| Show r wH WHAT ATWOULD WOULD JESUS DO troy press this question t jn your issue of yesterday touch tak Z our trouble with spain deserves deserve fand dem demands ends an answer jesus beau s christ were king of spain 1 j president of the und united ted states he MUM carry on all his diplomatic plane under ander the inspiration of redeeming T jp tove and not under the impulse of attee i prejudice or political jingoism ve bt 0 other words he would meet the de mande of all law with supreme love tor for obal and universal love for man and W we would rould have no war and the king AK V A president who would operate this would surely surety triumph taffe feie would do all that president mc has done that has been in hax har aj bwy with this great law of love he fulfil fulfill all righteousness which ethe riB the special province of love and in totoa this he would avoid all I 1 L don alon and revenge inspired by ba self seek lt yand selfishness no a would enforce his laws of life and ladd down in matthew v 38 4 tt which was his way of putting the principles that we must not do evil that good may come and that VM must rather suffer wrong than do won tong that two wrongs never make dl fight that vengeance for wrong loang belongs only to god that the t of revenge is essentially the spirit rul ot the devil and demoralization and ft ruction 1 tt vb e principles given by christ are t and eternal and were by y him for the government and rth of all peopled people in all ages these the principles upon which he proto S to conquer this world and his conquest conque ert la Is aur gurev the kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdoms of our lord and of his christ four of the mightiest empires of the world the babylonian the persian the roman and the egyptian have gone to pieces in the violation of these principles and all individuals and nations that follow their example will find their fate men and nations that do not nolt live under the inspirations of redeeming love know nothing about the infinite po tennies of this love to conquer enemies this love is fully of self restraint self conquest self sacrifice for others and is the only power that holds in its grasp the conquest of the world by this love if jesus christ were king of spain he would call off the spanish troops and set the cubans free for he came to give freedom to all men john 8 32 82 by this love if jesus christ were president of the united states he would not advocate armed intervention to secure the independence of cuba but he would insist upon it and secure it by the omnipotent diplomacy of love and any ruler adopting this principle and working it would succeed if christ were president of the united states he would teach the american people that war has no place in christian civilization that it Is rampant animalism aye worse for animals would know better he would teach that a resort to brute foree force whether by individuals or nations never can right a wrong that it la is colossal murder and that he who incites to such a crime shares morally in its guilt that he who stimulates any people to war tIl through rough the power of the press by monumental lying Is guilty of a gigantic outrage and is an unmitigated criminal that the journalist who kindles the flames of revenge and war under the false plea of patriotism is an of the vilest kind and ought to be dealt with legally as such elizabeth stewart phelps ward arraigns the yellow journalist as follows what should be sold said to the newspaper men who might be guilty of causing such an immeasurable woe god only could forgive t them hem this thin j country never would let us remember i i that civilized nations are no longer thugs and pirates it Is out of date to settle national differences by slaughter the incendiary editor raves hotly over the loss of three hundred men but he coldly instigates the murder of three hundred thousand or three times tim es that he pours fiery rhetoric about the miseries consequent on the explosion of one battleship but he is laying the torpedoes tope does which may blow up two navies he places the mine he trails the wire he puts his finger on the electric button he Is the criminal he to Is a more guilty ih than any possible savage or maniac who might by any conceivable turn of events be suspected to know more than he chose to tell about the destruction truc tion of the maine henry wood in the boston evening transcript says the degradation of ithe the yellow journalism of the period is a burning disgrace upon the american national character for the press of no other people on earth has ever wallowed in such a mire we talk of national honor dishonor is possible only from within I 1 there have been in cuba those things which are always a part of a war cruelty death suffering and destruction truc tion are these to be righted by multiplying them a hundred fold weyler was brutal therefore we will retaliate by slaying ten times as many as he did to the million and a half of involved cubans we will add seventy millions million of americans who are now enjoying the fruits of peace and ity now how logical logi call the same properly expressed the deep gf grief of ia whole city over the lorn ion of six firemen dilates upon the probable sa of a a thousand times as many vw vial bable lives with a levity of spirit with which they would contemplate a hon holl day celebration the logic of wax war is so normal norrall that that it may truly be classed as a contagious and collective insanity reason Is suspended and passion rules the arch enemy of mankind of christianity Christli alty of the home of virtue and industry to Is 1 enthroned decorated and clothed in a robe of patriotism A great social structure of national life happiness happi nem good will and civil and religious prosperity reared with infinite pains is to be honeycombed and shaken by a tornado of prejudice an passion we axe are rightfully shocked at bull fights disgusted with pugilism worried over a dogfight dog fight indignant at vivisection and pained at cruelty to animals but roll these all together and multiply them by a million and they are not net yet war Is it this which hach is yet sanctioned by christian nations the president so far has calmly and firmly stemmed the deluge of baseless sensationalism that is daily telegraphed from key west and havana but he sorely needs the moral support of all the saving elements of the nation the generation which has come com upon the stage since the great civil conflict knows something of the poetry of war but little of its reality Itha it has aUen most exactly de defined fined by the man drw knew it most intimately general sher man war is hell the yellow sensationalists are will ing that the fathers husbands huo bands soaks sons and lovers of other people should be sacrificed but should there ae an actual conflict it may safely be assumed tartt as a rule they would stay at home bomia ara and fight through the instrumentality af W block black headlines but great as the physical and industrial du IELI loss from war might be it would be far overshadowed by the accompanying compa nying moral and spiritual demoralization aliza tion prospective peace on earth and good will to men would be p pushed back by the surging forces force of hatred ha and all that is lowest in human nature would come to the front let us have peace not at any price applee but let us avoid a dishonorable war as well as dishonorable peace JOHN y V troy press prem april ith |
