Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 101, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 March 1915 — HAMILTON HOLT AGAINST ARMAMENT PROPAGANDA [ARTICLE]

HAMILTON HOLT AGAINST ARMAMENT PROPAGANDA

Editor of New York Independent Says This Theory of War Prevention is False. Hamilton Holt, editor of the Nfew York Independent, delivered a noteworthy address before the student body of Indiana University recently on “The Great War and Peace.” The great fallacious argument that war can be prevented by the manufacture of mo*re destructive weapons of warfare is now current in every class of society, according to Mr. Holt. “This idea,” he said, “is based on the false theory that weapons so deadly and terrible can he constructed that it will be beyond the power of human bravery to stand against them. However, this war has shown, as all other wars have shown, that men are not afraid to die for a cause that they deem worthy.”

Probably the greatest reason why the United States should not begin a policy of national armament is that it is the nation best fitted to arbitrate successfully between the nations at the close of the present war. If America embarks on a militaristic policy it is easily-seen that every move made by United States diplomats in the final treaty would be received with extreme distrust by the warring nations. . The three great arguments against war, according to Mr. Holt, are the same as they have always been: the moral, the economic and the biological. The moral argument is that stated in the bible; “Thou shalt not kill.” The economic argument is realized by every one. French economists state that it now takes $2,00 0 to kill a man. The biological reason is almost as widely and fully appreciated as the Every one knows that the best and noblest men of the nation are the ones that answer the. first call to arms. In drafting soldiers, those who are physically fit are called to the front. The maimed and the defectives remain behind and become the fathers of the next generation.—lndiana Univerfeity News Notes.