The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1915-12-21
PREPAREDNESS TO
PREVENT DREADED
MI[ITAR|SM RULE
Secretary Of War Garrison's Ar
gument For Preparedness, In
Report To Wilson
RIGHT AND WRONG WILL
ALWAYS BE IN CONFLICT
And Right Must Be Well Armed
To Prevent Wrongs Triumph .
He Declares

ne hectares .
49,
Cogent argument In behalf Of Amer.
lea 8 urgent necessity to make greater
military preparedness, that a foreign
foe may not invade our shores
is advanced by the secretary of war,
Lindley Garrison, in his report to Presi-
dent Wilson. The estimates he has made
and the recommendations in figures,
that $4,000, 900 be expended in the
next four years, have been told in de
tail in the press
Below is given in part the secretary 3
reasons, as set forth in his report.
They are printed here for the frst time.
in Honolulu.
eve now come to the consideration
of the military policy to he recon-.
mended for adoption. 1t is a matter
Of great qualification to observe that
there is a realizing sense of the neces.
sty of the adoption of a wise and
sensible policy. TWAS inevitable that
this should be the result of the con.
sideration Of the subject. In self.
governing nation the prime necessity
for proper action is to secure the con.
centrated attention of the people;
when they are all thinking about the
same thing at the same time, they
reach a sound and satisfactory conclu!l
sion. This subject is now receiving
such concentrated attention, and a wise
result will be reached when facts are
realized and reason is applied. The
only firm foundation is one which rests
upon fact, and the only wise guide to.
conduct is one which proceeds from
reason.
"The necessity of a nation having
force commensurate with its responsi-r
bility is demonstrated by every cor
rect process of reasoning founded upon
fact. This is so whether the subject
is considered in the light of the phil.
os0phy Of government or of history.
The use Of force is the inherent. es-
sence of government. The very term
itself is expGcit-gover right
or power to. compel obedience to law.
When there is no force to compel such
obedienee-that Is, I'd gdvern-TH ERE
is anarchy. individuals give up the
right Of unreeulated action when they
form themselves into or become subject
to a government. The progress and
advancement of that which is summed
up in the word civilization" have
been made possible solely because Of
government Unless the individual is
secure in his person and his property,
he has neither time nor inclination to
devote himself to the cultivation of
the mental, moral or spiritual side Of
his nature. That security Is assured
to him by government, and government
can. only meet its responsibility of as,
surance by he possession Of sufficient
force to secure and preserve it. In our
own earlier days the continued progress
Of the arts of peace was constantly
interrupted by the necessity of band
ing together to prevent destruction by
aggression from without. Later, and
even pfter many of our largest civil
communities were established, the in
dividnal citizen had to be prepared to
protect himself, his family and his
property, against the depredations of
criminals until the community organ
lied anG prepared a police force Mfi
cient to assure the citizen Of prOtec
non.
"The identical necessity exists as to
the nation. Unless the citizens thereof
are assured that they can cultivate the
arts Of peace behind a barrier Of force
which will protect them from aggreS
sion and secure them in their rights,
they are not free to cultivate such arts
Weakness inevitably results in over
| throw, as the abundant Instances of
History demonstrate, both with respect
10 individuals, cities and nations. The
eve that is not diverted will see this,
and the mind that is free from pre- iu.
dice will grasp and realize 1t. 1t is
necessary, therefore, to remove obstrur
tons to clear vision and prejudice to
clear thinking.
Theory OF Non Resistance
"There' are some who do not feel
free to base their conduct upon con
sideration of facts or conclusions OF
reason because of their Interpretation
Of Divine injunction. They do not be
lieve in resistance to physical force
and those whose nsciences are so con
vinced enioinod by the law of its be
ing to use whatever force Is necessary
to protect the rights of thelcitizen. Be
fore leaving this, one is impelled to
query upon what proper consideration
there is based any distinction between
the right or necessity or desira bility
of using mental force TO repel. error,
moral force to repel evil, and physical
force to repel wrong. 1t, wouh seem
if reason were applied, that in each
| instance the situation is identical; and
! that if we should properly prepare our
minds to be strong so that we can re.
iect error, and our moral characters to
be strong so that we can reject evil,
we should likewise make our physical
force strong in order that we may
maintain the right as against those
who would physically impose the wrong
upon us.
Men Who Mistrust