The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-12-18

applied to driving 4 boat. During the
present century the people Of the CIV.
ilized world will contrive. This period
Of warfare that BOnaparte seems bent
opon continuing will end-at least for
a time with linn. Relieved Of the cas-.
ualties OF war. our European pOpula
lion will increase. 1t may be that It
will spread to new continents.
mechanical devices will be extend
ed into every department. including
war. Having swifter means Of slaugh-
ter, the nations will be more Ioath to
oGht n another. That, I believe. will
otop war;"
"You arc wrong, monsieur. War will
never cease"
"Well then. it will grow less fire.
quent."
Suppose that, a century from now.
a united Germany shall attempt to
crush France. What them"
The old man thought for some time
without replying. Then be said:
"A group of nations is forming to
crush Bonaparte. This will be the be-
ginning of groups of allies yet to come.
Some statesmen will see the advan-
tage of uniting several nations with d
view to controlling Europe. This will
lead to a counter group
And when war comes it will be be
tween these groups and all Europe
will be involved. | see. Never mind
the political consequences of these al
liances. Give me the military issues"
"In IA hundred years the people Of
Europe will have more than doubled.
perhaps quadrupled. Armies that are
nov composed Of a few hundreds Of
thousands will then be millions. The
killed and wounded and prisoners of
war instead of being counted by thou
sands will be hundreds Of thousands"
And the battle line" Napoleon put
in. will be 80, 100. perhaps 200 miles
long"
Il thought. monsieur, you asked me to
give you the military future. You seem
quicker in this than l. | defer to you"
ITO move such armies" Napoleon
continued. ignoring the speaker. will
be a herculean task. There will not
be roads enough for their advance"
You forget the new power Of steam.
1t may develop"
"You armies will be moved in.
stead Of moving. Well, " grant that
there are inventions that will carry
thousands of them and at a speed OF
a hundred miles in a single day. !
grant In this case they car be moved
within a reasonable time. But do you
moves on it's belly? A million Of men
to be fed
perhaps 100000"
1.-TWO million men to have two meals
a day. The food must be transported
or the men will starve. And the am.
munition! 1t weighs-it will weigh
tons upon tons. How will q general
be able to follow up an enemy and
carry with him such weight? And.
granting he could do it in a time of
peace. how would he do it with his enc.
nay destroying the roads and bridges
before him?
The point d'appui will be then. as
now. the enemy's capital. Suppose u
French army attempts to seize. AS
Bonaparte has done, Vienna. He will
reach it with a starving army and
short Of ammunition. Suppose q unit
ed Germany marches on Paris. 1t will
be the same. Let Russia attempt to
capture Berlin. The more men she
has with whom to do it the worse Oft
she will be. 50 far as feeding and pro
| viding them with ammunition are con
| cerned.
And how are these starving armies
to batter down such Notifications as
will be constructed a hundred years
from now? Enormous cannon weighing
many tons will be required. How can
an invading force expect to movet these
enormous weights over roads and
bridges destroyed by a retiring n
my? Believe Inc. my friend. when
that day comes war will be a dead
lock. No power can attack another
with Il hope of success. for one rea
son alone. to say nothing Of others--the
invading force will starve."
Then rejoined the old man. his
eye lighting with prophetic fervor,
perhaps the good God will suggest to
his stupid peoples to establish an in
ternational court"
"Ah. monsieur. But will it avail I'LL
less based on that which upholdS all
u cOurtS-fOrce?
Napoleon paused and appeared to br
lost in deep thought. When he spoke
again the tight OF prophecy shone in
his eyes.
You have spoken of what these two
Americans have done. the one in cleo.
tricity. the other in steam. | see in
a hundred years from now armies
moved by either one or both Of these
powers. Posterity will not a to
make war: it will rather enlarge the
scope Of war. Who knows but that
they will fight in the air and under the
sea? Who knows but that some en-.
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