Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1890-02-26

his corn for over ten cents bushel,
and who is compelled to burn il for
fuel, because he has not the means to
buy coal, must necessarily feel pridely
Civilizations of JOY as he reads Of how
the war ships he helped to pay for are
being admired by Europeans. He
must read with gladness that his scan
ty hoard has helped to pay for the
powder used to salute foreign vessels.
The coal miner, toiling for less than
dollar per day, with starvation star
ing him in the face. and his little ones,
so dear to him, hungering for food,
and suffering for the want of sufficient
clothes, must be glad to learn that his
beloved country is properly represent
ed by powerful war ships, and he
must feel proud of the fact that he
has paid part of the expense of build
ing, equiping and maintaining them.
The great mass Of laborers, mum.
bering millions, who do not earn 5000
per year, can not help but be joyful
that their country is going to have a
powerful navy, and one that will COM
pei European nations to fear and re-
spect the American nation.
1t will, Of course, require a large
part of their small wages to build the
proposed navy. 1t will be necessary
that their families do with less of
the comforts Of life. The toiling mil
lions must work harder. They must
have less enjoyments. Their families
must have less of the necessities of
life, and for WHAT
Just merely that the high toned mo-.
tons of naval officials can be gratif-
ed. So that their proud feelings may
not be wounded when comparison
is made between European war ships
and those Of this country, and so that
the protective tariff tax system can
be maintained.
But what is hunger, and starvation,
and restitution to be compared with
the proud feelings of being able to
rank as first class naval power, and
make the despots of the old world
tremble p?
Hundreds Of millions of dollars
will be needed to build and equip the
proposed great navy. a great many
millions more will be needed to pay
the wages of the officers and men, for
repairs, for supplies, and to furnish
powder to fire salutes with This
enormous amount will have to be rails
ed by tax, and the great majority of
this tax will have to be paid by men
whose wages range from $500 to $500
per year
This country has no shipping on the
ocean that needs protection from such
large navy as it is proposed to build.
She has no foreign possessions. There
is not any prospect of war with any
European nation, and there need be
none.
The great navy is, therefore, to be
built merely for the purpose of pride,
and to lastcn the chains of protection
taxes OH the industrious classes. 1t
will create vast horde of men who
will live Oh the scant earnings of the
people. II will make vast increase
in the number of those on the half
pay list IL will still further enlarge
the burdens, and hardships, and toll,
and privations Of the people. 1t will
enrich the few at the expense of the
many.
And those powerful war ships, with
their proud, aristocratic officers, will
be monument built up from the
sufferings and privations of the labor.
crs in memory of the demons of pride
and avarice. Its foundations will be
made up of starving families and
mortgaged farms, and its ornaments
will be the tears and groans of peo-
pie whose present is so dreary, and
whose future looks so disheartening.