Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 104, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 March 1919 — “WISDOM IS BETTER THAN WEAPONS OF WAR” [ARTICLE]

“WISDOM IS BETTER THAN WEAPONS OF WAR”

Rabbi Rudolph C. I. Coffee at Temple Judea, Chicago, said in his sermon last Sunday, taking for ihis text the words at the head of this article, from Ecc. ix., 16: Already 2,000 years ago the Bible knew that wisdom was preferable to .brute strength, but we still have to convince modern minds of that truth. The three great religious forces in America —Catholicism, Judaism and Protestantism—all teach the superiority of knowledge over ffteel and gun-qiowder, yet we find in every city of America leading citizens who bxalt munitions over mind. Why should we not all stand behind Wilson and Taft in their great efforts to exalt peace and repudiate war? There is no honest dispute, be it between nations or individuals, which cannot be fairly settled through arbitration; Wien why resort to weapons of war? For the past 1,600 years both France and Germany believed in arms and forts as the safest protection for their boundaries, and there was not a year in which either country felt absolutely safe. America and Canada trusted to •wisdom as a better means of set-

tling their disputes. With not a single fort between the two countries, the peace has been steadily maintained. Surely after the terrible toll of 20,000,000 lives either wiped out or wounded in the great world war, one would expect the death sentence to be placed on weapons of war. Alas, we still have Jingoists who urge monster navies and universal military preparedness. They forget that wisdom will hereafter rule in the hearts of our citizens.