The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1898-05-28
Some OF The Things
War is Teaching Us
New York Commercial-Advertiscr.


m BENEFICENT feature Of war Is its
IAN work in sweeping away humbugs
Il\ When questions are to be settled
I0A by fighting. illusions shriNel. Cher
ishcd theories are suddenly teste /,
events move swiftly, and governments
and policies must move with equal speed.
Speculations full of IFS and butts get no
audience in war. Things have to he done,
and have to be done on the instant. Spec
ulation is supplanted by quick judgment,
and that quick judgment, too. Is usually
right. Old conditions are swept away by
the pressure of instant need. and new
conditions appear with startling sudden
ness War is thus educational 1t re-
vcals to the people at large things which
statesmen hal dly guessed in peace. 1t
takes the people little way into the
counsels of fate and makes them feel
something of natural law in its highest
and most abstruse workings.
"What do we care for abroad?' is one
humbug which this war has already
chilled. We have found that we cafe
deal for abroad. We have found that
fighting in American waters "a decrcpit
European state involved us at the start
in necessity of playing the game of Eu-
rOpean statecraft. We always belitv ID
that any war between us and a foreign
power would he simply a defensive war
on our part. We have fanCied that all we
should have to do would be to stay at
home and defend our coasts, We can
whip all Europe, therefore, what do we
want Of an army or navy? Besides, 10
poWer on earth would dare attack us
or continental isolation and our strength
are our defense. So the whole country
iauntily and gaily echoed Mr., Cleveland's 5
Venezuela message. We would chcertully
60 to war with England on minutes
notice. and she never would dare fight us
anyway. Now we have an object lesson.
We have learred that any nation may
have to fight when it least expects it, and
that neither our isolation nor our
strength is enough to prevent even d
weak power from fighting us when to
Weld would be disgrace. The Venezuela
| incident had made us think We could die
| tate terms to the strongest power in Eu-
| rope, and We found, after a certain point,
we could not to the weakest. So war be-
gan, and we have spent its first month
in preparing to begin fighting on land.
%
| Humbugs have heen dying every day In
| our domestic affairs. We have always
| thought we did not need an army except
| 10 keep the Indians quiet We also
| thought we had a reserve army in the
| National Guard Now We have found
| that 1t takes as long to make an army
out of the National Guard as it does out
| Of any other plain civilians. In a general
way We are learning that war is trade
of nations, and that every nation that
| thinks of making war needs to learn that
| trade Just as thoroughly as carpenter
| learns his trade. We shall undcrstani
hereafter that no nation is so great that
it can treat the rest of the world with
defiance unless it is prepared at any time
| to support that defiance with force. We
| have found that the claim of being a
great nation has put us under bonds 20
maintain our greatness. Greatness inn
plies responsibility. We are taking it. The
| United States will he a far more power
! full and respected nation when the war
| Is over than ever before. But we shall
not be so boastful and while, after the
war, we shall spend much more money
on war preparations than we ever spent
in peace we shall have a less warlike
| temper.