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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 29, 1914

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 91, No. 45.

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EDITORIALS

By Editor

No More War

THE terrible war now in progress in the Old World has shocked the sensibilities of the people of all lands. So great is the feeling of horror over the fearful price the nations are paying that many are declaring there will never be another great war; that the people will force their governments to arbitrate their international differences, and thus preclude the possibility of another such murderous holocaust.
Up to the time of the outbreak of the present war it was being freely declared that a thorough preparation for war was the surest preventive of war. The European struggle now on has proved such a declaration a false prophecy, which has entailed the most tremendous and disastrous consequences. It was also declared that the terribly destructive weapons of war now in the hands of the military forces of the nations were a guaranty against war, because men would not face such deadly inventions. And this prophecy has been proved as false and deceptive as the other. The acute and complete preparation for war made the war inevitable.
There is no guaranty against war in this present world, because there is no assurance that the gospel of Christ and the mind of Christ will ever be accepted by the great bulk of the people; and where these are not accepted, there lingers still the living germ of war. The Bible teaches that wars spring from the lust of the human heart, and nothing but the power of God can uproot that.
Nevertheless, this terrible war is paving the way for a greater false prophecy and a greater deception than those that are now causing the world to bleed. Prophets of peace are proclaiming to the war-harried nations that this will be the last great war—the last parade of legalized destruction this world will ever see. It is flung to despairing humanity as a substantial hope to cling to in their deluge of sorrow and misery. But it is a false hope, and more cruel because of the disappointment and despair that will follow its unmasking in the torn and bleeding countries of the world.
A writer in the Christian Advocate of October 8, speaking of his visit to the Peace Palace at The Hague, and deploring the fact that Europe had not sought to settle her disputes in an arbitration council there, makes the following observations and prophecy:—
Dust gathers upon the desks in the Hall of Justice, light filters through rich cathedral glass and falls upon empty chairs; and because dust gathers, and because chairs are empty, the world suffers, and men who were hopeful hide their faces.
I still believe that this building is Mr. Carnegie’s noblest gift. It is a constant plea and invocation for peace, a strong reminder and a fervent invitation for bloodless international settlements. It is an incarnate prayer for a warless world.
It will be used hereafter. When Europe has been drained to despairing weakness; when women have only the memory of husbands, and children forget that there are fathers; when earth and air are loathsome from the sowing of ball and shell; when ten million cups of sorrow have been drained, and living men stagger out deliriously from the mad fury of it all,—then the palace of peace will not be empty. And those who live and behold their country spoiled and stricken by the jealous folly of the war lords and masters, will take the scepter from their wicked hands and with it crown the people. And when the pall lifts and men see for themselves what war has done, they will come from the east and west and north and south to register the solemn judgment and decision that in all the world to the end of time this shall be the last war.—Carl Gregg Doney, Ph. D.
But the fire of the nations’ anger will not be quenched by this deluge of human blood. Animosity, hatred, and distrust brought on the war; and if ever it could be said that nations went into battle in the white heat of anger, it could certainly be said of those who have flung themselves at each other in this bitter contest. Witness monarchs, who had been decorated by each other, stripping off their decorations and flinging them to the ground, in token of their feelings toward those who had bestowed the decorations. Hear the declarations of soldiers: “May God have mercy on our enemies; for they will receive none from us.”
Wars do not dissolve distrust, alleviate animosities, dissipate discord, remove the lust for revenge, nor transmute hatred into love. As the surgeon’s knife often scatters new nuclei of cancer through the system, so do these periods of international bloodletting scatter new nuclei of war infection throughout the world. War always leaves other “scores to settle,” and other debts of vengeance to be paid. War can never wipe out the cause of war any more than indulgence in opium smoking will remove the desire for the drug. Yet such is the delusive hope held before the world today, when the eagles of war are sinking their talons deeper than ever into the vitals of the world. The cry of peace and safety will be heard with greater vehemence than ever before, because the horrors of war will be brought home to earth’s inhabitants with more vivid realism than ever before, and the desire for peace will be the strongest desire in the hearts of many millions. “Peace, peace,” is the cry of many a modern prophet; but the only true peace there will be in this world till time shall end is the peace that reigns in the heart of the individual who is fully surrendered to God; and the world should know that when the cry of “peace and safety” is lulling the people to sleep, the great day of earth’s doom is drawing nigh. C. M. S.