OCR Text |
Show OUR WARS UNJUSTIFIABLE. Former Secretary of State Foster, in a speech today, took the position that wars are unnecessary and then he proceeded to prove that three of our own war3 were without just cause and to no good purpose and had been opposed by a strong element of the American people. The war of 1812, the Mexican war and the Spanish-American war were forced on the country, he said, by what were at one time termed 'warhawks." Today war should be absolutely unnecessary as much so as is individual warfare. The cost of war is tremendous. A leading merchant of Ogden, who is for world peace, has presented the following facts : Out of the immense income of the United States for the fiscal year 1908-1909 seventy per cent was expended for past wars and on preparation's for wars. In other words, out of $604,000,000 contributed contrib-uted by the people of this country, only $181,000,000 was left for the cost of running the Government and for the erection of public buildings, build-ings, the improvement of rivers and harbors, the conservation of our national resources, the irrigation of arid lands, and other peaceful activities. Not only this, but the average annual cost of our army and navy, which for eight years preceding the Spanish War was $51,500,000, has increased to an average for the eight years since that war of $185,400,000 a total growth in the eight years of 360 per cent. What could have been done with this aggregate increase of $1,072,000,000 had the people of this country, as represented by the Federal Government, not felt it necessary to employ it in the construction con-struction of battleships and in the maintenance of the army and navy? It would, for instance, have paid three times over the estimated esti-mated cost of replanting 56 million acres of denuded forest lands in this country. Or it would have paid three times over the estimated cost of the Panama Canal, including the purchase price paid to the French company. Or it would have paid three times over the cost of carrying out the entire irrigation program contemplated within a generation. Or it would have given $60 to every family in tho United States. Just how this expenditure which, under present circumstances, is likely to increase, rather than diminish affects the public is shown by the statement that the increase referred to lays a yearly tax of I14 per cent on the total wages paid in the United States, basing this estimate on an average wage of $600 to the family. It is obvious that the higher taxation necessary to support expenditures ex-penditures of this kind has its influence on the increased cost of living. And with the increased expenditure for national defense which, under the present system, appears to be inevitable the burden bur-den will continue to grow year by year, unless some method can be devised of rendering a constantly growing armament unnecessary. If this country, with its vast resources and its eighty millionss of citizens, finds a growing burden in its insurance against foreign attacks, at-tacks, what must be said of the European nations, whose armaments are far greater than our own? It is well known that Great Britain and Germany are feeling the strain which the cost of the navy of one and of the army and navy of the other is bringing about, while the other European nations, though arming on a less gigantic scale than the great rivals named, are still devoting a larger amount than wo are to the maintenance of armed forces. The waste of money of human energy, we- should say is appalling. All the first-class powers are forcing a big fraction of their people to devote their time and ability to building navies and making armies two forces which never have done aught to feed the hungry or clothe the naked, and arc nothing but a drain on the productive pro-ductive resources. |