If it comes to that I plan on having company.
You will not have time to point your weapon. Sky scrapers may fall like cards, Cities may evaporate, such is the mentality of those with weapons that think they will save them.
This Interview says it all to the inventor of Gunpowder;
INTERVIEW WITH MR. HUDSON MAXIM.
Mr. Short remaining.
Mr. Hudson Maxim, scientist, inventor and expert upon explosives, was then announced. He entered.
Abdul-Baha. "Welcome! Welcome! Very welcome!"
Hudson Maxim. "I am glad to hear you speak English."
A. B. "My life has been spent in the Orient where foreign languages are seldom used. Otherwise I would have acquired English. Language is the great barrier between nations. When thoughts are interchanged destinies become one. All languages are difficult of acquirement for the real language is deeper than the outer words."
H. M. "Are you speaking in Turkish?"
A. B. "In Persian. I also speak Turkish and Arabic; Turkish is very difficult. In the East it is thought that acquiring Turkish is equivalent to the study of three other tongues."
H. M. "I understand you are a messenger of peace to this country. What is your opinion about modern war? Shall the great nations maintain armament and defenses as a guarantee or warrant against war? [presenting papers]. Here is an article I have written upon this subject. Shall the nations have an international police navy which protects and insures peace in the world, or shall they disarm and have no navies?"
A. B. "Everything that prevents war is good."
H. M. "Christ said He came to make war. Caesar was great in history because he was great in battle and military skill."
A. B. "We have the history of the world for nearly six thousand years. Before that there is no record. During these six thousand years there has been constant war, strife, bloodshed. We can see at a glance the results, achievements and outcomes of war. The history of warfare and strife is known, the effect apparent. Have we not a sufficient standard of experience in this direction? Let us now try peace for awhile. If good results follow, let us adhere to it. If not let us throw it away and fight again. Nothing will be lost by the experiment."
H. M. "Evolution has now reached a period in the life of nations where commerce takes the place of warfare. Business is war, cruel, merciless."
A. B. "True! War is not limited to one cause. There are many kinds of war and conflict going on, political war, commercial war, patriotic and racial war; this is the very civilization of war."
H. M. "Do you consider the next great national war necessary?"
A. B. "I hope your efforts may be able to prevent it. Why not try peace for awhile? If we find war is better, it will not be difficult to fight again; but if we find that peace is the glorification of humanity, the impulse of true civilization, the stimulus to inventive genius and the means of attainment to the good-pleasure of God, we must agree to adhere to it and establish it permanently."
H. M. "There is much newspaper talk about the United States fighting Japan. There is no prospect of it whatever. We don't want to kill good customers. Commercial energy is more profitable to us. Competition of commerce is as severe, trying and as cruel as wars of olden time. Science has made war expensive; so expensive it don't pay to fight. We make more money by being peaceful, so long as the other fellow keeps quiet and sticks to business. If an English navy came over here and bombarded New York a week they would injure themselves more than us. The expense of ammunition and equipment would cost a great deal more than the damage inflicted by their guns and shells. You are right in advocating peace. I am an advocate of peace from another standpoint. I would make war so expensive that the nations could not afford to fight and therefore would agree to maintain peace."
A. B. "The product of human invention, genius and the outcome of human disposition to kill and fight have well-nigh reached their limit. It seems as if the art of war could not be carried further. In ancient times when nation fought against nation, probably one thousand would be killed in battle, the expense would not be great, the outcome of victory decisive and final; but in modern times the science of war has reached such a stage of perfection that in twenty-four hours one-hundred-thousand could be sacrificed, great navies sent to the bottom of the sea, great cities destroyed in a few hours. The possibilities are incalculable, inconceivable, the after effects even more dreadful than the initial shock. In Egypt, the fellaheen who till the Nile banks, gather four or five harvests from the soil. Suppose they are called away from their peaceful pursuits, take up arms, expend their possessions for powder and go to war. The first consequences are grievous enough, but the after-results are even more deplorable. The country suffers beyond all power of estimation; agriculture is crippled, abandoned, sustenance fails, poverty and suffering continue long afterward. Furthermore, how many wars there have been in the Orient during past centuries; war and peace in constant succession; but your country America remained unaffected by them or their consequences. The news of war might reach Europe and America long after it had happened. But all this is changed in the present century. As soon as war is declared in any part of the world, all human attention is directed toward it; commerce and the machinery of nations are paralyzed; the whole world thrown into a condition of grave uncertainty. Therefore it is evident that the time has come to end war and establish peace. This is an exigency and requirement of the present century."
H. M. "Fewer are killed in modern engagements than in the battles of ancient times; the range is longer and the action less deadly."
A. B. "How about the war between Japan and Russia?"
H. M. "Less men are killed in war in a year now than are killed by our industries through preventable accidents."
A. B. "War is the most preventable accident."
H. M. "The short sword was more deadly in battle than the quick-firing gun, for the reason that massed men come together in hand-to-hand conflict and the slaughter was fearful. At Mukden two-hundred and fifty-thousand soldiers retreated without loss. In ancient times many thousands would have been overtaken and killed. War is no more dangerous now than automobiling."
A. B. "History shows that in war between the Roman and Persian Empires extending over a period of twenty years, in which one-hundred thousand men were engaged upon each side, only five or six thousand were killed. In modern warfare there are bombs which kill men like stripping leaves from a tree. An Egyptian general who had served in war against England was accused of cowardice at a meeting in Syria. He asked those present, 'Have you ever seen an English shell? When you see one explode among troops you will be excused for defeat and cowardice.'"
H. M. [Making diagram.] "The effect of a bomb is not so great as expected. Most of its force is expended upward into the air. It is impossible to mass men close enough to it for a full utilization of its energy. If its explosive energy could be expended in the right direction, it would do plenty of killing."
A. B. "The greatest intelligence of man is being expended in the direction of killing his fellow-man. The discovery of high explosives, perfecting of death-dealing weapons of war, the science of military attack, all this is a wonderful manifestation of human intelligence; but it is in the wrong direction. You are a celebrated inventor and scientific expert whose energies and faculties are employed in the production of means for human destruction. Your name has become famous in the science of war. Now you have the opportunity of becoming doubly famous. You must practice the science of peace. You must expend your energies and intelligence in a contrary direction. You must discover the means of peace; invent guns of love which shall shake the foundations of humanity.
The guns you are now building cause the death of man; you must build guns which will be the cause of life to humanity. Henceforth your life and energy should be given to this blessed purpose. You must work and experiment along this line. This work and accomplishment will be more wonderful than all you have done heretofore. Then it will be said by the people of the world, this is Mr. Maxim, inventor of the guns of war, discoverer of high explosives, military scientist, who has also discovered and invented means for increasing the life and love of man; who has put an end to the strife of nations and uprooted the tree of war. This will be the most wonderful accomplishment of any human being. Your name will glow with mention throughout the history of ages and ages. Then will your life become pregnant and productive with really great results. Consider this: the inventor of high explosives has discovered the means of universal peace; an active worker in the science of war has become a factor in the assembly of love! Then will your name be recorded in the pages of history with a pen of gold. No man in history will equal you in fame and greatness. You will be doubly renowned. God will be pleased with you and from every standpoint of estimation you will be a perfect man."
Regards Tony
