The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-09-03
OUR OWN CASE.

The present situation Of the French people in
the administration Of their national Is
recognized by most other nations. and by
clearly than the American, pitiabe. The French
nation is the victim of a rotten miltarism Whether
Dreyfus is convicted acquitted the grave duty will
rest the less heavily the French Of putting
their administrative interests both civil and military
in order. The point at which the French have
rived is one that will surely be reached sooner
later by every people similarly situated The
French masses have deifed their military system.
The soldier has been the national god. Military
bureaucracy has usurped the powers and prerogatves
of all other departments of government. And had
there at any time in the past years been wholly
INSCRIPTIONS and thoroughly able among the
French generals it would have been easy to repro
duce in some degree the scenes of the directory.
No nation that travels in the footsteps of France
but must be prepared for like experience. The
scandals in France could easily have been hushed
up in Germany, Russia Austria. The French rep
resent the national anomaly of having republican
government and essentially arstocratc social life
The freedom of the citizen is supposed to be the
underlying idea of the government; while the DONNA
ton of the sword has been the real, active force
underlying French government and social life.
Of all peoples we have been the loudest in our
denunciaton of the circumstances which have been
made plain through the Dreyfus court-martial. We
deprecate the ascendancy of the military caste in
France while in our own tendencies since the dawn
of Imperialism, seem to have become inocuated
by strong solution of the same culture We have
the Of leading state running around the
country. apparently military mad. We have a crowd
Of imperiast sycophants denouncing traitors
those who represent the patriotic citizenship of the
country and a president of our republic who with
out daring take the responsibilities Of clear state
in that behalf conveys in his public utterances
the thought that he who seeks to place any restraint
on the arm of government in it's military recruiting
projects lays his patriotism open to serious question
Some of most degraded politicians have been
lifted up to national emnence in connection with this
military craze, which seems to have taken complete
hold of political class. The public treasure is
being avished by us in the maintenance Of
somewhat crude mlitarism. We have had fraud and
corruption in our military administration quite as
extensive any yet shown to have taken place in
France We, too have had military caste
with it's fractional quarrels. Our war minister and
our commander-n-chief have been openly at war;
The ranking officer of navy, backed by an ad-
ministraton clique has sought the ruin of worthy
fellow officer. and the ruin would have been eff
fectualy consummated it not that public sent1
ment among us is still somewhat sounder than it is
in France. Eagan has been court-martaied and retir
ed on full pay. Capt Carter has made away with
millions of the national funds. and he still deies in
reference by public authority
While contemplating the advances Of
militarism in France and elsewhere it might not be
amiss for the average thoughtful American retire
within himself senoccasionaly and. in view of the
developments of the past year or so, ask himself
whether, after ALL 1t lies so Immediately in his mouth
to deal over-severely with the French in their pres
ent predcament