El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-12-08

sary without calling our people away
from their necessary tasks 10 Ienuer
compulsory military service III IiiileS
of peace.
I've are at peace with all the Worlu'
No one who speaks counsel Ddsg9 On
fact or drawn from just ana CaHuLu m
depreciation Of realities can sdy IN I'D.
there is any reason to rear ma - IN
any quarter our independence, tne IN
tegrity of our territory IS InISdle I l''
Dread of the power of any OtheI ma
tions we are incapable of. we are not
jealous of the rivalry In the LleIos OF
commerce or OF any other pedceIul
achievement We mean to live our own
lives as we will: but we mean also to
From the first we have had clear
and settled policy with regard TO mil
itary establishments we never nave
had, and while we retain our preSeII
PRINCIPLES and ideals we never snail
have a large standing army. If asked
Are Won ready to defend yOUselvesY
we reply Most assuredly, TO the Ut
most and vet we shall not turn Amer
lea into a military camp we VIII not
ask our young men to spend the best
years of their dives making soIdlers
of themselves. There is another sort
wants No Big Army.
Let us remind ourselves, therefore,
Of the only thing we can do or will do.
We ronet depend in every time of ma
tional peril, in the future as in the
mast. not upon a standing army, nor yet
upon a reserve army, but upon citl-
zenrv trained and accustomed TO arms
It would be right enough, right Amer
lean policy based upon our accustomed
PRINCIPLES and practices, to provide a
system by which every citizen. who
will volunteer for the training may be
made familiar with the use Of modern
arms: the rudiments OF drill and ma
neuver, and the maintenance and san
itation Of camps. We should encour-
age such training and made IT a means
of discipline which our young men will
learn to value. Every means by which
such things can be stimplated is le-
Ultimate, and such a method smacks
Of true American ideas. 1t is right, too,
that the national guard of the states
should be developed and strengthened
bv every means which is not inconsist-
ent with our obligations to our own
people or with the established policy
of our government
Reversal OF History.
More than this carries with it a re-
versal of the whole history and charac-
ter of our policy. More than this, pro-
posed at this time. permit me to say,
would mean that we had merely lost
our self possession: that we had been
thrown off our balance by a war with
which we have nothing to do, whose
causes cannot touch US, whose very ex-
istence affords US opportunities OF
friendship and disinterested service,
which should make US ashamed Of any
thought of hostility or fearful prepar-
alton for trouble.
Wants Good Navy.
"a powerful navy we have always
regarded as our proper and natural
means of defence; and 1t has always
been of defence that we have thought,
never Of aggression or of conquest. But
who shall tell US now what sort Of
navy to build2 We shall take leave
to be strong upon the seas, in the fu-
ture IS in the past, and there will be
no thought OF offence or Of prOvocation
in that our ships are our natural bull
warks. When will the experts tell US
just what kind we should construct
and when will they be right for ten
years together, if the relative efficiency
Of craft of different kinds and uses
continues to change as we have seen ii
change under our very eyes in these
last few mOnths2
Not Frightened.
But I turn away from the subject.
1t is not new. There is no new need
TO discuss it. We shall not alter our
attitude toward it because some
amongst US are nervous and excited.
We shall easily and sensibly agree
upon n policy Of defence. The ques-
ton has not changed its aspects be-
cause the times are not normal Our
policy will not be for an occasion It
viii be conceived as permanent and
settled thing, which we will pursue at
all seasons without haste and after a
fashion perfectly consistent with the
peace of the world, the abiding friend
ship Of states"