The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1911-04-21

HlSHI HduS III the puUIlC PRESS IHdI
it cost Great Britain one billion dol
lars to subdue two little Dutch re-
publics in South Africa, and l think
such statement is not greatly exag-
gerated Now, Mexico, with her fif-
| teen million people, is surely as form
liable adversary for us as those
small African republics were for the
teeming millions of Britain's empire.
Therefore, if Britain's African war
cost her one billion dollars, l think
| it is not unreasonable for me to as
sumo that a war with Mexico would
cost us at least one-half as much, or
five hundred million dollars.
Truly, this is an immense amount
of money, but, then, war is costly.
Dear reader, do you realize how much
money five hundred million dollars
is? How long would it take you to
count it, dollar by dollar? Do you
know what that amount of money,
rightly expended, would accomplish
for our country and our people? Well,
let us see. We will suppose that the
five hundred million dollars, which
our war with Mexico would cost,
were devoted, we will say, to our
public highways-to good roads
what would be the result?
Well, we shall find that five hun
dred million dollars would build one
million miles of road, and allow of an
expenditure of five hundred dollars
per mile. How many times would a
million miles of road span our con-
tinent from ocean to ocean? l be-
lieve the two oceans are about three
thousand miles apart, and, if that be
indeed the distance, then one million
miles of road would cross the CONT
nent about three hundred and thirty
times. Our northern boundary at the
Canadian line is but eighteen hun
dred miles from our southern bound
airy on the gulf of Mexico; at least,
this will approximate the distance,
and we will assume it to be correct.
If this be so, and man should walk
from our northern to our southern
boundary, he would cross one of these
great roads about every five and one
half miles
Wonderful, isn't 1t? But figures GO
not lie. Truly, such an expenditure
on such a work would be the greatest
public improvement ever undertaken
by our government and fortunate in
deed would be the man who should
occupy the presidential chair during
it's progress.
Verify, peace hath her victories as
are just as much entitled to the plau-
dts of their countrymen as are those
who risk their lives on the battle
field.
And, now, having demonstrated in
my imperfect way, the magnitude of
the amount of work which could be
accomplished through the proper ex-
penditure of such a vast amount of
money, l will try to show what its eff
feet would be on our people.
We will suppose that five hundred
men could accomplish the completion
of this amount of work in a given
time. How much money you'd each
of the five hundred men receive for
his share in this great work? Why,
of course, each man would receive
the immense sum of one million dol
lars. Just think of it-five hundred
millionairies!
But the beauty of it is that five
hundred men could never accomplish
such an amount of work. In fact,
it would require the combined efforts
of one million men, extending over a
period of many months, to accomplish
;such a task.
What effect would this have upon
our people? First of all, it would
give remunerative employment to
every idle man within our borders.
Let us now suppose that each one
of the million men that we have put
to work is supporting, or contributing
to the support of, family. What is
the result? Why, at the basic COM
putation of five souls to a family, we
find that five million people are re-
ceiving direct sustenance from this
colossal enterprise, while every man.
woman and child of the great. com
mon people of our country would be
greatly benefited indirectly, and,
wonderful to tell. no man need be
killed, except by accident.
This, l think, would be a much bet
ter showing, SO far as the useless
sacrifice of human life is concerned,
than that made by a war with Mex
leo in the interest of men of special
privileges" In such a war many
thousands of our best young men
would die upon the battlefield and