Reflections from the War Zone

Reflections from the War Zone5 BY J. M. SJODAHL, EDITOR MILLENNIAL STAR The announcement of the fall of Warsaw, although not un- expected, came to the British people as a message of a great calamity. The masterly retreat of the Russians to their new line of defense is admired and regarded as almost a victory, but it is also felt that the central empires have achieved a triumph of which they were not deemed capable at this time — one year after the outbreak of the war, when, according to expert calculations, they ought to be exhausted, both physically and financially. It is felt that the support of the Russians is weakened considerably. On all hands the question is asked, What is likely to happen now that Warsaw is fallen? Nobody here ventures a prediction as to that, but all agree that the initiative is now with Germany and Austria. They may continue the eastward movement; they may strike at Servia, or Italy ; or they may make another effort to capture Paris, and then turn their attention solely to Great Britain. That the political effects of the victory will be far-reaching no one doubts. The Germans will be inspired to greater efforts. Some neutral powers may abandon their policy of waiting. And there is a bare possi- bility that Russia may be induced to conclude a separate peace. I do not believe she will do so, unless forced to it, but it would be folly to ignore that possibility just now. Still, there is no doubt here of the final outcome. The confi- dence is as great as ever that the Allies will win. Mr. Lloyd- George, speaking at the National Eisteddfod, on Aug. 5, expressed the confidence of the nation, when he said : "The eastern sky is dark and lowering. The stars have been clouded over. Still, I regard the stormy horizon with anxiety but not with dread. Today I can see the color of a new hope beginning to nnpurple the sky. The enemy in their victorious march know not what they are doing. Let them beware, for they are unshackling Russia. With their monster artillery they are merely shattering the base that fettered the strength of Russia." This is both eloquent and cryptic. But the note of confidence it contains finds a response in every British heart. A reflection or two may be suggested by this war : ♦Excerpts from a letter to President Joseph F. Smith, dated Liverpool Aug. 7, 1915.

REFLECTIONS FROM THE WAR ZONE 1075 (1) Armaments do not make for peace. We have heard for years that a country that wants peace must be prepared for war. There never was a greater fallacy. (2) England's citizen soldiers have proved themselves the equals in every respect of the continental conscripts, after only a few months of training. That proves how unnecessary are the annual enormous expenditures on standing armies. (3) The insanity of trying to settle international differences by means of war becomes more apparent as the struggle con- tinues. Blood is flowing like water in the various battle fields. Men are being crippled for life. Some are going insane. How many suicides are committed will never be known. National in- debtedness is growing at the rate of millions of dollars a day. When the day comes that the combatants are exhausted and can draw no more blood from each other, then these conditions will confront them. How much better if nations would do like indi- viduals, and take their quarrels to a competent court! Is there any salvation from poverty and from oppression other than the dethronement of militarism? Is not civilization itself in danger of destruction when the imps of war hold carnival on the high- ways of nations? Has not the Church of the Prince of Peace a special message, a special mission, to a world perishing in rivers of blood? It may be of some interest to know that in this war, as in some former conflicts, soldiers claim to receive visits from the other side. In a dispatch from Petrograd to the France de De- main, it is stated that many Russian sentinels declare that they have seen General Skobeleff in a white uniform riding on a white horse. Skobeleff was an ardent pan-Slavist. He was adored by his soldiers, who regarded him as invulnerable. He died in 1881, and tradition says that he predicted this war. And now Russian soldiers claim to have seen him on the battlefield ; and they are fully convinced this appearance portends a crisis in the history of the Russian nation. The English, too, have a story about the presence of a mysterious rider, at the battle of Meno, who caused the Germans to turn back in the middle of a successful advance. The British soldiers sav it was St. George. Some of the French believe that it was St. Michael ; others, Joan de Arc. All of which o-oes to show that the belief in communication between this world and that behind the veil is as strong in our age of electrical won- ders as it was when Constantine saw the cross in the skv. But if they believe that Joan de Arc, or St. Michael, or St. George, or General Skobeleff can appear to mortals, why should they refuse to believe that Moroni, John the Baptist, Peter, James and John, and our Lord himself appeared to the prophet Joseph and qualified him to warn the world that calamities were to be poured out upon the nations?

1076 IMPROVEMENT ERA We are glad that the United States is spared from actual participation in this struggle ; and yet, if our country, by throwing her moral influence and financial and military resources in the balances for right and justice, could shorten the terrible slaughter and help to establish a firmer basis for world peace, we would glady hasten the day of her advent in the arena. For this is a struggle between right and wrong, tyranny and liberty, Michael and the dragon. Pardon me for troubling you with these observations and impressions. I feel well in my missionary labors, but the mis- sionary ranks are thinning out, and the work is necessarily im- peded. We are still the objects of vilification of anti-"Mormon" street speakers in Liverpool, and newspaper attacks in some places. The latest story is that "Mormon" elders are sending young men to the continent to fight the British as German soldiers. Some papers are fair enough to give the elders a chance to present their side, but that is not the rule. I had the privilege of visiting Hyde, near Manchester, and Leicester, and, in company with President Hyrum M. Smith, bear my testimony to large audiences. The attention paid to what was said, and the interest manifested, make it clear that a great work can still be done in England for the enlightenment of the people on spiritual truths. As Summer Wanes The chalked rose and lily-tower Have had their brief and fragrant hour; No more within the poppy-urn The drowsy orient embers burn; Denser the dews the dawns distill; In loitering wise the rillets flow, And plaintively behind the hill The dying flutes of Summer blow. The thrush is pensive, day-long broods Within the cloister of the woods, And only with the twilight flings Upon the air her rapturings; The cricket chirrs; the locust chides, High-hidden on some drooping spray; And like a barque down amber tides In dreams the Summer drifts away. — Clinton Scollard in The Independent.