THE KING’S BUSINESS
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L a s t i n g w o r l d p e a c e . The press is still being flooded with uninspired prophecies as to the outcome of the war. Among these prophets is John Masefield, the British poet. A daily paper reports him in á recent address as follows : “Relating many personal experiences on the battle fields in France and Gallipoli, and declaring that a lasting peace would ultimately result from the present conflict, John Masefield, British poet and historian, lecturing before a large gathering in Trinity Auditorium (in Los Angeles), said: ‘I positively believe this will be the last war for all time, and it is up to us to see that there is a conclusive result of the great' struggle now being waged. Every resource must be behind to combat against this evil, to forever eliminate war, for the instinct is, very deeply planted.’ ” We wonder what was Mr. Masefield’s basis for his prophecy. There is certainly nothing in our knowledge of human nature as revealed in history of any kind whatever, and certainly nothing in the Word of God to warrant any such prediction. Evidently Mr. Masefield makes his prediction, basing it merely on what he wants to believe. This war will not be^he last war for all time, unless before this war is concluded our Lord comes, and even then it will not be the last war for all times, for there is to be a war at the end of the millennium. It is the part of wisdom not to take counsel with our desires, but with facts, and history, and human nature as we know it, and above all the revealed course of the future as God has made it known in His own inspired Word. T o b a c c o a n d t h e s o l d i e r s . A great deal has been said in the press about the men who are profiteer ing out of the present war, but one of the most outrageous manifestations of that kind is in the operations of the American Tobacco Trust. It is said that this Trust “is making millions out of the movement.” The United States Gov ernment seems to be co-operating with the tobacco trust. In The Wesleyan Methodist of March 27, 1918, the following “Official Bulletin” issued by the United States Government is published: “ALL AMERICAN SOLDIERS ,ENTERING TRENCHES CARRY RED CROSS COMFORT KITS. The Red Cross issues the following: “Every American woman whQ has helped to pack a Red Cross comfort kit for our boys ‘over there’will be interested in a cablegram received at the national headquarters of the American Red Cross, from Major James H. Perkins, Amer ican Red Cross Commissioner to Europe. It is as follows: ‘Every American soldier now entering the trenches carries an American Red Cross comfort kit containing towel, shirt, writing paper, pencil, soap, handkerchief, socks, mirror, and tobacco. The number of kits cannot be stated, but the fact that every soldier has,one means that the work done by American women is a big comfort to the soldiers now on the firing line. This fact should be a solace to the Amer ican women who have made them, as well as to the soldiers. More kits wanted with socks and tobacco.’ ” The Editor of The Wesleyan Methodist says that “the same paragraph, in identically the same words, came to this office in the official publication of the Red Cross, so there call be no doubt as to the reliability of the statement that ‘Every American soldier now entering the trenches carries an American Red Cross/comfort kit containing . . . tobacco.’ ”
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