protest very loudly The of United States marines in Nicaragua raised a perfect storm of at home houme and abroad yet a few decades ago no one have dreamed of denying that an ad country had a perfect right to police rule and generally guide its weaker neighbors a. a i We Ve are not so uncritical as we were f Tie e rule of force still prevails but it is not quite So strong Ve have reached the point where e we can admit that our this country applies to all nations can actually engage t. t times in in a war that is plainly and si simply ply 9 fra 1 Sir Edwards Edward's life story compressed into a fe paragraphs epitomizes an age that is is' ispas pas passing ng |