Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-12-12


The author Of tie following commu-
nicstion presents considerations which
arc calculated to strengthen the OPPOSE
ton to the outlay for war purposes
that Is advocated in Mr.. TTLpES's
letter Of last week to Mr.. CARLrsLE'
lFor the Dlspatch.l
The position Of the Dispatch in refer
epce TO Mr.. Tilden's letter. although in
marked contrast to that Of some OF its
contemporaries. seems to DO wei
grounded. The contingency Of any at
tack from foreign Powers is so remote
that money spent in meeting II cy
strengthening our coast defenccs wouid
appear to be just so much thrown
away.
Our safety consists not only IN our
isolated position, our strength, anu our
wealth, but in the mutual jealousy
and dislike which foreign nations enter
tain Tor each other. Their immense
fleets and ornaments are kept up, not
&C . menace to us, but to their neIgh..
bors. And at what cost? The mind
con,emplates with sadness the thought
that millions Of men in Europe, In the
pr,me Of life and health, should DC
,sken from their homes and from the
peaceful pursuits Of industry ana kept
in enforced idleness and under military
restraint. to meet the contingency OF
war which may never come, and which,
when il does come, may be unjust and
aggressive, and force its adhcrents 10
fight in an unholy cause. How must
taxation grind the faces Of the poor
and wiring reluctant pennies from the
needy to defray the enormous cost
of maintaining and equipping such
hosts
But this is not all. The poor con-
script is not only taken from home ana
its endearments and denied his freedom,
but he is kept in condition OF enforced
idleness, which blights his moral and
intellectual faculties and renders him
unfit for the duties Of good citizenship
when his term of enlistment expires.
His daily duty is to clean and polish
his gun and equipments and to follow
the dull routine Of the drill and manual
and this for years in succession. Is 1t
any wonder then that he should drink
whiskey or eat opium, vices which are
notorious in garrison life, to rouse the
sluggish brain which has been denied
the stimulus Of natural and healthy &C
ton?
1t may seem like discussing very
remote question, and one in which we
of this country have very little interest,
TO enumerate the evils which are attend
ant upon the standing armies of Europe.
But the ties Of commercial intercourse
and trade between this and foreign
countries have become so close and
strong that taking vast bodies OF men
from productive pursuits diminishes, by
so much and to that extent, the aggre-
gate results Of human industry, and
checks to that degree the ilood-tide of
wealth and prosperity which is the basis
oil Gil COUlmtICt anu ihtS'Sh""p~
tween nations. There may have been
some gain to America from emigration
to escape the evils referred to, but the
teeming hives would have poured out
their swarms all the same, and OF far
better material, had no such motive
driven them from their native land.
1t is safe to assert that Europe is
very far at present from turning her
spears into plowshares and her swords
into pruning-hooks but he must be a
dull observer of human events who
does not see that there is an increased
tendency to the settlement of national
difficulties by arbitration, which IN
spires the hope that in the future, in
stead Of building forts and bastlons to
keep people back, railways and canals
and ships shall be constructed to make
them nearer and better neighbors and
to bring them into closer bonds OF
amity and friendship. y.
AFFIRMATION COUNTY, VA, Deem
Der 0, 1885.