The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-01-29
The Increase of the Standing Army.


The debate now in progress in con-
gross respecting the increase in the
! army has developed some opinions in
the party of the administration which
are calculated to command a halt in
the matter of an increase of the
standing army of the Union.
A standing army, for a republic with
| its immense industrial possibilities, be-
comes an incubus upon the ambition
and energy of the people. 1t is a false
step, always, in legislation, to provide
for an invitation to the young men of
the country to abandon their occupa-
lions in trade and mechanics and ag-
riculture and other lines Of industry to
take up the listless occupation of a
soldier.
1t does not make any difference
whether young man enters the army
In the spirit Of patriotic enthusiasm or
as a makeshift in the line Of employ
ment-the truth may just as well be
stated that the army is not a good
school for the creation of proper ma
terial guardians of the republic. The
associations in army life are not ele-
waiting in their character. No matter
to what extent drills may be ordered
and executed, there always exist pc
RODS of idleness in the life Of a SOL
der which tend to the Generalization
of human character Will any respec-
table officer of the army combat this
view? The experiences of thousands
of men who have served in our regular
army will offset any statement that
may be made lightly in opposition.
The true spirit of the republic con-
sists Of industry, energy, ambition
these three qualities sternly directed
toward the elevation of manhood and
the elevation Of the standard Of pa
triotism. Men who serve in the ranks
in the army are not enthused to any
extent with the real understanding of
the principles which underly repub
lican form of government. In our ma
tional life men are rarely called upon
to defend in arms political policies.
Just now, however, such conditions
unfortunatel prevail. A policy has
developed which calls upon the people
to defend. The policy is weak in that
the citizen soldiery of the country is
asked to join in an attempt to force
our own national authority over PEG
pie which heretofore have been entire
ly out of sympathy with that form of
government. We have Cuba within
sixty miles Of our coast, and the gov
eminent already realizes the difficult
ties associated with reorganization
of the government for that island.
Meanwhile, we have taken upon our
selves, under the treaty Of Paris, If it
becomes ratified, the care Of a people
comprising 100000 in the score of
population. These are semi-barba-
rians. Now, out of the civilized COM
munity of the United States must in
evitably be drawn, for the increase of
the army, a large number of young
men, who, in present circumstances,
may gravitate to the standard of the
republic under the speclous pleas ad-
vanced by the imperialists, who would
otherwise naturally take their places
in the industrial communities of the
country. There is no heroism asso-
ciated with this branch of work. Ev
cry man who enters the army in cir
cumstances like these is so much of
actual physical and mental force with
trial channels of our national life
Do the imperialists who advocate an
increase of our military establishment
think of all these things? 1t is easy
for the gentleman of means to repose
upon his couch in his library or draw
ing room after dinner and magnify, in
his imagination, the glories of the re-
public that shall come as the result
of colonial expansion. But in his re-
Elections does he ever calculate the
moral, the physical and the financial
cost of all this exploitation?
This is time for men to think and
to think from the innermost cells of
their souls, if they have any. Army
reorganization in the line Of in
crease means the deprivation Of