New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-02-14
"ELI PERKINS,
A European War.

n GuFOpouu tvATs
In the gloom that surrounds US one thin
is perceptible. All men are arming then
selves. 1t is the darkness that may be fel
and the sensation is not imaginary. At til
word of command, Germany is arming e
masse, and the surrounding nations-ths
is, the best part of the world-can not bu
do as she does. The momentary dreams {
peace and quiet, arts and progress, hav
fed away, and Germany recognizes til
stern necessity of her case, which is tina
what she has won by arms she can onl
hold by arms, as long as the arms are in he
hand. 1t is no longer possible to doubt tn
sagacity and truth of her rulers, and the
say that hencetOrth every German sound il
wind and limb must be a soldier. Fro1
the age of seventeen to fOrty-two every ma
not belonging to the army or the reserve is t
be liable to be called out in the case of al
actual or even threatened invasion. TIL
nature and contingencies of this new enroll
ment are by no means notions on paper
As to its numerical amount it is sufficient t,
say that. added to the line, the Landwehr
and the existing Landsturm, it raises tn
disposable force of the German empire {,
$500, 900 men. The Landsturm will b.
Germany in arms as distinguished from the
standing army OF Germany: but even tina
distinction threatens to disappear, for tn,
gaps of the line are to be filed with thu
reserve. So far from the latter having tn,
| special exemptions and immunities which
England associates with q reserve or q lOca
force, it seems even more at the beck anG
call Of absolute power than the line. The
| orders given in the contemplated emergency
are not to be published so that the
German malcontent or partisan may know
as little as the foreigner or the foe who
are called to arms, how many and where
The government may call out the reserve
/ NE fntn 81 ktA H.
youth of province Immediately threatened
! with invasion; the older men of one not &C
| Threatened; in word, whatever it pleases
without being bound by any rules of slavish
| uniformity. The whole reserve is imme-
| diately to have its arms, if not the newest
those that were new the other day. 1t is
| admitted that the Germans do not generally
like fighting, but they like it better than
being killed in their beds, or made beasts
| OF them even like it better than beng
| divided into dozen States, or into two or
three, each only halt German. All are
told they have to fight or die;
fight or be slaves; fight OF be beggars,
tugitives and wanderers over the face
! OF the earth. They seem to be only too
well aware Of it, For man to be always
expecting murderous attack is sometimes
supposed to embitter life, and make it
hardly worth having. But people manage
to live and be comfortable in volcanoes,
coalpits, ships and powder mills. In like
manner the 5000, 000 of Germans, expectin g
every day TO be called out to fight an
enemy at their very DOORS and themselves
unfortunately addicted to habits of provo
cation. nav be happy. 1t is to be hoped
they will be happy on these conditions, for
1t is all the happiness Germany ia likely to
enjoy for many a year-the happiness.
namely nf a phaNpo with a daS 10
and would-be deadly foe.
Ii this enormous, this preposterOus arma-
ment is provoked by the attitude of France.
it provokes in return. A man who goes
about armed in time of peace is suspected
OF hostile intentions, and Germany lends
itself easily to the delusiOn, if such it be.
1t finds itself unexpectedly great military
power, and even a maritime power, vic
tOriOus, successful, and its luck by no
means exhausted. On every side-nOrth,
south, east and west-it finds that which it
still wants to its completeness, and which
it sees a way to. Its turn is come. After
a minority of ages under evil guardianship
il steps into it's patrimOny and is once more
al empire. For ages Germany has possessed
all the glories, except those of policy and
war. Now it has these, and the others as
well. 1t is surrounded by great empires.
The prosperity of England and Russia alone
would be enough to tempt an anchOrte to ami
bitlOn. Like the King, Germany asked only
tor wisdom. and now has it with riches,
honor, dominion and the life of its enemies,
which II did not ask for. But now that it
las tasted these delights it is different
being, with new and nObler consciousness,
and not content or satisfied on the same
easy terms as before. Why should it now
shrink from an appeal to arms, which can
not but give it more than ever! This =
the new attitude Of Germany; ali OF H.. M;
Tor IN her case not to advance IS to recede.
Accordingly, the more she arms the more
does France, the Waet does Russia. The
former now COMMANDS, under all heads,
about 10000 men, the latter more than
$500, 900. Austria, Italy, Denmark, Hol-
land and Switzerland are armlng as fast as
they can. 1t is universal strain on the
energy and resources of the world. But
selt-preservation never yet was found
sufficient to keep up high tension
long. When all nations arm it will
be for something, and they will look
before as we'll as behind. A dozen millions
of men can not be withdrawn from common
industry and civil duties and engaged in
the most costly and destructive Of ali en-
Payments, except to the continual loss and
hindrance OF the people. Where the women
work like horses, as they DO in Germany
and France, the presumption is that both
men and horses are wasting or misapplyinp
their power. Germany is not O. rich country
Even with its singular wealth of parsmony,
1t can not keep even million men long
under arms without appreciabe sacrifices.
10 TACT, time will arrive when the burden
OF much larger armament will compel
question between disarmament and initiative
IN war. If only to secure peace, Germany
VIII nave to appeal to arms, or, II not she,
some other power involved in this wild
sword dance of nations. Such is the nevi.
able result OF an initiation OF ornaments pro.
ceeding upon rivalry and provocation; and
it can only be averted by timely resolu.
tion to be content with what one has, and
TO stand only on ones guard against unpro-
voked aggre ssi0n.
When ornaments are mea assured by mil.
lions, almost in sight OF this land, it costs
positive effort OF gravity to talk of our
own. The utmost amount of land forces
we could turn out, under all heads, for the
protection OF these isles, under the most
critical circumstances, would hardly be a
nth or sixth of what France could put in
the field. one-tenth OF what Prince Bismarck
could raise out Of the ground by stamp of
MS loot. All that our army is equal to is to
garrison our forte, to guard our coasts, and
20 instruct our volunteers and reserves
We can not people remote continents and
Isles and have our men at home. We can
not have them working day and night at
factories and learning at the same time the
arts of offense and defense. The navy ia
our one arm in the scale of continental war.
Here we are beyond rivalry, and have onlv
to remember that We have little else but
ships, and must make the best of our single
aeiense. continental writers taunt US with