Arizona republican., 1915-07-22

This is primarily due to our unpre- paredness.
 We have been culpably, well nigh criminally, remiSS as nation in not preparing ourselves and if, with the 1 lessons taught the world by the dread full tragedies of the last twelve months we continue with soft complacency to stand helpless and naked before the world, we shall excite only contempt and derision when disaster ulti-
 mately Overwhelms us.
 Preparedness against war does not invariably avert war, any more than
 a fire department in city will invar-
 ably avert a fire and there are well
 meaning foolish people who point out
 this fact as offering an excuse for un-
 preparedness. It would be just as
 sensible if after the Chicago fire, Chi
 cago had announced that it would
 abolish it's fire department as for osr
 people to take the same view as re-
 gards military preparedness. Some
 years ago I was looking over some
 very old newspapers contemporaneous
 with the early establishment of paid
 fire departments in this country and to
 my amusement I came across a letter
 which argued against q paid fire de-
 partment upon the grounds that the knowledge of it's existence would tend
 to make hOuseholders careless and
 therefore would encourage fires.
 Greece was not prepared for war
 when she went to war with Turkey a score Of years ago. But this fact did not stop the war. It merely made the war unsuccessful for Greece China was not prepared for war with Japan twenty odd years ago. nor for war with the Allies who marched to Picking fif- teen years ago.
 But the clearest teaching is con veyed in the experience of China and Of Belgium during the last year As regards Belgium the comparison should be made between it and Switz- erland. The territory of Switzerland like the territory of Belgium lay be- tween the great combatants. One of fered as advantageous q path of entry to those combatants as the other. A century ago. for instance, when SwitZ- erland was utterly unprepared for war, the Napoleonic armies used 1t as a in marching against the Aus trians and South Germans. Absolute " the same fate would have been theirs now save for the vital fact that in the century intervening the Swiss people. having learned the lesson. had prepared in advance and were thor oughly competent to defend them selves. They had first class citi- zens' army of about one-tenth the size of their whole population. This army was instantly mobilized and thrown on the frontiers and in consequence Swift | zerland's territorial integrity was re- spected
 But Belgium. alas, had not learned 1 the lesson which Switzerland had l learned. For eighty years Belgium 1 had been at peace and had achieved an Q extra ordinary measure of industrial l prosperity. Her people had done fun famentally what ours have done For | many years they declined to prepare -o defend themselves at all. It was l confidently asserted that the days of | great wars had passed. and that any 1 now Belgium was absolutely inoffens- | We so that nobody would invade her | md that if her territory was threaten l 'd with invasion the opinon of the 1 'ivilized world would be sufficient to | 7revent the carrying out of the threat: 1 md besides 1t was pointed out there ! were treaties absolutely guaranteeing ielgium against invasion: and further nore it was explained that The Hague which we ourselves sign d but which We immediately treated
 $ scraps of paper when the demand vas made to show that our signatures meant something-made the whole world guarantors of Belgium territorial integrity
 Cautiously enough it was the dis lnctly workingmen's party which fin lily became the most considerable fac or Tn insisting that a beginning should e made in preparing for defense The eEinning was made. But it was only
 beginning and war overwhelmed GOT Belgium before she had more than arely entered on the path that 1 'witzerland had So wisely trod
 China offers an even more perfect arallel to the condition to which in | ractice the doctrines of the ultra acificists would lead us. Fifty years go Japan and China occupied sub tantlally the same positions as re- ards the world at large. Japan now | lands abreast of the leading civilized atlons Of the world, her progress hav- | lg been on the whole more remark ble than that of any other nation s noWn to history. This is not merely I ue to her development of fighting ef- a cheney, for the history of Turkey has { 1oWn that mere fighting efficiencv bv c sell Will not save nation from ruin, | ut 1t is no less true that without ghtlhg efficiency, all other national amounts to is house built s n the sand. Japan'S progress womb | h ave been absolutely impossible if if c ad not included progress in fighting : 'ficiencY exactly as in industrial and O 'cial efficieny t China, on the other hand, had for il enerations been trained to regard V aace as the most desirable of all ns and to look down upon war and a 'ldiers. She has acted on the theory O lat the worst peace was better than h e best war. and therefore she has lffered all the evils of the worst V ar and the worst peace. The aver ! Itl.l slr q