St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-11-28
What War Means.

1hlS thrill OF the WIFI btdSI III our
nature, this ectatic shuddermg of the
cat the instant before it leaps upon its
prey, is something quite Intoxicating I"
our nation of peaceful habits, although
it is not ten Years since we achcd with
the terrible ache of the Woe that follows
quickly on the passion of blood. Let
us turn the eye for Il moment. not back
on that supreme national agony, but
forward upon the least speck of war
with Spain that we can imagine.
y war with Spain would hc largely
naval. The Spanish navy. in some re-
SpectS. is more powerful than ours: it
has mole vessels and more men. but
fewer guns. Again, Spain has never
accedcd to the StipulationS of the treaty
of Paris, forhidding priNatrcring. She
retains the right. to-day. to ISSUE letters
of malquc and rcpri>;rl, and the rich
prey of American commerce would at
tract toe her service the adventurous
and luSttul shippers of the whole world.
We may assume that our monitors are
Il match for the Arlpilc>. the Numau.ia
or any of the three or four til>t-rlaS>
Iron-cladS which Spain possesses. though
we must remember that on this point
we are entirely without experience.
ami that no nation but ourselves stakes
lis faith on fiat. turrctcd vessels. But
apart from the relative strength of the
great vessels, and assuming that our
weaker craft will he able IL match their
advcrSIrics. ship for ship. we still leave
our commerce exposed to the rest of the
Spanish navy. and To Il swarm of pri-
ratcrrS. issuing from all the ports of
the Mediterranean, taking Spanish let
tiers OF nIarquc and Icpri>;il and >Wnnp-
INC down on our merchant marine.
"lhc decline of American commerce..
has that Il familiar sound If the
confederate states. with no prctcn>r of
Il navy. and no recognition ON the high
seas. were able to sweep away AmcIi-
can commerce with such few pIivatccrS
~ could steal out of the ports of
England. what shall We expect uf the
public and private navy OF Spain. pass
im% unchallrngcd OH the seas. fitted ont
out from all the ports of the Kingdom
and her colonies. and ranging M and
down our coast The destruction of
American commerce just ut the moment
of lis revival would he a great caani-
tN.
But this is one of the least of the re
working CLASSES have Il certain idea that
the war would hc Il big thing for them
1t would make money plenty. work
plenty. wages rise. gold Z" up. and
things lively" But would the labor
ing man he i'll the end better off! Ii is
i very serious question whether Il man
can cam barrel of flour. Il pound of
hcat->trak and Il huShcl of putntoc> aS
quick. tn day. a> he could in I-tiO. Mr..
David y. Wells. in Il comparison of
prices and wages. made 10y personal
observation at New York. last spring.
found that Wages had not risen - much
a> the cost of living 10y several per cent;
That Labor i worth less than il Wa~ in
lNt0. l. due I" the simple fact rhI! We
have been through Il great wal. Nor
will Il small war have any different rr-
suit. We shall have To ASSUME again
the sin hundred millions of debt Which
We have 81 lahoriouSlN paid oft. thus
bringing on rs another annual burden
of thirty or forty millions for interest
The taxes we have abolished will have
to hc laid again. some of them. at least.
the duties on tea and coffee. and 9th
or articles. OF. perhaps. an income tan
The prices of all imported groceries will
rise on OccoIImt OF Il higher tariff. and
higher freight rates. the latter to offset
the Increased dangers of the ocean. The
prices of all imported goods will rise.
and the prices of all domr~ticS. the quo
tationS of which are fixed 10y foreign
competition, will rise. too. This in
cludes the bulk of ON wearing APPAREL.
household furnishings. hardware. etc.
Apart from these commercial and in
duStrial effects. we shall have another
season of rank growth in corruption.
nSurpatiOu and vice. In this respect.
war means quick fortunes fol the auIa-
rl"uS few, and Il corresponding sub
traction from the profits of the plod- T.
ding and honest mass; it means the |
breeding of dishonest contractors hy the
disbursement of great expenditures : il .
means addition division and silence" .
all through the administration of roN-
eminent. and when that comes To pa>S
We know how II trcklcS down through
all the affairs of men till it is impossible
I" trust the honesty of Il parish clerk
or oi the boy who sweeps ont Il bank
err Office 1t means more TwerdS. /
Ame>cS and FiskS; it means a grand .
speculation 10y everybody, with more
paper money, till We come to halt again. /
In IL crisis like the present. only worse :
finally, and most gravcly, it means '.war
powers at Washington, the straininr
OF the law under the pressure of the +.
moment, the violation OF it first and
the excuse for it aftcrward. if it he /
found out, the assumption of powers
that belong to the states. the intcrtrr-
ence with personal liberty and the COM
mand of local elections 10y the projects
of the empire
We are not afraid of war. We have
no fears of our final triumph. But let
us not deceive ourselves by any ninety .
day nonsense or bragadocio. A naval
war may be Il long one and IL costly .
one. y war vessel of to-day is il miracle
OF expense. Spanish pride will he very |
dull OF learning. We shall have to beat
the fools small, before they will accept
IL defeat. No American, we repeat. has
any fears of the iSSuc. But will it DAY
Will 1t pay either in honor or in spoiIs. /
the honor of il flag prostituted to an
illegal purpose. and outlawcd by our
own precedents and by all equity the
spoils. an island semi-barbarian and
wild, gigantic and burdensome addi- |
ton to our own already unweeded
gardens, possessed of things rank and .
gross III nature merely ?-SpringfeId ,
Republican.
AN EX-GUERkILLA LYNCHED.-On /
the night of the 10th inst, two men en-
tered the house of }. A. Hunter. near
NiuprSVille Mo and Will. nno 90 IL,