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Show H URGING PEACE WHEN WAR H IS UPON US. "Editor Standard: In the Standard "of March 29, you have a copy of a let- H ter sent by W. J. Bryan to the Houses H o Congress. An eloquent appeal for H peace, and war If It must come by Hj referendum. You make editorial com- H ment In the same issue of your paper, H under the heading, "Bryan Must Be H Asleep," and cito the meeting at Og- H den on Tuesday, the 27th, as indica- H tlve of the voice of the people. On H the day of this meeting I addressed a H loiter to each of our senators and rep- H resentativos, in which I said, in part H "We are unalterably opposed to wal H and compulsory military training and H believe they should be begun by the H popular vote of the people." B "These letters were shown, wituoui H) argument, by my father, Moroni Stone, H to the residents of West Second street,. H twenty-six in number, twenty of H whom signed them; four of the re-H re-H maining believing in preparedness, but H not war, and the other two wanted H war. These two were men long past H the military age and one of them with H no sons. These twenty-six were men, H and if men are opposed to war, what H may we expect of the mothers? Is H Bryan asleep, or are you laboring un-H un-H der false impressions'7 H "You also recently made editorial Hl objections to some advertisements for H the furthering of the cause of peace, H Saying that the authorship should be H published. To this I heartily agree, B but call your attention to the fact Hf that last fall there appeared in some H of the windows of our business houses L large cards calculated to further the B,v cause of preparedness. You evinced Hkno desire to know the authorship of Hbhese. Surely one is as pertinent as Hhe other. The speeches of Rcprc-Hentative Rcprc-Hentative Tavenner of Illinois in the H&st House of Representatives, 'The K'orld Wide War Trust,' and 'The Bftivy League Unmasked,' aie proof Hositive that much of our prepared-Hess prepared-Hess agitation comes directly from Kue Aho would be benefited mone- kybrit. H ar, if declared, will be fought IHie oung men of the country, and HHpur paper of the 31st, you editor-HH editor-HH comment on tho lack of enthus-IHI enthus-IHI among this class. You refer to flPtfarriner Browning as one of the B ?f r nin taking active part on me munition committee. Ho is undoubtedly undoubt-edly well adapted for this duty, as Furthermore tho enlistment enlist-ment of all eligiblo men on theso committees com-mittees as privates who would be called upon to do actual fighting would strengthen opinion as to the earnestness earnest-ness of thoir convictionB. During the recent preparedness parades, thousands thous-ands upon thousands marched, and at the same time recruiting was almost at a standstill. If they believe in preparedness, pre-paredness, why do they not enlist? Do they expect and wish someone else to do "their fighting? "I believe with Mr. Bryan, that war should be declared by referendum, and I would add that only men eligible to enlistment be allowed to vof ' lv"r their vote for Avar bo considered i an enlistment, in the event of war. "I believe that the name of that Peerless Prince of Peaco, W. J. Bryan, will endure when those of the advocates advo-cates of war and things unbrotheiiy, unchristian and uncivilized, will have long since been forgotten. "In the event of a war of invasion, I expect to live up to all the duties and requirements of a strong, young, able-bodied American citizen. (Signed) "M. S. STONE, "ISO Adams Ave, City." Now why talk of peaco while war is upon us? Mr. Stone should read Patrick Henry's Hen-ry's speech, made under conditions very similar to tho present. That distinguished dis-tinguished patriot, whoso words have thrilled America, said: "It is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope. Wo are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of the siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men? Aro we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes see not, and haying ears hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? salva-tion? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst and provide for it. I havo but one lamp with which my feet aro guided; and that is the lamp of experience. ex-perience. I know of no way of judging judg-ing of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there is to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves. Is it an insidious smile? Trust it not,' sir, it will piove a snare to your feet. Sufrer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss We have done everything to avert tho storm which is now coming on. Wo havo remonstrated, we havo supplicated, wo have prostrated ourselves. our-selves. Our remonstrances have produced pro-duced additional violence and Insult. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace. Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire tho means of effectual resistance by lying supinoly on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? If we wero baso enough to desire it, it is now too late to retiro from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. Why stand we hero idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peaco bo sweet, as to bo purchased at tho price of chains and slavery?" But for the unselfish patriotism and bravery of dear little Belgium the Kaiser would havo taken Paris and been across the English channel into London within sixty days after the first declaration of war was issued. King Albert promptly rejected the bribe offered by the Germans to let them pass through Belgium to destroy France and England and threw his army into the breach to stay the march of the infuriated monarch. To his prompt and determined effort, which cost the Belgians thousands of lives and billions of treasure, tho world, at largo, owes him a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid to him or to his people. Had Albert, and his people, insisted upon keeping out of tho conflict, as some of our good intentioned, but mistaken, people peo-ple are insisting today, the Kaiser would havo taken London, as well as Paris, the war would havo ended months ago and William would havo been declared, as he intended to be, "Emperor of Europe." Whero then would tho United States and the Monroo doctrine have been'' At the mercy of tho "Emperor of Europe." And any day that he cared to do so, wo would have been his prey. Can not well niejining, liberty loving lov-ing and law abiding citizens seo that our only safety is In aiding to stop Germany's advance, forcing her back to German territory and to abandon her unrighteous aspirations to rule the world. None of us want war; none of is want servitude; none of us want to forfeit the heritage left by our fathers. Then we must stand for justice from Germany while Great Britain, Fiance, Russia and Italy aro all fighting for their rights. If we can not get recognition rec-ognition now, wo can never hope to get it. This is no time to talk peace It is playing into the hands of Germany Ger-many and forging chains that wo may have1 to wear. Let us stand as a unit behind Congress and tho President They our 06 senators and 435 representativeselected repre-sentativeselected by us for that purpose, pur-pose, after considering and carefully weighing all of the facts, will make the declaration to the world of what our status shall be, and then we must unitedly stand by our guns, unshakn and fearless of the result. |