p. 2 | They Are Waking Up

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 16, 1915

They Are Waking Up

The point of efficiency in military preparation in any nation is considered to be that point where the nation is better prepared to defend itself from the attack of any nation than any nation is prepared to attack it. This makes the race for military preparation an endless race, as no nation dares to have its military affairs remain in an inefficient condition. The lessons of the present war are being scanned by all the nations; and no nation feels that it would be safe for it to let its military affairs drift while the others are straining every nerve to reach military efficiency. Each feels that to do so would be to write its own doom.

Thus does Satan drive the nations into harness and armor for the last great battle. President Yuan Shi-kai, in a recent speech to the Chinese cabinet, laid before the Chinese nation the urgent necessity of united action for the defense of China against the aggression of the more military-inclined nations of the world. He said:—

Our suzerainty in southern Manchuria has gradually gone into the hands of foreigners. The foreign aggressor has come to our doors, but our people are still dallying in the midst of calamities. . . . To avert the impending disaster is the sacred duty which lies upon the shoulders of every one of us. . . . Some people say that on account of our vast country and population the destruction of our country by an alien people is an impossibility. Look at Korea, the area of which is not smaller than Japan. . . . Now the condition of our country is comparable to a small boat wandering on a wild sea. It is not time for us to pursue our pleasures and let things drift into the course of destruction. Above all do not forget the national disgrace of May 7 [the acceptance by China on May 7, 1915, of the Japanese ultimatum, under the terms of which Japan obtained extensive political and industrial concessions]. Take off your easy garments and go ahead with all your effort to avert impending disaster.