Evening star., 1915-01-10

6&O mi penditure of tremendous of money
for military purposes-have been raising
SSSAsNls with renewed energy the cry that the
United States is in danger of attack and
invasion by enemy. The "war terror has been played
on and manipulated in every way possible with
the exciting and melting assertion, Look what hap
pened in Europe! If it could happen there, it will
happen here. We must prepare for We are help
less We have nothing with which to stop the first
foe that strikes us.
As matter of fact, the United States is in less dan
ger of conflict with foreign power than has been the
case since the with Mexico. Who is to attack us?
And with what means? When peace does come to
Europe, the great powers and those embroiled with
them-Germany, Great Britain, France, Belgium,
Russia, Austria, Servia, Pcrtugal-wl find themselves
bankrupt their populations decimated their manu-
factories silent, their commerce mere remnant OF
what it was their industries destroyed crippled,
their ammunition shot away Not one of them will be
able to contemplate All of them will have to ad
dress themselves to the gigantic task of conqueng the
famine the nakedness that comes in the wake of
war. They will be practically penniless-and their
credit so much they may have, will have to be de-
voted their salvation. In view of the exhausted
condition in which they will be, the pictures the alarm
lists draw of hostile battleships pouring soldiers
soil, of foreign flags Haunting seaport cities
and of this country being unable to stem the tide of
invasion, become more than comic.
Who is to attack us when the whole of Europe is
past fighting? The mitarists answer at once, Japan
struggle and not vet recovered from the blows she
received in her with Russia is receiving another
setback in her commercial and financial development
Therefore, excluding all Europe and Japan, who is left
to turn covetous eyes upon the United States? Not
China. Not the Celestial Empire can be worked
up as bugaboo; for she always has before her the
spcctcr of Japanese domination. There left then
as material out of which the bogies may be made
such Brazil Mexico, the Argentine Republic
Chile, the republics of Central America, Spain, and
few other countries of small means 1t is impossible
to conceive of any danger of having real
with anybody. You cannot fight with great powers
whose soldiers have been killed. Great powers that
have put their all into the biggest struggle in history
cannot look for worlds to conquer To try to
create the terror this time is the very height
of absurdity.
But granting for the sake of argument that may
confront us, SO helpless unprotected, and
unprepared the miltarsts would have believe?
The report has been circulated time and time again
the newspapers and magazines by men who should
have known better that without any reserve
supplies of war material. Outside of the rifles that
in the hands of regular troops and the organ
lied militia, have in reserve today in arsenas,
ready for immediate use, S50O0O rifles The regulars
and the militia have 100000 making total of 100000
For these rifles have and ready for instant
2O6,OOOOOO rounds of ammunition. We have, it
is true, not enough field artillery guns and ammunition
but have in with the army and in reserve $50
such guns, and almost enough ammunition to supply
them.
In addition to this we making big appropria-
tons-bigger than before-for the field artillery
and it is estimated by the chief of ordnance of the
army that, continue these appropriations at the