The Reformed Presbyterian Standard and also 0\ir ... - Rparchives.org

December 30, 1914.
A FAMILY PAPER.
EDIT ORIAL
John W. Pritchard, Editor.
THE DEVIL AND OTHER MILITARISTS.
If ever there has been a demonstration of
the futility of readiness for war as a preparation
for peace it is at the present time. Germany
boasted of being ready for war to the
last button and this very readiness prevented
the negotiations which would have prevented
war. Now we are warned that the American
Republic is not prepared for war and happily
it is true. No Republic is prepared for war
' and the coming of Republics will mark the
end of the worship of the war god. Only
despotisms can be on a war footing in time
of peace. At a time when thousands of workless
men are tramping the streets and lengthening
the bread lines there is a proposal to
put more millions into useless battleships
than would feed and clothe them all till
Spring. One can neither eat nor wear a
battleship. It does not lift an ounce of the
world's sorrow. It does not make it easier
for a single man to live a better life. It is
simply a dead waste of God's provisions in
a time of need. If Germany had spent one
hundredth as much in making friends of her
neighbors as in making enemies humanity
would be happier today. If England had
offered some of her useless colonies to William
Second, who seems to be so hungry for
more earth, there might be fewer broken
homes. It is cheaper to kill our enemies with
kindness than with shrapnel. It is also more
Christlike. Having tried Satan's plan for
centuries, might the nations not make some
trial of the plans of Christ Christianity has
not collapsed in Europe. It has not been
tried yet. Jesus was asked by the devil to
bow down and worship him, which meant
that Jesus should be a militarist and win the
kingdoms of this world by force of arms.
Jesus answered that he could serve God's
ends only by God's means. Perhaps the devil
could have fulfilled his promise. But now
we are asked to take the devil's methods
without a prospect of getting anything but
trouble. Better to trust to the Christ of
Bethlehem than to the armor plate defences
from its modern namesake.
The most notable victory ever recorded foi
National prohibition occurred late Tuesday
night at Washington, D. C, when Congress
took the vote on the Hobson Amendment for
submitting National Constitutional Prohibition
for ratification to the State legislatures.
The Amendment did not receive the necessary
two-third vote, but a majority of the
Congressmen voted for it, the count being