The Washington herald., 1914-11-08
laredneS Invites Aggression BY Other Nations Writes Expert
sp.o.ai . ne wa.hingt0n Herald.


New York, Nov. 7.-Under the title,
"wsr Unpreparedness Invites war. "ithe
Army and Navy Journal today prints
an editorial. In part. as follows:
Nov that the boomers' Of q warless
era as something upon which the world
had really entered have been utterly con-
founded by the sudden outbreak In Eu-
rope Of the greatest Of wars. these gentle
men In the United States are spending
their time trying to prove that mill
tarfsm. and nothing but that. has caused
the present explosion. So enthusiastic
are they in this crusade that some Of
them have invented new words to ft
the situation One OF these is 'Krup-
pism,' used by DR.. Frank Crane, one Of
those daily newspaper philosophers who
ing On any and every imaginable sub
ject DR.. Cranes profound observations
are to be found in the columns Of the
New York Globe. 'Kruppism' is sup
posed to mean the enormous and vicious
influence exerted by the manufacturers
OF arms After laying down this defini-
ton. this journalistic pundit proceeds
oracularly: The only way to make war
impossible is TO stop getting ready for
war II the nations now In conflict had
not possessed billions Of dollars worth
Of guns and fighting ships. they would
not now be destroying one another; they
would be settling their quarrel some
other way
IF this assertion is true Of the nations
OF Europe. it must also be true Of the
As the United States has been notorious
ly nation the least unprepared for war.
in fact without any army to speak of.
it would be reasonable to consider this
republic as showing the way to all the
nations of the world as the exponent Of
peace without military preparedness. A
certain cheap class Of public teachers
who are periIously near the grade Of de-
magogue, but who would be nightly Of
Tended II they were SO denominated, take
great pleasure in frequently proclaim
ing to the citizens of this country that
lead all the nations, even as q shepherd
Ieadeth his sheep. into a state Of war
less peace and concord. Some even so
SO far as to blandly announce their be-
lief in divine selection of this country
as an instrumentallty for. this shepherd
ing of the nations.
THE United States, however. as q mat
ter OF fact, is singularly disqualified for
this pastoral duty, for in spite Of its
insignificant military establishment no
European nation has been engaged in 80
many important wars In 30 few years as
the United States, counting from the
Declaration Of Independence to the end
of the Spanish-American war. Its whole
history is a refutation of the absurd
theory that large armaments are breed
ers Of war and small ornaments are the
hand-maidens Of peace A study OF the
wars OF the United States proves the
truth Of that statement At no time has
this republic entered upon a war with
what might be called a military estab-
lishment, with the exception, perhaps, Of
the last and shortest war, that Of 1885
when the excellent condition Of our small
navy may be said to have given us some
claim to having at least an apology for
a military establishment"
After describing the conditions Of our
military establishment at the time Of
our various wars, the editorial concludes:
The figures we have given above are
SUFFICIENT to show the utter folly Of the
claim that want Of military preparedness
insures peace. If that proposition were
true, then the United States ought to
have been the most peaceful Of all na-
tons, whereas on the contrary it has
been one Of the most warlike. Not only
has the want of proper military defense
not prevented wars In the United States.
it has really invited them, but this is q
subject that can better be discussed
in a separate editorial, which we shall
reserve for another issue, contenting our
selves merely with expressing the belief
that only superlative egotism can read
in the history Of the United States any
pre-eminent qualifications for acting as
the beIl-wether Of the nations in the slow
march toward universal peace"