The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1914-12-11

our Oeoce00e0cD Will be much changed
We are passing out Of an age Of spec
ulatve philosophy into one Of actuali.
ties. This American. Franklin, who
was here before the Revolution, has
pointed out q new field. l believe
there II a valuable power in steam,
which another American has already
applied to driving a boat. During the
present century the people Of the CIV
ilized world will contrive. This period
Of warfare that B%onaparte seems bent
Opon continuing will end-at least for
IL tine with him. Relieved of the cas-
ualties of war, our European popula.
ton 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 loath to
fight one another. That. I believe. will
stop 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 then?"
The old man thought for some time
without replying. Then he 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 a
view to controlling Europe. This will
lead to Il counter group
And when war comes it will be be.
tween these groups and all Europe
will be involved. | see. Never mind
liances. Give me the military issues"
I'm a hundred years the people of
Europe will have more than doubled.
perhaps quadrupled. Armies that are
now composed Of a few hundreds Of
thousands will her 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, Twill be so. 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
he roads enough for their advance"
you forget the new power of steam.
1t may develop"
lyon mean 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. l
grant in this case they a be moved
not know. monsieur. that an army
moves on its 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 a 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
my destroying the roads and bridges
before him?
1.-The point d'appui will be then. as
now. the enemy's capital. Suppose a
French army attempts to seize. as
Bonaparte has done, Vienna. He will
reach it with a starving army and
short Of ammunition. Suppose a 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 off
she will be. SO far al 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
en- invading force expect to move these
enormous weights over roads and
bridges destroyed by a retiring enc
my? Believe me, my friend, when
that day comes war will be a dead.
lock. No power can attack another
With a hope Of success. for one rea.
son alone. to say nothing Of ~others-the
invading force will starve."
Then" rejoined the old man. bis
eye lighting with prophetic fervor.
perhaps the good God will suggest to
bis stupid peoples to establish an in
ternatiOnal court"
"Ah. monsieur: But will It avail IN
less based on that which upholds all
our courts-force?"
Napoleon paused and appeared to be
lost in deep thought When he spoke
again the tight Ut prophecy shone in
his eyes.
you have spoken of what these two
Americans have done. the one in elec-
tricity. the other in steam. | see In
q hundred years from now armies