The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1914. HEROISM IN PEACE AND WAR.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2007, 14 March 1914, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MARCH 14, 1914. HEROISM IN PEACE AND WAR.

Tae fassinajttng.story of-PnrMAw-SON'Siadvefttii.tes in the Antarctic reand 1116 hardships oHhe.tragip; journey in whieh Ninnjs and Mbrtz lost their lives, provide s&mo hejpfpl material fer the dis'Cttssion of the mestioij. whijther it would be possible mi a nation to retain, tlic AVaiiikO yittoes if wiir wdre abmished. "This interesting jiroblsm has α-fcceived a good deal , oi attentdoii. du'ring recent years,_ and. Euskin's declttratioi} that , he belioved th x& waif- is at present pro- ; ductive at gcrod more than evil has been criticised from matty points of view... The advocates of peade have challenged his eontention that histoy shows that , liatioßs have always reached t'heii , highest virtue.j a®d ' wrought their, most accomplished works, in timea © ; f stress and battle , , . while no nit-ion lias ever yet enjoyed a protracted and triuEttp.haiit peace ■ witijoirt receiving in its own bqsotm ineradicable seeds of Mure decline. But whether this reading, of history" may. be correct fir nat, ifc is generally admiii<!.d t ; hat Wfr. fosters a cettain type of jnanly vii'liie, sucl? as courage., en durance , ., self-sapfifi.Ee., cooperation for a Gtjinmpii end.}, and obedience. The- man wlio has looked death in %s lace for king atf-d cquutjy, and not out of mere bravado.of '. for personal |ain, thereby' adds '. depth fcnd strength to his character s and a nation which ha 3 been called viport to inakc a frtoiendwis saoriflce; ■in order to .preserve its f.fsedem and its iva.fcip.iial. life is, .itenerally s.p.eakUig, weided together and strengthen' cd"fey thfe severe- discipline- of suffering, G'ENE-RA-fc voj? B'EpftAßpi states tha-t "ihtt b*utoiities iji detail which «W war brings with it are altogether lost sighj of before the idealjsm of the as a ivhglo, /111 the shams -wMfih -a Igrig peace undoubtedly fosters are tinwasked , . Personalities obtain, the place they Jcserve; whatc-vdr is stfoii-g' .a-jac! ■aoble arid, time eosies. to .i-hc. .ffont ipd -finis sc.op/6- fea»..sctivity>'* It is-, tiQwever, folly tt> shut eoc's eyos to ■fctie fact *hat wa,r has its rflpul.siye. Si-dos for it sjirs up scfteio of the -wo-r-s-fc hitman passions ;' bat it also ■cfll-ti-yat(is s&m& great qualities, tte cljw inatiDii of which wp&ld soiisus.ly iflipovefish'a naitio-a's chftraetcT. After malviftS every allowance for what we call the gldry of war, and admitting .that it may at -any me* went become a necessity wS&t exist' ing conditiofls, the majority of civilised mankind feel thai- it is.a terrible e\il. They want the warljit! virtues without .win?.. In some interesting comments o.& Genebai von BtjeN' HAhei's views, PftoFEssp'R Btimn~, of Os-ftfrd", contends that therq '& atwti-tf-a.nt scope in pea-iu as Well as in war for the cxeVftse of such virtues as cqufdgf, devQtion to a- common cause. diseJjjHUG or obedi&nee to a. purpose, and readiaess for the high--esfe forms of self'Saerifice. J)r. Sanday denies that any decadence has Kst\lted from the fcv-olt of the ijfln* sciohce of mankind against the fe- . trirra that force is the highest right and that tlie conflict of rights between nrttiods can only bo decitied by war, and states thn-t.whenever tlicfo U a special demand for mirage- and daring there seems to ba no lack of ws-perise. The recent I'olar jourfiovs of Peary, Sam , , Ajiusbsen, Mawson, ancl o'th&vs lend strong support to this cOHtentiott, and give us an assurance that the mafily virtues could sniTjvo if nations found a ffa,v of settling their disputes without- drawing the swovct, The sinipte story told by Drt. M'Lbas, of Jlawson's .journey, s-iipivs that heroism is not confined to the b-attlcfield, Down ill the Antarctic tbere is ,iri "AWtiin's Cave"-»a wave tut iit -tli* live wilts Uom Ma-wien'ft bass, pa.iA.tifcHe tignd. It was tfo first "deßot" eitalslishfd

lil- members of jbo Australian Afttaretie expedition. A year a so Itae menMLeiiii, Mftdijan, and Carroll-set out trom ibo innia tee in search of three other men who lnrf none on 'a lon* s.ledsJBi? jcnrK-ey, nut] whose wtarft was long Overdue. And the tomes ef tlXe.se three woj-c -Mftwsoi), Nimris., Ani Merfz. Fov 17 Miles beyond this cave the throe, men • wait, oud fair no sign of the other throo. And there they ptonted a eaolte of foed, ant) left Some written words. "itßund.'ea reached i.fto Pole," was <s.jie message. Another mcawgo grave directions os "to tjio positio-)) of "Aladdin's Cave," where there tt-as food in plenty, And the three returned. Five miles beyond tliero—even as they ivei'o .writing tlier messages—a wary, emaciated figure was striureling Uirotigh tUo snow. Be itad been stniijfflniß throttjrli the snow, fllanp, for «oll-niKh-260, miles. As hiek .had it, he fotiiid the eaclic-, and the food save htm stteiisth to- 0 on, and, fishtiiiß asnijtsj: a fearful Wizard, fie cauic to "AJattsUii's Camp," For seven days he stayed there; ami oil the eighth day the sij men at the rahin tose descrieiit a c.amtt Okmio opining down the m\\ of ice npd ?itow. They nislseil forward to meet him, and he, w«i'k thoi!.?h lie wa?, rushed forward h> inert item. For weeks to had irot seflii a tiM.m.au Ijoiiug. "Whete are Ksniiis nr«l Jfe.rtr, f" he wits asked. "Are they trelifid?" "Yes," he said, "tliey are dead." That ivas how Pr. Sfaivstiii Game t>ack to the camp,

A naitiofl that is jsroducing meii who are rsady to undergo ' such • hardships ' its. Scow and MaWson and their gai* lanb colleiigues «Bduretl. iti the eauso oi science need .not j)a3".t<jQ njuch attentjon to the pessimists who ar'e predieting thafc it is-already in its Recline Wd is going on to its WL The fate of Captain ScoT/fand the little party who accompanied him on his tragic dash for fee Pole, inateaS of putting a check on supli dangerous, ei?ter.r)rises, lias infcnsified tfe fascination for Polar exjiloratibß, and SlR i EIIKEST SHACSiETOJ?., Who is OFganising anftthe} , Antarctic cjcjiedition., has been: overwlieteed witli applications from those aaxieus fo bear a share iji the perils and glories, of the vuyagc. Kotwithstandi'hg the death volt ef airmen, tho conqttcst of the air goes #n, and when : shlp' wraofes and disasters in -mines-flicciff deeds of heroistti arc recorded equal to those produced by war. Whcrevej* dapger aad duty ea-U vo-kntecrs a.re' seldom teekiag,'. Doctors, 'scientists; missionaircs, ,i,ild explorers arc ffc&pared to risk their linn in their work, j list as thcsoldiei , is., aftd when the occasion arises it is ■wonderful how mttcii Cfttiet bravery the averago man am-tl wornan j.s capiblc of -disl - - There k, as Bit. SandaV says, a latent , caoacity hi courage ana $elf*saerifice hatew the surface of ordinary society, and there arc scores of op.poftueities in the ordinary life- of man for bringing if, into ouerafcion/- ihoJre fEems to be no indicatittß at prcßettt that warg ivill ecaso in ©m , day and generation, but there js nevejtfekss some conaolatio.n in feeling that if ever an era of tmiveteal peace should com.e, there •R'i : ll_ still be opportunities Jw the cultivation of 'tSflso heroic whioh h&Vfe in the art«t so- .closely assftciatpd - with war and the battlefield, They will not dds.app.ear.i, for tnei'c will be scope foy their nieftfe and exereisc. in inany other diree.tions, • '■'.'''