The Detroit times., 1915-10-22
To the LabOrers
BY Or. FRANK CRANE
Copyright, 1915. by Frank Crane,

We all realize the possibility vi 'iS ~
vasion of our country some time ny
some conquest-mad nation or nations.
One plan to provide against this Is the
simple. old and customary plan the woria
has always folowed-military prepared
ness.
1t is popular because it is thought'css'
appeals to primitive passions, SUPERFICIAL
and has been in use forever
So nine newspapers out of ten arc Tor
it Most politicians favor it, as they
usually go with the ignorant enthuslasms
of the crowd 1t is probable that the
next congress will be for it strong. Any
statesman can wave the flag and appear
to our fighting blood.
The other plan is to begin to agltats
for some form Of world government,
some intelligent cooperation among ma
tons, eirectually to police the world and
hold the ruffian states in check.
Which OF these programmes do You
favor?
The plqn you choose will be the one
this country will adopt
1t is not an academic question. II has
been tried ont. The experiments lie open
to your inspection. Suppose you take
look
Every nation in Europe has tried the
plan Of maintaining an armed force To
protect itself.
Every one Of them. mark you, insists
It's arms are only for defense, never Tor
invasion.
Has it saved any nation from war?
Every nation is guilty. Germany has
only carried the idea farthest toward Its
logical conclusion. What has she got
from it?
Millions Of her fittcst children slaugh-
tered. her industries paralyzed, her bust
ness ruined, her foreign commerce
wiped out.
That's what adequate defense has
done for her.
1t has raised up against her enemies
all over the world. Instead of trading
with Russia, France. Italy and England,
she has transformed these states into
bitter foes
T. will take years for the destructive
hates to die down.
Millions Of Russian peasants rot today
in Polish fields, the result of Russia's
preparedness.
Millions Of French and English youth
have been mutilated and murdered, to
pay for the wise, patriotic and noble
plan of preparedness to which an insane
world was committed.
Who pays?
YOU
Not the kings and nobles and states
men, but you If you did not march out
in obedient droves to the slaughter-pens,
nations would settle their disputes some
other way.
1t is you who die. It is you who re-
turn, one-legged, blind, deaf, disease
sntten wrecks, to be a burden on your
fellows
1t is your mothers whose hearts break.
your wives that wall, your children that
are turned out TO beggary.
And somebody must pay the money
bills also And il is not the English
bankers that come over here to borrow
"a billion They will never miss meal
nor a clean shirt.
Great Britain's new taxes are around
ten million dollars week. This is a
burden in perpetuity, not temporary.
Subscriptions to the war loans Of the
German empire have reached over three
billion dollars.
Who pays?
You!
The laborers must pay every cent Of it.
It eventually all comes from the men who
produce by work.
The capitalist classes will dodge it.
They always do.
II means that for generations an in
tolerable burden is saddled upon you.
That's what adequate defense r7eans
in Europe That's what n crazy patriot
ism" means. That's what it means for
every nation to be prepared to resist an
invasion.
Would it not be cheaper for the next
American Congress to appropriate ten
billion dollars toward establishing world
government than to waste more millions
in initiating the utterly insane policy of
Europe?
Will you not declare for world govern
ment and against any further advance on
the hell-road Of war-preparedness?
] appeal to you. You are the only
thinking class. You alone approach world
problems with the courage of reason, and
unblinded by claptrap.
Politicians feed upon the wind Of catch
phrases. Editors Of magazines seem to
see little farther than their noses
tbro,,ub tbe foo ideas of medeyalisrn