The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-04-01

Paris, and of a lecture he delivered be-
for it. The members of it loudly cheered
him when he spoke of peace and arbitra-
ton; but few weeks later when he re-
turned he found the secretary in the
uniform of a French soldier, with the
new, four-edged bayonet of the French
army, sharp as needle, and so made
that the wound will practically kill every
time, as it makes lacerated wound that
rarely heals.
what is true of the Lebel rifle and its
bayonet is true of the other European
armies.
The long range cannon are terrible
things. When the besieging Prussians
found they could not take the forts of
Paris, Won Moltke turned his guns on
Paris. The very first shell fell in
girls school and killed seven girls. They
tell you of that to this day in Paris. Yet
such things are invitable and even neces-
sary in state of war.
They say that the improved weapons
will put an end to war; but lido not be-
lieve it. Right along side of these dead
ly implements, more men are being
trained for war than ever before. All
that will stop war will be the extermina-
ton of the people of the earth.
Speaking of the cost of the armaments,
the speaker said that already debt of
thirty thousand millions of dollars had
been piled up. If you had commenced
counting that when Christ was born, and
had counted steadily until this day, you
would not be within 100 years of the end
of the task. With that sum all the col
leges in the world could be endowed;
the needy poor of Europe be made capi-
talists.
The interest on this debt is
Twelve Hundred Millions Year,
and it costs one thousand millions more
to run the armies. The loss of the work
of the soldiers means loss per year of
another thousand millions, and it takes
still another thousand millions to pen
sion the veterans and care for them.
Then there are the swarms of poor
which result. General Booth found that
20 per. cent of the idle poor of London
were made SO by the military system OF
England.
Whence came the thirty thousand mil
lions of European war debt? 1t was
never earned, it is in the form of money
borrowed. England's war debt was con-
tracted largely in the Crimean war,
war which most Englishmen condemn to-
day.
These war debts are simply saddled
upon posterity. l am never in favor OF
population; but suppose that at some
future time the children of the future
should say: "Why are we paying 1900
millions interest?'' and conclude that
the past had no right to impose upon.
them such load. Who will say they
would not be right.
The speaker here said he feared that
the idea of building mp great armament
was gaining headway in this country.
The conscription system is the worse
feature of the standing armies. Boys are
subject to draft at is. Young men at
that age are liable to be taken from
schools and Universities or from the
stores and shops. This breaks up their
courses of education, or their business
relations, and is liable to give them hab-
it's of Incidence which are ruinous.
Then excessive drinking and the social
evil thrive in the barracks, which become
centres of contamination. l have been
told that excessive drinking is the rule
in the barracks. The young French
soldier who refuses to go into the caba-
ret and drink with his companions is
forced to do so.
The drink evil is not the worst evil.
DR.. Trueblood mentioned camp of 5000
French soldiers, which was enclosed by
three streets, on each of which the
houses were largely devoted to the social
evil. We never know what civilizing
and restraining influences the home and
our institutions are until we see the i'm
moralities of the barrack system of Eu-
rope.
when we remember that the conscript-
ion system is passing all the youth OF
Europe, the future heads of all its fam
lilies. through these mills of contamina-
ton, we can see how this system OF
standing armies is sapping Europe.
The excesses of the French soldiers
undermine their phvsiques, and in the
maneuvres in the field, many of the sol
diers give out before the days work is
over. DIR. Trueblood said he believed
that 100000 American youth taken
from school, shop and farm, and drilled
three months,
Could Whip Amy 100000
of the trained soldiers of Europe.
Some of the peace-loving people in the
audience were inclined to applaud this.
DIR. iTrueblood said he thought the
worst feature of the army system was
the hatred it has engendered among the
peoples. In Europe you are in an at
mosphere of continual suspicion. A Ger
man is hardly safe in France. | never m
a year heard Frenchman speak we'll of
German. Max O'Rell came nearest to
it when he said: There are gentlemen
in all countries, even in Germany"
Prior to the Franco-Prussian war there
were many Germans living in France, on
good terms with the people. just be-
fore the war broke out, these Germans
disappeared. When the armies of Won
Moltke crossed the border. those same
Germans were found guarding it, So
now every German is an object OF snspi-
cion.
The hatred of the French and Ger
mans is so great that the women OF the
two nations can often barely restrain
themselves from hostilities.
In it's own way, the heaped up hatred
of Europe is as bad as the heaped up
war debts.
When the Franco-P -Prussian war closed,
the French were crushed. As soon as
that war was over, this proud people be-