El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1914-11-28


its success This is true of the private
lives Of farmers, business men and me-
chanics. 1t is no less true Of the NE
Of the nation which is made up OF Ihese
farmers, business men and mechanics.
AS yet, as events have most paintul-
Iy shown, there is nothing to be eX-
pected by any nation in great Crisis
from anything except its own strength
Under these circumstances it is crlnl-
nal in the United States not to pre-
pare
Critics have stated that in advocating
universal military service on the SWISS
plan in this country, 1 am advocating
militarism. I am not concerned Win
mere questions of Technology. me
plan I advocate would be a corrective
of every evil which we associate with
the name Of militarism. 1t would tenn
for order and self respect among our
people. Not the smallest evil in Amer
lea among the many evils that exist IS
due to militarism Save in the crlSls
OF the civil war, there has been no null
tarism in the United States, and the
only militarist president we have ever
had was Abraham Lincoln. universal
service of the Swiss type would be edu-
catiOnal in the highest and best sense
Of the word
In Switzerland, as compared with the
United States, there are, relatively TO
the population, only one-tenth the num-
Der of murders and of Crimes OF VIo-
lence. Doubtless other causes nave con-
tributed to this, but doubtless also the
intelligent collective training OF the
Swiss people in habits of obedience, OF
self reliance, self restraint and epdur-
ance, of applied patriotism and coll
lective action, has been a very potent
factor in producing this good result.
Plan Seizure of Canal.
As I have already said, L know OF
nv own KNOWLEDGE that two nations
which on certain occasions were Obliged,
DerhaDs as much by our fault as by
%,1- int account the
ton of possible war with the United
States, then planned in such event 70
seize the Panama canal and to take
and ransom or destroy certain or our
great coast cities. They planned TINS
partly on the belief that our navy
would internationally be allowed to be-
come extremely inefficient, Just as dur
ing the last 20 months 1t has become m
efficient, and partly on the Dehet lhat
our people is so wholly unm1lltary, ana
so ridden to death on the one hand by
foolish pacificists and on the other Dy
brutal materialists whose only COO IS
money, that we would not snow our
selves either resOlutely patr1Ouc or CT
ficient even in what belated action our
utter lack Of preparation permitted US
to take 1 believe that these nations
were and are wrong in their estimate
of the underlying strenStn o4 IllS
American character.
1 believe that if war did really come,
both the ultrapacificists, the peace-at-
any-price men, and the merely Druldl
mRterialists who count all else as hoIn- =
] ing compared to the qualification Oh
their greed for gain or their taste Ior
ease, for pleasure and for vacuous eA-
element would be driven before the
gale Of popular feeling as leaves arc
driven through the fall woods. BHt
such aroused public feeling IN Ihe
actual event would be wholly maze
ouate to make good our failure to pre-
pare ....A
We should in all humility initiate not
little of the spirit so much IN evidence
among the Germans and the japanese
the two nations which in modern times
, have shown the most practical type o.
patriotism, the greatest deVotlon 70 lne
common veal. the greatest success IN
developing their economic resources
and abilities from within, ana ne
greatest farsightedness in safeguarding
/ the country against possible disaster
In the Journal of the Military Service
institution for the months Of November
and December Of the present year Will
b., found a quotation from Japanese
military paper, the Comrades maya
zine which displays an amount Of prac-
teal good sense, together with patriot
ism and devotion to the welfare OF
the average man. which could wen DC
copied by our people ana Wnlch - WI
tbv of study by every intelligent Amer
lean. Germany's success in Industrial
ism has been as extraordinary ana no C.i5
worthy as her success in securing mill
tarv efficiency, and fundamentally mas
been due to the development OF tue
same qualities in the nation
Defence Plans Inadequate.
At Dresent the United States does
not begin to get adequate return ~
the wav of efficient preparation Tor
defence from the amount Of money
concentrated every year. Both the eX-
ecTtfye and congress are responsible
for this. It is really less a question OF
spending more money than OF knoWlHs
how to get the best results for the
money that we do spend. Most em-
phaticaIly there should be compre-
hensive plan both for defence and 1or
expenditure
The best military and naval authori-
ties-not merely the senior officers but
the hest officers-should be required
to produce comprehensive plans for
battleships, for submarines, for ar
ships. for proper artillery, for more
efficient regular army and for great
popular reserve behind the army EV-
cry useless military post should be
forthwith abandoned; and this cannot
be done save by getting congress 10
accept or reject plans for defence ana
expenditure in their entirety.
If each congressman or senator can
put in his special plea for the erection
or retention of a military post for nom
military reasons, and for the promotion
or favOring of some given officer or
group of officers also for On-military
reasons, we can rest assured that good
results can never be obtained. Here
again what is needed is not plans by
outsiders but the insistence by out
siders upon the army and navy off
GERS being required to produce the
right plans, being backed up when
they DO produce the right plans; and
being held to a strict accountability
for any failure, active or passive, IN
their duty.
Critieises Heads OF Departments
Moreover these plans must be treat
ed as part Of the coherent policy of the
nation in International affairs. With
man like Mr. Bryan in the state de-
partment it may be accepted as abso-
lutely certain that we never will have
the highest grade of efficiency in the
departments Of war and of the navy.
With a man like Mr.. Daniels at the
head of the navy, it may be accepted
as certain that the navy will not pc
brought to the level of its possible
powers. This means that the people
as whole must demand of their lead
ers that they treat seriously the navy
and army and our foreign policy.
The waste in our navy and army Is
very great This is inevitable as long
as we do not discriminate against the
inefficient and as long as we taI 70
Ia