Peace; World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives
This is an epitome of what woman has done to relieve suffering, but what
does war mean to her? It means the useless sacrifice of those that are
nearest and dearest. It means the breaking of the nearest of the family
ties, of the love and protection that makes these homes happy and
complete. This war is daily creating heartaches and wounds for
thousands of women and children that can never be compensated by any
possible glory of war. This war will create millions of tear-stained
faces, millions of breaking hearts that can never be comforted nor ever
be made joyous. Even when these young widows reach an age when their
hair will be tinged with white, they can never forget the hardships that
are now being made by this ruthless combat. These women may yoke their
backs to the burden and bear their suffering in silence, but the grief
will be greater for being suppressed. The pictures of daily suffering
are too dramatic and too intense to be forgotten in a year or in a
lifetime. Millions of these women have gone through the trials and
sufferings of child-birth with a joy in their hearts that they could be
the proud mothers of good families. These same mothers are now being
forced to give these sons for useless slaughter so that the greed of
nations can be appeased.
But the hardships will not end with the loss of life, it will mean the
sacrifice of every luxury, every comfort and even the bare necessities
of life for thousands and thousands of women. The main support of their
family gone, they will have to offer themselves as bread winners for
their families. Thousands of good businesses and factories have already
been swept to the ground, and thousands more will be destroyed before
this war is ended. Millions of unprotected women and girls will cry for
work, but after cities and towns are destroyed there will be little left
for those in need.
But there will be other hardships for these many unprotected mothers and
daughters. Thousands of families have worked and saved for years to buy
small homes and farms which they might call their own, and these have
been destroyed like beautiful grain by a horrible gale. Thousands of
others have saved for years to possess small fortunes, and these have
all been destroyed.
O, thinking woman, woman of all lands, do you call death, destruction of
life and property, glory of war? Did God create human lives and fertile
lands to have them all fall before the greed of man? If He had done
this, He would be an unjust God, but since His watchword is "Glory to
God in the Highest, Peace on Earth, goodwill to men," it is your duty,
mother of the race to come, to cry halt to this awful carnage, to make
your watchword in your prayer brotherly love instead of brotherly hate.
For if there is one God, there is one brotherhood, and all humanity can
only be linked to that God by brotherly love.
ASK YOUR AMERICAN FRIENDS HOW IT FEELS TO BE WITHOUT MONEY.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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