The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1915-02-25

will emerge victorious and in her dominance and
the use she puts it to will shortly show the white
race and the world how worthy she is to hold the
leadership she will at such great cost have con-
quered.
The United States has had and still has its
prophets. They have endlessly pointed out our
criminally unpreparedness from the military
standpoint to protect our nation and it's wonder
full resources and wealth, its marvellous indus
trial and freedom promising political institu-
tions, the purity of our wives, sweethearts and
daughters, our children's and our own futures
against sudden aggression and conquest by any
military nation Of the first magnitude.
Such critics or prophets have been thanklessly
met by base insinuations and stupid illogicalness
from the blind pacifists and by the misery carp
ings of the water veined pinchpennys and cheap
skates.
>Browbeaten by the tactics of such citizens the
Republican party under President Taft weakly
acquiesced to the beginning of the reasonable
policy of weakening the standing and efficiency
of our navy our first and most essential line
against invasion.
The Democratic party, succeeding to office,
has continued and strengthened that policy and
has taken pride in sending forth to the people
messages through such as Finley Gray, the cit
tie navy" man. who would rather spend mill
tary appropriations agricultural colleges and
farm improvement courses; who wanted dollar
for dollar appropriated for dreadnoughts also
spent for spreading the gospel of international
peace!
And where have such prophets as this gotten
our country to?
Our real navy consists of but eight dread.
noughts, about fifty torpedo boat destroyers and
one effective submarine!
Our real army for the defense of this great
nation numbers about 80, 900 men with less artil.
lery than is possessed by our benighted neighbo1
to the south, Mexico, with a reserve of sixteen
men and nearly 100000 tin soldier militamen
This is not said in disparagement of the militia.
men individually. It simply refers to the rotten
and parsimonious system under which they are
(mis-) trained.
The Progressive party? Oh it's mouthne
around about tariff commission and the 100000
votes it received in the last elections, and miss.
ing the wonderful opportunity of short cut tc
power today offered to the political party that is
courageous and sensible enough to come out
strongly in favor of putting this great nation
promptly and properly in condition to defend
itself against any and all corners.
~ The Palladium fervently desires the coming
of the day of international disarmament. Its
policy has always been guided by minds of con
structive bent and it therefore abhors the de-
struction and suffering caused by war. It is not
however, blind to the frailties of human nature
and the aggressive instincts engendered by in
dustrial and economic systems based on wrong
fundamentals. 1t knows that as long as humani
ty is sundered mentally by such vital defects
there will be escaping occasional and devastat
ing fratricidal, racial and class wars.
So the Palladium would have the country il
loves saved as far possible from these terrible
consequences of humanity's blindness, greed and
ignorance, by first of all having it's citizens strive
more and more for justice between themselves
individually as we'll as between themselves col
lectively and all other nations And next il
would have the citizens so we'll trained, armed
equipped and prepared that nations enlisted un
der the banner of injustice would not dare come
against them, or if they did, they would be met
with such a warm reception that they woulc
soon return to their lairs foiled.