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The Commoner
JULY, 1915
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the funeral pyre and give her body to the flames.
Public sentiment supported the custom and no
one dared to defy it; but that custom is no more
a reform has come and now sentiment sup
ports the reform. The world has taken a step
in advance, and it has been found that society
can make better use of widows than to burn v
them.
It is still the custom in some oriental countries
for a woman to conceal her face with a veil, and
the custom has the support of public sentiment;
but thinner veils are being worn it is only a
question of time when the custom will be aban
doned. In Christian nations, woman has the
benefit of society and society has the inspiration
of woman's presence and co-operation, and pub
lic sentiment demands and defends this larger
liberty.
The education of woman has had to make its
way at first slowly against a public sentiment
based upon the fear, honestly entertained, that
education would unfit her for her work. In many
parts of the world the existence of this fear,
which seems to us so unreasonable, is proven
by the fact that women are still far behind men
in the percentage of literacy, but a change is
taking place; everywhere girls are entering the
schools. In the United States woman has taken
her, rightful place by the side of man. In our
high-schools fully fifty per cent if not more
of our graduates are. girls; and those who are
entering the colleges and universities are justi
fying the arguments which opened these insti
tutions to them. A new sentiment has been cre
ated and no one would go back to the old sys
tem. Another change in sentiment another great
reform deserves attention here; it is the change
in the world's attitude toward those who toil.
One of the darkest pages of history is that which
records the wrong done to the producers of the
world. The rose, blooming in beauty and smil
ing at the sun, would it if it had a voice speak
contemptuously of the roots of the bush, because
they do their work in the darkness and come
into contact with the soil? And yet, until re
cent years, those who wore fine raiment and
fared sumptuously have, as a rule, seemed to
entertain a feeling of indifference toward those
who made the raiment and supplied the table.
A change is noticeable everywhere; in no
other respect is the superiority of our civiliza
tion more marked than in the consideration
shown the producers of wealth in the United
States. Occasionally we find in this country a
worthless son who thinks that it is more re
spectable to spend in idleness the money which
someone else has earned than to earn his own
living and public sentiment so uni
versally condemns him that it is
hard for us to understand the change
that has been gradually taking place since the
new standard was sent up. "Let him that would
be chief est among you be the servant of all!"
Who would turn back to the old system?
So much by way of introduction; let me now
apply to my subject the thought which I have
been illustrating. I have cited evidence of rad
ical changes in sentiment upon important ques
tions. I invite you to consider the change of
sentiment in respect to a resort to physical
force.
Dueling was at one time common in tno
United States. The custom waa so thoroughly
supported by current opinion that Alexander
Hamilton, though he himself disapproved of the
practice, felt that it was necessary for him to
risk his life for fear a refusal to fight would de
stroy his usefulness in public life he ho stated
in a note written just before he left home for
the fatal encounter. The sentiment prevailing
at that time would have branded him as a cow
ard. Behold the change that has taken place in
a century! Now every state in the Unionhas a
statute against dueling and today publicvsen
timenfc supports the man who declines a chal
lenge instead of the man who sends it. Why
this change? Because brute force is giving way
before the superior influence of the mind ana
the heart; this it what has been accomplished
bv those who have taken their stand on the side
of intelligence and morality. It has been a
struggle all progress is the result of struggle
but truth always triumphs at last, because the
heart of man responds to nothing else so surely
and holds to nothing else so steadfastly.
In the matter of. war we have made less pro
gress than along some other lines, par Uy be
cause a few profit largely by war; partly because
race and national hatreds have blinded many to
the truth; and partly because international ri
valries have been made a pretext for prepara
tions which themselves provoke war. Examtno
the modern implements of destruction rifles
that kill at 4,400 yards; 15-inch guns that hurl
projectiles nearly fifteen miles; shells, each war
ranted to burst into more than an hundred
pieces; aeroplanes that drop bombs on unsus
pecting cities; death-dealing torpedoes that in
fest the seas, and poisoning gaoes that sufTocato
on land these are sonic of the weapons that
men are manufacturing to uso against each
other! What inexcusable insanity! What a mon
strous mockery of civilization! This is war as
wo know it, and yet those of our countrymen
who see in force the only arbitrator of interna
tional disputes revel in the daily accounts of
carnage, and in the name of patriotism and na
tional honor call upon this nation to prepare
itself to enter the contest!
These men do not speak the mind or the con
science of the masses they define national hon
or in terms that are becoming obsolete. They
do not represent either the interests or the pur
poses of the American people.
I appeal to you to make your views known to
the president that he may be strengthened
against the insolent clamour of those who ridi
cule peaceful methods and, as if infuriated d.v
the scent of blood, are bellowing for war. I
appeal to you to cast your influence, not in favor
of either side, but in favor of PEACE
FOR TliE UNITED STATES and AGAINST
WAR WITH ANY OF THE BELLIG
ERENT NATIONS. None of them desire war
with us if they injure us it is not because they
want to do so, but because, like two men en
gaged in a street fight, they are too angry to
give proper consideration to the rights of by
standers. The people of the United States arc
calm; they can afford to be patient. Theirs is
the rational honor of a peace-loving nation, not
the false pride of the bully or the braggart. As
friends, when they differ, postpone the settle
ment of their controversy until they can consider
without feeling the points in dispute, so this
nation can, without dishonor, refer its disputes
to an international commission, reserving, as
our treaties do, the right of independent action
when passions have cooled and when questions
of fact have been separated from questions In
volving international right.
This policy contemplates no surrender of real
rights; it is a policy worthy of the greatest re
public of history. Our nation need not bo
ashamed to follow the wis'e advice given three
thousand years ago: "He that Is slow to anger
is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth
- his. spirit than he that taketh a city'
When, in the year 1902, the Stars and Stripes
were hauled down on Morro Castle, that the
Cuban flag might bo raised over the new repub
. lie, the Cubans, having learned to love our flag,
caught it up that its folds might not touch the
ground.
Inspiring spectacle and prophecy of the fu
ture! If others desire that our flag be feared,
let us prefer that it shall be loved; if others
would have the world tremble in awe at sight of
it, let us pray that the plain people everywhere
may turn their faces toward it and thank God
that it is the emblem of justice and the hope
of peace. I desire that my country shall main
tain the national honor which such a flag rep
resents. THE FARMER'S INTER
EST IN PEACE
Abstract of an address delivered by William
Jennings Bryan to his neighbors at a reception
tendered him and Mrs. Bryan at Lincoln, Ne
braska, June 29, 1915.
Governor Morehead, Mayor Bryan, and Friends:
It is delightful to look once more into the fa
miliar faces of the friends of more than a quar
ter of a century. You, our neighbors, have a
homo in our hearts, as I hope we have in yours.
It is good of youto welcome us again and so
heartily; you add to the debt of gratitude which
has been accumulating throughout the years.
We are looking forward with pleasant anticipa
tions to a renewal of the acquaintances which
have made Lincoln so dear to us.
Wo have already commenced to rest; the very
sight ofthese boundless prairies is soothing. We
are away from the excitements that come with
official responsibility, and in a position to appre
ciate the advantages of Uiose who live in this fa
vored portion of tho Union.
I congratulate you upon the fact that you en
joy an environment which lends itself to the
calm consideration of the nation's welfare Yo
arc especially fortunate In that yoH can take
counsel of tho PRODUCERS OF WEALTH and
do not have to bo irritated dally by tho PRO
DUCERS OF TROUBLE. It Is woll that you are
a thirty-six hours' journey from the New York
newspapers tho Journalistic mosquitoes can not
carry the germs of the red fever bo far; It Is well
that you are not compelled to rely upon them
for the material upon which you form your
opinions.
The owners of somo of tho New York papers
are much hotter acquainted with Europe than
they nre with the Unitod Statos, and they reflect
the sentiment of the Old World rathor than that
of the New. Tho Allcghony mountains arc a god
send to tho Mississippi valley; they servo as a
sort of a dyko; they protect It from being Inun
dated by the prejudice and Intolcrcnco of that
portion of the oastcrn press which nffccU a for
elgu accent. The owner of ono of tho leading
jingo papers of New York lives on the other side
of the Atlantic; think of this non-resident using
the columns of an American paper to libel both
tho native born and the naturalized citizens of
this country who aro helping to develop the
resources of the nation, while he, luxuriating
abroad, Is advocating a policy, which, If adopted
by this country, would waste our accumulated
wealth upon battlefields as tho wealth of Europe
Is being wasted. Some of the New York papora
aro owned by men who either by birth, by social
tics, or by Investments, are so Intimately con
nected with predatory wealth that they can not
look at any question from the standpoint of tho
man who cams his living.
These men who spend their time preaching
tho gospel of force have tried to lash this coun
try into an uproar for war; and they resent, aa
if unpatriotic, any attempt to overcome tholr in
fluence. They not only assume tho exclusive
right to define national honor and to direct the
national policy, but they are presumptuoua
enough to attempt to Instruct the president an
to whom ho should or should not entrust with
ofllce. As I was leaving tho cast, I read an ed
itorial in a Mondny morning paper warning the
president not to appoint as counselor for the
state department a certain prominent democrat,
named by the paper, because he is ol Quaker an
cestry and thercforo presumed to favor peaceful
methods rather than warlike methods; and yet
if the makers of ammunition were to get to
gether tomorrow and select their chief counsel
and recommend him as the proper person to ad
vise the president as to the requirements of na
tional honor, every Jingo editor would Join in
the recommendation and Insist that he represent
ed the highest type of citizenship.
Speaking in this splendid farming section of
this great agricultural state, and speaking at
this time, I have little choice as to the subject
to be discussed. The farmer's interest In peace
naturally suggests Itself as the most appropriate
theme for us to consider together on this occa
sion. The farmer lives his day near to nature and
in the presence of those mighty forces which
dally speak to him of his Creator ho is uncor
rupted by that fierce struggle for wealth which
makes men forget God and the duty which they
owe to their fellowmen. He lives where the tlea
of neighborhood are strong and where the In
centives to conflict arc few; and he has no pe
cuniary Interest In the industries which thrivo
on war. He lives for his children; to raise them
aright and send them forth properly educated
and trained for the responsibilities of citizen
ship is his chief care. He does not take kindly
to the Idea of sacrificing them to gratify some
one's military ambition or to purchase markets.
Having no purposes that need to be concealed,
he docs not understand the diplomacy that cul
minates in war. Himself innocent of harmful
intent, he is not easily convinced that the world
is so wicked as to require this nation to arm
itself to the teeth and swagger about looking for
an 'excuse to fight. While he is ready to give
his all to his country if his country needs it, hia
tastes as well as his Interests make him the
friend of peace and the apostle of good-will.
I can not better present the line of thought
which I have in mind than by asking you to con
sider with me three questions:
First What would war mean to the United
States?
Second What is there In the present situa
tion which would Justify us in entering Into thla
European conflict, and what methods should be
employed for the adjustment of such differences
as arise between us and the belligerent. nations?
Third :liow can the sentiment of the people
. be brought to the attention of the president in
!
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