The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1909-09-01
The Strong Defenses.

the executive committee of the Rock
Island-Frisco lines Of railroads, made
an address Tuesday to the Oklahoma
Farmers Union at Shawnee, in which
many interesting facts and some
great truths were presented. While
the purpose Of the address was -
cultivate a closer feeling of friend
ship for the railroads by the farm
ers, and the various points were
chosen with that purpose in view,
some matters of political economy
were presented which are otherwise
worthy OF the most careful considera-
tin.
Referring to the fast increasing
expenses of our government, and the
large share Of these growing exp S
which must be charged to the military
KUN said:
Our advocates of greater military
y y,
rich and too strong TO fear any trou-
Bile over government expenses, but
we are now running behind and moi
only devisig new methods of taxa
tion but are selling government bonds
to take care of the deficit The
question is not one of the future,
but of the present. We are making
the initial mistake of older coun-
tries across the sea. The ex :ension
Of the grain and cotton fields of the
Mississippi Valley and of the West
are stronger military defenses than
are. the warships.
secretary of Agriculture Wilson
recently said that the most pressing
needs OF the United States are
greater proportion of farmers and
more farming land in cultivation. We
would better spend more money we
burn up in powder in making new
farms. A 4O-acre farm of irrigated
land will comfortably support fam-
lily of five. 1t costs $4,000 to make a
12-inch gun. The money that goes to
pay for this gun would reclaim 1911
acres of land providing homes 60,
1876 people. When all vhe guns on ali
the battleships are shot one time, the
government blows off in noise and
smoke $150,000. This would reclaim
more than 1000 acres of land, giving
hornes to more than 500 farmers and
their families. The money consumed
In powder is lost to all future. The
farmer who buys the reclaimed land
must pay the government back in 10
years, so it does pet cost the govern
ment anything to build up the coun-
try by helping the farmer. We should
make more homes and not so many
lighting machines"
The world seems to have gone war
| mad. Not that there are more wars
now than formerly, but in the prepa-
ratiOns that sre made for war
This is an enormously expensive bus.
iness, just how expensive can be ap-
preciated by the fact that it costs
$4,000 to make one gun for one OF
the big battleships, and to fire each
of these guns only once in target prac-
the necessitates the collection of
$15O,000 in taxes from the people.
From the other so-called great
powers this craze of preparing for
war has communicated itself to our
government, and like the rest we are
fearfully increasing the tax burdens
of the people to get money to waste
in such preparations. One of the
great guns that costs $4,000 can
only be fired about 100 times before
1T becomes useless, and one of the
great battleships that costs six or
eight million dollars to build and
equip, will be useless in junk in ten
years. Then there will be nothing TO
show for the money except the power
ty caused by the wasted expense.
Wealth is stronger defense than
battleships and Notifications that
prodigiously expensive to provide.
become obsolete in few years. The
money expended by our government
for great battleships and strong for
tifications would, if expended for in
terhal Improvement, irrigation, drain
age and the reclamation Of otherwise
unproductive lands. make our coun-
try much stronger.
More homes and less fighting ma
chines' would be the best defensive
preparations our government cOuld
make. Why should we yield to the
craze which has seized the countries