The National tribune., 1910-12-22

nccordi' trr-s was no strong pres
sure IL >nuH- and Representatives
10 jur $50 e ote big appropriations
for m A.r and Navy. While the
ofticia "vu , of the War Department
over guH.ieiu for Secretary Dickinson's
reu-y ls q plution of last Session from
ReprCsour fe James McLachlin, of Los
EnSeles ally played into the hands
OF IN "r itary enthusiasts by whetting
the pI curiosity to know just what
the reply contained. it is generally con-
ceded at the Capitol that as a war
scare" it is a failure.
This method of lacking up Con-
gross started soon after the Spanish
war. 1t is hardly a secret that Presi-
dent Roosevelt looked on approvingly
while the fears of the country as to
foreign aggression were shreWdly play
ed upon. The alarming stories were
invariably given a background of some
international incident, but were work.
ed up to n fresh climax about the time
members We're gathering around the
mahogany table of the House Naval Ar
fairs Committee.
The German war scare was one of
the very first to do duty in this FASH
ion. There was Just the desired foun-
dation in the friction between Admiral
Dewey and Admiral Won Diedrlchs FOL
lowing the battle of Manila Bay. The
American people had been wrought up
to a feeling of high resentment by the
widespread publication of details about
the happenings in that far-otf port. II
was always easy to arouse sentiment
against the German Government I'LL II
began to be plain that the people were
being worked for the war scare
which waXed into prominence while the
Naval Affairs Committee was framing
the Naval appropriation bill generally
had a second climax of agitation about
the time the Naval bill reached the floor
of the House and members were en-
gagged in their annual controversy as
to whether one or two battleships
should be authorized.
"The Yellow Peril"
After the Russo-Japanese war came
the yellow peril and the trouble with
the japanese pupils in San Francisco
schools. The changes were rung out
on the dangers. of Japanese aggression
in the Pacific, and undoubtedly prompt
ed Congress to vote tens upon tens of
millions which it otherwise would not
have done. For it is a fact that our
progress toward modern armament in
the Pacific is well advanced and Con-
gress is annually voting very large sums
for coast defenses near Manila and
Honolulu and for the great naval sta
ton at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
The war scares have hitherto been
essentially Navy scares. The Navy ben
Gifted therefrom more than the Army.
But the latest output was essentially
an Army matter, which encourages the
advocates of Governmental economy in
Congress to ascribe il TO the fertile brain
of Gen. Leonard Wood.
Thus far Congress refuses to take any
stock in the assertions that a foreign
army could easily land on the Pacific
coast, march in behind our coast de-
fenses, capture the guns, and hold the
entire country beyond the Rockies for
an indefinite period of time. Where
would our Navy be all that time SEN
ator Lodge, of Massachusetts, long a
member of the Military Affairs Com
if1ittee, asked the other day, while all
this would be going on? Our defense
is naturally upon the sea. We have
powerful Navy to guard against that
very thing"
Improbabllities of War.
Senators and Representatives who
have to vote the money for military
preparations say it would be impossible
for any considerable army to get across
the Pacific. or even to arrive anywhere
upon the Pacific Coast before our ships
OF war would be on hand and blow
the transports to pieces. The alarm
about an inadequate powder supply was
sounded several years ago. 1t is true
that the Government does not possess
sufficient powder to fight a great naval
battle, but the facilities for manufac
ture are being gradually increased and
larger quantities are constantly being
stored in magazines for future use. The
assuring feature of this situation is that
foreign nations are not so very much
better off in that regard.
At the Capitol one hears the conser-
vative lawmakers, who have been many
times under the fire of the military
aIarmists, revert much to the subject
of money. After all has been said about
the preparedness of this nation and
that nation for immediate hostilities,
these conservative men are fond of
pointing out that full eXchequer is
quite as indispensable to the waging of
hostillties on land or sea as modern
munitions. Loans for hundreds of mil
lions of dollars are required with every
declaration of war with a foreign pow
er. In its capacity to borrow from It's
own citizens, the United States undoubt-
edly surpasses all the nations Of the
world. It could finance a long war
more easily and with less hardship to
the taxpayers.