  In all the past the records are full of war; Men had one desire to be in a continual jar; Or else the peaceful victories they did win Were not such as they wrote therein. Each nation, tribe, and men of ancient race For each other had nothing but hatred and menace. Upon the boundaries and rights of each, The other did recklessly go to reach, With rapine and murder in their hearts, To snatch from each other all such parts Of their lands, and their goods to confiscate, As could be done by the hordes they did aggregate. Their warriors and men to subjugate, Their women and fair maids to subject To brutality, and any other object As they chose upon them to impose. There were only two kinds in those times Of peoples on earth, those in their own confines, And barbarians who dwelt anywhere else, Regardless of who they were, Goths, Huns or Celts. No tie of sympathy was known or recognized, Between those different tribes; Each for the other was lawful prize. Robbery, theft, and murder were terms, Applied to deeds committed at home; These same acts out where they did roam, Were designated bravery and prowess, When upon barbarians they did egress, With battle-axe, darts, helmet and shield, Bent on the slaughter of their fellow man; For conquest and glory, they led the van; Over mountains filled with perpetual snow, Into heated valleys where the sun did glow; They fought for pride, religion and show; As upon crowned heads they wore Laurels of victory for blood and gore. But now has dawned a better day; From ocean to ocean where men survey Their lands and the boundaries fix Where rights of each the line restricts; And treaties with one nation is made With others to settle their commerce and trade. They bring across oceans in merchant marine, Luxuries of life now by us all seen, Grown and shipped from the uttermost lands, Divided from us by seas, deserts and sands. Those natural laws we are learning to use, Based upon justice according to the views Of publicists and statesmen applied To nations dealing with nations the world wide. Now the crude implements of death once used By ancients, are thrown aside and refused. In place of triremes propelled by oars, Steel-clad battleships ride by scores, Manned with guns throwing missiles miles; Around our coasts and adjacent isles; Our barricades and our battlements, Our field glasses and our armaments; Our powder in guns and in mines, With deadly explosives of all kinds, Making killing a thing of skill Upon the thousands our inventions kill, All are bringing war to a standstill. No longer do we hand to hand in war engage; Foes rushing foes with eyes in a rage; Instead, the scientific gunner his aim to gauge, Miles away, his gun adjusting to suit, Deals death to thousands, wherever he may shoot; With no malice in his heart, by electric touch, Some mine is exploded, killing and destroying as much In a single blow, as was done in a day the old way; And in all the soldiers are out of the fray. Why should we slaughter and fellow men slay, In this unimpassioned, calculating, scientific way? If such things, done by the whole nation, Were done by one, it’d be murder in our estimation. Inventions and knowledge lead towards peace; And the frequency of war decrease; The more we know of our fellowman. The less we like to cut off his span. So let the dove of peace hover over the globe, And in humanity’s cause we ourselves enrobe; Till from war and all its sickening pall, We advance, and universal peace install; And we may, unless we get up a protocol, Over which we may fight to see who is right, In the interpretation thereof withal.
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