Mississippi Democrat. (Carrollton, Miss.) 1844-18??, 1846-08-05
CARROLLTON. WEDNESDAY. AUGUST s. 1916.

posed of 51,474 English, APIS Irish,
1929 Scotch. There is great dispro-
portion between the number of men actu.
ally serving as soldiers under the British
government and under that of the United
States. But it does not follow, because
England has kept up so large force since
1918, at an annual expense of $25,000,-
600, that therefore her military strength
is greater than that OF the United States.
1t is true that by the use of this force Eng
land has acquired territory of great value,
but scarcely sufficient to cover the outlay
of the SI,OO0,00O,0 900 that her people
have paid for it since the peace of Paris.
1t was not the military strength that France
| possessed at the outbreak of the revolu-
ton that enabled her TO go on and conquer
Europe; it was the concentration of
strength and the development of genius,
as she progressed. which enabled her to do
1t. Nor did her greatest generals improve
by experience. Even in the case OF Ma
PoeOn himself, he acknowledged that his
chef d'gu0re In war was his first campaign
in Italy. He further remarked that Tu-
rene alone appeared to have gained by
experience, and his talents were the result
of study. In this view, the military
strength of the United States is as great
as that of England. AS to actual service,
the English troops during the last 80 years
have had no more experience than the
United States militia. The army of Eng
land can have but little advantage, and
that of very temporary nature, over that
of the United States,
All the officers of the Royal Artillery
and Royal Engineers pass through the
Royal Military Academy at Wooiwich.-
A greater number graduate annually at
West Point than at Woolwich. The West
Point cadets are the most thorough, be-
cause they have alto live by it as pro.
| fesSion.
The degree of military knowledge diffu.
sed through the people of the U. States is
therefore as great as in England. If they
do not incur as great an expense in time
of peace to keep up the drill of men, they
are not, therefore, the weaker. On the
other hand the national wealth, which con.
stitutes the sInews of war, increases the
moro rapid. The expensive organiza-
ton of England would give her greatly
the advantage were the two nations to
send out expeditions to any given point, as
for instance in the case of the African
coast. Under the Ashburton treaty the
United States undertook to keep certain
number of guns there to attempt to sup
Ipress the slave trade-a useless and mos
onerous engagement; so much so, that al
ready the English minister has complained
that the required number were not pres
ent. To send troops to England or of
this continent will probably never be un
dertaken; and in the present prospect o
affairs no European power of powers viii
ever bo able to send a sufficient force t
this continent with the object OF attacking
the United States. The art of war, a.
matured under the system of Napoleon
can, therefore, have but little practical ap
! plication to the United States. The scien
tifc knowledge and the understanding o
the higher principles of the art, are all tina
it is required of our people; and with tina
knowledge they are stronger without ;
standing army than the most powerful Eu
ropean government resting on its mlItar.
force. 1t is coming to be understood tina
the number of guns owned by govern
ment, or the number of men it drills daily
do not constitute its strength, nor are the,
guaranty of the national prosperity.