Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1915-11-29
EASY PICKINGs.

Save in religion, there is no oppor-
tunity for capitalizing sentiment for
selfish ends so great as that which Of
fers itself In the guise Of patriot
ism" says the Peoria Journal Dema-
gogues hide behind the flag in making
their wildcat appeals to hatred and
prejudice; greed harps on national
pride while preparing for plumber Of
the public treasury. 1t is an easy mat
ter for certain interests in the United
States Just now to take advantage Of
the sentiment in favor Of military pre-
paredness. Warned by the sudden
overturning OF reasons rule in Eur
ope and awakened by our own norraw
escape from embodiment in the colos-
sal struggle, hundreds of thousands OF
cans have come to the conclusion that
the hope of perpetual peace is an il
fusion and that the United States must
reasonably arm herself to maintain
her place In the world. With this con-
clusion the Journal has no quarrel
We believe that 1t is safer to make the
mistake Of being prepared for trouble
when ii does come. But the Journal
believes that every conscientious
newspaper is under obligations to OPP
pose to the utmost the capitalization
Of this preparedness sentiment by
those interests which hope to enrich
themselves in the name of patriotism.
Ii is freely stated by reliable and
apparently well-informed persons that
the munitions makers are already
oyerrunning Washington with Hobbies
more powerful than any the capital
has ever seen Obviously they are
banking on the preparedness pro
gram about to come before congress
as an opportunity for feathering their
own nests. These interests. through
their representatives inside and out
side of congress, will exaggerate the
weakness Of ur present military and
naval equipment; they will demand
extreme measures Of defense and in
sist upon the lavish expenditure of
public funds Incidentally, they will
raise the war bugaboo in its most
alarming form and agitate through
the press and the platform for huge
preparedness outlay in the name of
! patriotism"
1t does not require a seer to under
stand that the motives Of these lobby
| lists are SO per cent selfish Does any
one think that the manufacturers OF
armor plate, powder and other mill
tary necessities would waste their
time in Washington if there were no
/ fat contracts TO be let in connection
with preparedness? Does anyone inn
agine that concern for the country's
safety is the primary impulse of these
1 interests in their descent upon the
/ capital?
The European munitions trade has
made a new crop of millionaires and
swollen the fortunes OF others It has
brought deluge OF easy money" and
I Quickeued the activity of the Ameri~
can get-fich-quick microhe as II has
never been quickened before. But 1t
is plain that this sinecure cannot last
Indefinitely. The problem is 10 keep
the easy money" coming after Eur
ope's war is ended. The simplest way
to do this is to arouse our own coun-
! try to q wild indulgence in military
expenditures Once started on the
path of riotous spending, 1t is shrewd-
ly calculated, the country will hardly
dare TO let up: and an influence which
is strong enough to sweep the country
in favor Of lavish naval and military
budgets will be strong enough to keep
alive this sentiment by the perennial
fomenting of war scares.
The Journal favors reasonable pre-
paredness II believes In an army and
navy adequate to our new national
requirements. But 1t does not be-
lieve in preparedness for profit. II
the munitions interests are 80 be re-
strained from mulcting the treasury
OF millions IL the country Is to be
saved from the perennial agitation OF
war seares: If the public mind is to be
saturated with militarism. the first
step In preparedness must be to drive
the parasites away from the temple
of patriotism by making the manufac-
ture of all war material government
function. Take the profit out of pre-
paredness and there will be room for
real patriotism In the program