The times., 1899-10-01
THE BLESSINGS OF WAR.
Brave Men Die That Principles sEn,
Live

Brave Men Die That Principles May
Live
Many graves were dug by the late war.
Death had harvest of brave men, But
there Is a law of compensation that runs
through all things.
This is the manner in which Admiral
Seiley, who commanded the American feet
which sunk Cervera's squadron off San
tiago, pictures the blessings of war:
THE blessings Of war are as broad as
obvious, and striking as are its horrors.
Where is the political boundary line today
that has not been traced with the sword ?
What nation has ever gained or preserved
liberty without fighting for it? In our
own nation war has welded the Unicn in
dissoIuhly together. and at this moment
North and South are side by side blazing
the path of civilization and enlightenment
in distant foreign lands. War in this
sense is distinetively the white mans bur-
den. In this past year alone our guns.
under the Stars and Stripes. have booMed
in the liberty, the emancipation from Span
ish tyranny, of more than 10000, COO souls
in the West Indies and the Asiatic isles.
1t is like all great principles, which are
rained in blood
Arms Preserve the Peace.
"Nor is militarism the oppressive bur-
den that its peaceful opponents suppo or
claim Take the military establishments
of Germany, France, England, and Russia:
compare their respective war budgets with
the normal revenues of those countries,
and how relatively Insignificant, alter all.
is the expense OF the armed neutrality
which is really the great peace pFeseryer
of modern Europe.
"But, as l have said, these are not the
aspects of war which appeal to the man in
action. AT any rate, he does net think
of them until afterwaTd. 1t is not likely
that Don Juan of Austria saw in his vic
tory of Lepanto the final dramatic exit
of barbarism from Europe, nor the benefi-
cent advantages Of that civilization which
followed. Nor could Nelson. at Trafalgar,
have foreseen in the downfall of Napoleon
the dawning triumph of republican liberty
over feudal despotism. Perhaps the future
historian, looking back upon the Spanish
American war of 1898, will see in the final
extinction of Spain's power in the Western
Hemisphere a far more impressive tableau
than presented itself to the men behind
the guns or in the trenches at Santiago.
THE horrors of war are real enough, as
none know so well as the warriors them
selves Yet war is one of the great forces
of nature and civilization. 1t declares it.
self, like the seasons or a thunderstorm
Sophistry. argument, politics, and preach
ing Of the righteousness of peace are una
vailing against it as against a tidal wave
Since the time at which Admiral Dewey
was ordered into the Far East. the United
States has advanced to the position of the
| third naval power of the world. Her rival:
/ for this position are Germany and Japan
The nations which excel her are Great Brit.
| ain and France.
Strength of the Navy.
The full strength of the navy of tbs
United States now amounts to 312 vessel!
| of all kinds, built and building. OF thi:
number 1S9 are in the regular navy and II;
constitute the auxiliary force. for the ae,
eumulation of which We are largely indebt
ed to the necessities of the Spanish -Ameri
can war. Roughly estimated the existing
naval fleet represents an expenditure fol
| construction of about S125, 600. .009 ang
| there are now under construction o.
| awaiting formal acceptance by th'
| Government more than half hun
dred war vessels. the contract prici
for which, exclusive of aTmoF and arma
ment, is in the neighborhood of $40, ,e00, 600
| The war almost Doubled the aggregate o
men on our war vessels. AT its outset th,
complement was L, 500 men, but in thl
| summer of 1898 it reached the maximum
! figure of 24.123 men. Since that time i
has decreased considerably. but the incom
/ ing Congress is expected to authorize per
manent naval strength of upwards Of 20. .0ei
| 4 I. l. - ~.
cess which has attended the amalgamatioI
! of the line and staff.
] New battleships, armored and protected
| cruisers are to be constructed. Each eiasl
is quite certain to mark step forward IL
| the science of building vessels OF war
Rear Admiral George w. Melville declare,
that the new battleships should be of 2
knots speed that they should carry larg
| batteries of rapid fire guns; have ampl;
coal bunker capacity and be fitted Will
triple screws-radical measures all.
Public men who have stood out in oppo-
| sition to the wars waged by the United
| States have as a rule. not Jared well at tn;
hands of the American people There wa:
John Randolph, of Roanoke. He was {
| member of the Twelfth Congress, and wa:
an exceedingly bright man. He introduced
a resolution in the House OF Representa-
| tiyes declaring that il was inexpedient fol
the United States to go 70 war with Grea
Britain in 1872. At the next election h;
! was defeated for Congress by John Eppes
| a supporter of the war policy, John c
Calhoun, who opposed Randolph's resolu
ton in one of the best speeches he eve
made, was returned to Congress by grea
| majority, and saw long public seryic'
thereafter There was Thomas CorwiE, O
Ohio, who entered his protest against tbs
war with Mexico. When he entered th'
Senate in 1916 he was a strong Presidential
probability, but his opposition to the wa
cost him his prestige with the people o
the United States. In the same Congress
with Corwin and ON the same side of thi
war question were Joseph Vance, OF Ohio
Columbus Deiano, of Ohio, and Joshua Gid