OCR Text |
Show JUST BY WAY OF INSURANCE. No leading nation escapes war for1 many years. There ia much talk of the swift coming of universal peace, but it haa not arrived. The people of the eastern states while most sensitive when their immediate im-mediate interests are concerned are quite indifferent indiffer-ent to the west coast The bulk of the population is of course within a day 'a ran of the Atlantic eoaat, but their newspapers cried out against leaving . their coast defenseless when the battleship fleet started around the . world. So, when Cervera'a fleet was reported -on -the- way- fronv'Spain,- there were frantie cries from' Maine to Georgia, lest their coast be bombarded, until the "flying aquardon" waa fitted out. and under Admiral Schley started out to patrol the coast and to look for Cervera; though at that time half the army was within a few hours travel of their coast and there were of state guards east of the Mississippi enough men to overwhelm any army that Spain eould have sent. Within two weeks we havo seen the west coast stripped of soldiers to the border line between our country and Mexico. And though the whole num- ber thus railed for was but about 20,000 men it, while showing how efficient the regular army ia, in . the aame moment mado vicar how fearful would be the situation if those troops were going to meet a real enemy prepared for war. The most prudent business man' pays to have hia property insured. It may be siipponetlly fireproof in supposedly fireproof fire-proof block, but he gets it insured all the same, for ha says, VWe never can, tell." Why should not a nation imitate that practice! We have nevur had a war that we have not paid for in lives and treasure a dozen times over what it would have cost to have been ready. ,Wheh congress declared Mar against Spain, President McKinley called for and received an appropriation of $50,000,000 to spend as he thought best in preparation. There was a call for volunteers, a great eamp established in Florida, another in Tennessee, another in California. Cali-fornia. What for! Why, to train raw recruits in the preliminary duties of soldiers. And so inefficient ineffi-cient were the preparations that there were no sufficient mcasurca takeu to protect the volunteers and we believe more soldiers died of typhoid at Chickamatiga than died in all the battlea of the " war. Now suppose that instead of Spain, Germany Ger-many or Japan had been the enemy, what would have happened t But all this is but preliminary t i saying that the west coast statea ought to realize real-ize that were a war to come that coa.it would be swept, overrun and pillaged before any help eould come from the cant; that its present condition, of-ft-ra a perpetual incentive to all atrong powers to ' make war upon us. In such a situation, every 1 young man in those, states ought to be drafted by : the atatea to perform at least year'a military aer-vite. aer-vite. In that way 300,000 of (hem would be all the . time in training and iu that . way in six months they might bo prepared to make an effective effec-tive defense in case any war were to be aprung upon them. They cannot insure their property in any other way so cheaply; in no other way can they so cheaply ward off any danger of war. |