Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1890-06-06

their own life by looking down into the
gun barrel to see if it is loaded or getting
the ramrod fast in their boot leg are prompt
ns the sunrise, keen as the north wind, po
tent ms a thunderbolt, and accurate, and
regular, and disciplined in their move
ments as the planetary system.
Well done, then, ] say to - legislatures
and governors, and mayors, and all Off
Gals who decide upon larger armories and
better places for drill and more generous
equipment for the militia. The sooner the
sword can safely go back to the scabbard
to stay there, the better; but until the hilt
clangs against the case in that final lodg
ment, let the sword be kept free from rust
sharp all along the edge, and its point
like a needle, and the handle polished, not
only by the chamois Of the rcgiincntal serv-
ant but by the hand of brave and patriotic
officers, always ready to do their full duty.
Such swords are not bathcd in impetuosi-
ty, or bathed in cruelty, or bathed in OPP
preston, or bathed in outrage, but bathed
in heaven.
Before speak of the doom of the sword
let me also say that it has developed the
grandest natures that the world ever saw.
1t has developed courage-that sublime
energy of the soul which defies the uni
verse when it feels itself to be in the right
l
pudiates the idea that our life is worth
more than anything else, when for "A prin-
ciple it throws that life away, as much as
to say: II is not necessary that live, hut
il is necessary that Righteousness triumph
There are tens OF thousands among the
northern and southern veterans of our
civil war who are % per cent. larger and
mighticr in soul than they would have
! been had they not during the four years of
national agony turned their back on home
and fortune and at the front sacrificed all
for principle.
1t was the sword which on the northern
side developed a Grant. Mcclellan, a
Hooker, n Hancock, "a Sherman, Sheri-
dan, and Admirnls Farrag1lt and Porter
and on the southern side Lee jackson,
a Hill, a Gordon and the JohnstOns, Albert
sydney and Joseph f.. and Admiral Sem
mes, and many Federals and Confederates
whose graves in national cemeteries are
marked Unknown" yet who were just as
self sacrificing and brave as any Of their
major generals, and whose resting places
all up and down the banks of the Andres
coggin, the Hudson, the Potomac, the Mis-
| sippi and the Alabama, have recently been
showed under with white flowers typical of
resurrection, and strewn with red flowers
commemorative of the carnage through
which they passed, and the blue flowers il
Illustrative of the skies through which they
assembled.
THE SWORD Is DOOMED
But the sword is doomed There is one
word that needs to be written in every
| throne room, in every war office, in every
navy yard, in every national council That
word is Disarmament But no govern
ment can afford to throw its sword away
until all the great governments have
agreed to do the same Through the in
| fluence of the recent convention of North
and South American governments at
Washington, and through the peace CON
vention to be held next July in London
and other movements in which prime min
listers, and kings, and queens, and sultans,
and czars shall take part, all civilized ma
tions will come to disarmament, and if a
/ few barbarian races decline to quit war,
| then all the decent nations will send out a
| force of continental police to wine ont
from the face Of the earth the miscreauts.
I But until disarmament and consequent
arbitration shall be agreed to by all the
( great governments, any single government
that dismantles its fortresseS, and spikes
its guns, and breaks its sword, would
simply invites its own destruction. Sup
pose, before such general agreement, Eng
land should throw away her sword; think
you France has forgotten Waterloo? Sup
pose before such general agreement, Ger
many should throw away her sword how
long would Alsacc and Lorraine stay us
they are? Suppose the car of Russia be-
fore any such general agreement should
throw away his sword: all the eagles and
vultures and lions of European power
would gather for n piece of the Russian
bear. Suppose the United States without
any such general agreement of disarma-
ment should throw away her sword; it
would not be long before the Narrows of
our harbor would be ablaze with the bunt-
ing Of foreign navies coming here to show
the folly of the monroe doctrine"
ALL MUST ARM TILL ALL DIsARM.
Side by side the two movements must 90.
/ Complete armament until all agree to dis
armament. At the same command of
"IIalti' all nations hating. AT the same
command Of Ground armsr all muskets
humping At the same command of
Break ranks" all armies disbanding
That may be nearer than you think. The
standing army is the nightmare of ma
lions England wants to get rid of it, Ger
many is being eaten upsby it, Russia is al
most taxed to death with it, Suppose that
the millions of men belonging to the stand
! ing armies of the world and in absolute
idleness, for the most part OF their lives,
should become producers, instead Of con
sumers. Would not the worlds prospect
ties improve, and the worlds morals be
BETTER Or have you the heathenish idea
that war is necessary 70 kill off the sur
plus populations of the earth, and that
without il the world would be so crowded
there would soon be no reserved seats and
even the standing room would be exhaust
ed? All! think we can trust to the pneumO-
MAS, and the consumptions, and the fevers,
and the Russian grippes to kill the people
fast enough.
Beside that, when the world gets too full
God will blow up the whole concern and
start another world and better one Be
side that, war kills the people who can
least be spared. II takes the pick of the
nations. Those whom we could easily
spare to go to the front, are in the peniten-
tiary, and their duties detain them in that
limited sphere No; it is the public spirit
ed and the valorous who go out to die.
Mostly are they young men. If they were
aged, and had only five or ten years at the