Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1866-08-31
The Cost OF War.

Our own long and bloody war has left be-
hind ii reminder in the shape Of a national
debt which will long teach the people of this
country the terrible cost of war, especially
as burdcnsome taxation viii continue to call
their attention TO the figures rolled up dur
ing the campaign Of four years. We were
the better prepared to bear the cost, how
ever, because, unlike other nations of the
world. we had been exempt for two genera
tions from the expense of large standing
army-that tGrrible parasite prcying upon
the vitals of n people The freedom Of our
government, resting as it did on the consent
of the governed, our isolated and impregna-
bic position on the western continent divi-
dcd from ambitious powers by the broad
ocean. and the peculiar character of our in
stitutions, under which every citizen was Il
defender of law and order, enabled us to get
along with very little of the pomp ofwar and
to devote all our energies to the development
of our wonderful resources and increase of
wealth. For this reason the expense of the
war, terrible burden as it is, can be borne
without embarrassment ifwisdom prevails i'll
the financial management Of the Nation, and
an early return is made to a sound currency
and public economy. Our case would be al
most hopcess-libcrty would be in greater
danger here, if we had been strained to the
last point of endurance by taxation TO sup
port a standing army during the last fifty
years. In comparison with European cOun-
tries our prospects arc still cheerful Eu-
rope is II vast cemp, and the armies which
the breath of war puts in motion SO readily
can not be discharged upon declaration OF
peace. The standing armies of Europe
make up an aggregate of six million men.
Six millions of ablG-bodicd men withdrawn
from the productive avocations ofpcacc and
taught only the destructive art of war, with
wonderful inventions to make it more and
more destructive crerv year. The best part
Of the population Of Europe, physically, the
very bone and muscle of the continent, arc
thus supported in illcness or worse, in order
that the ambition Of few rulers may be
preserved. From this view is not human
government u failure? All the triumphs OF
art in our modern civilization scarcely offset
this great burden upon the productive indus
try of the world. The cost of maintaining
this vast force of soldery has been recently
estimated by philosophical writer at $1,000
100000. This estimate is for times ofpcace
and does not take in the ravagcS of war, by
which the industry Of large part of Europe
has been lately paralyzed, and vast amount
of damage done, to say nothing about the
thousands lives lost Thus it appears that
an amount almost equal TO our own whole
public debt, and considerably larger than
that part of the debt which bears interest, is
annually thrown away-wastcd as though
it was thrown into the middle Of the Attain
tic ocean. The saving of this expense for a
generation would enrich the whole world
and double the comforts of the poor Are
we prepared to follow in such a foolish and
sinful course? If we are not let us hasten
our return to the freedom, the mutual conf