Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1889-11-01
SOLDIERS AND "LoAFERs."

SOLDIERS AND LoAFERs."
Some worthy citizens, whose understand
ing Of English phrasing is limited,
have misconceived the tenor of an edi-
torial note in the RECORD UNION, in
which the regular soldiery of Germany
we're denominated "loafers" OF course
whoever read the note understood that the
personality of the German soldier was not
referred to, since he is not soldier from
choice, but compulsion; nor could any one
understand us to mean "loafer" in the
sense of the term as applied to the de-
graded These mistaken citizens seem to
be very angry with the RECORD UNION
lor its expression, yet it is a remarkable
fact that great numbers of our best Ger
man citizens, and who constitute much of
the bone and sinew of the United States,
left Germany to avoid the very service
that these protestants now laud. We are
told that the soldier of the United States,
who works for So month, is an ignoble
fellow, mere hireling, compared with the
German subject who leaves father, mother
and home to serve his country. Are not
our narrow critics, who are unjusti-
iably indignant, disingenuous? They
know that with the soldier of the republic
it is volunteer service, while in the vast
majority of instances in Germany the
service of the soldier is matter of COM
pulsion. What we meant by the express
sion that is objected to is clear enough to
those who wish to understand. We meant
then, and we repeat it now, that the sol
der is compelled to be non-producer
that peace in Europe is an armed peace;
that Europe is to-day in arms to main
tain peace through fear; that nine millions
of the picked men of Europe are to-day,
Dy compulsion, under arms against each
other that these nine millions of men are
withdrawn most unwillingly from the
ranks Of labor, and that the unpicked men
who remain are taxed in their labor to
maintain them in what we choose to term
idleness or loafng, but not loafng in the
sense ofchosen degradation and ignominy
Are our friends the German citizens of
America solicitous to return to the condi-
ton of the subject" and relinquish the
blessings of peace that is not maintained
by force OF arms, for the peace that hangs
upon the mere question of the preponder-
ating strength of armies in this, that or
the other nation? We take it that they
viii not return an affirmative answer. We
mean to say, and we have not the slightest
hesitation in repeating the statement, that
every man who does not produce some
thing, contribute something to the indus
trial worth and product of the country he
inhabits, who is not engaged in some
peaceful vocation, is drone in society,
and to that extent "loafs" The soldier of
the United States IS not the soldier of a
standing army to preserve the peace as
against Jealous nations He is hired to
care for the arms of the nation, to guard
its borders against the savage, to garrison
our forts and arsenals and to render serv-
ice against the lawless in time of emer-
gency. There is no man so silly, we hope,
in the blaze ofthe enlightenment of the age,
as to compare the 25, 900 volunteers of the
army Of the republic with the 100000
men under arms in Europe by compulsion,
for the sole purpose of cowing
neighbors. Our protestants are right
when they say that the German army
is composed of the sinew and marrow of
that nation. Alas, that it is true. These
men. whose number the present Emperor
would augment by new levies, are with
drawn from the industrial energy and pro-
duetiye capacity of Germany, and there is
not one of the protestants who assume IL
diguation because of our expression, who
does not know that this is true. But why
debate so simple proposition? II these sen
sitiye men protesting do not know, the rest
of the world does, that the very reason why
the Republic is preferable to the Monarchy
is that an armed peace is not preserved in
the former. For that very reason some
millions of Germans and other foreigners
are with US to-day, that they may enjoy
the blessed assurance that their eldest or
best sons will not be torn from the home
90 serve a Government and contribute
nothing to the wealth of the nation. The
soldiers of Germany are paid out of the
revenues OF the Empire, and the labor Of
Germany is taxed direotly aud indirectly
10 support in idleness-so far as industrial
nroioetlcu is Observation-Disclosures of
thousands of armed men, for whom there
is no other use under the heavens than to
cow and ovsrawe and keep at arms length
rival nations. Here we have sixty-hye
millions of people III America, and OF
these we withdraw but twenty-five tnou-
sand from industrial pursuiss-that Is, we
hermit one in every two thousand SIX
hundred 10 loaf upon the industry
ri the others, ard we Pay hin
f,r Il. taxias tie workers to supply
h;s wage. We look forward to the day