Jamestown weekly alert. [volume] (Jamestown, Stutsman County, D.T. [N.D.]) 1882-1925, 1915-10-07
TWO BILLION DOLLARS
FOR M|L|TAR|SM
Collected From Our Tax PAYERS
in Ten Years.

" oSulu6tOu, u. w., wv. e. uc
following interesting extract is from
the Congressional Record report of
the debate on the cost of prepared
ness by Congressman Tavenner of
Illinois: ..-- -. .-.-,
United States Senator George T.
oliver of Pennsylvania, testified be-
fore the senate lobby investigation
committee that he owned 1000
shares of stock in the United States
steel corporation and held 'consid-
erable' interest in copper mining.
He testified he also owned 100
shares in the Pittsburg Coal COM
pany and two newspapers-the Pitts
burg Gazette-Times and the Pitts
burg Chronicle-Telegraph. Increased
armament requires great quantities
of both copper and coal.
"The United States steel corpora
tion is the owner of the Carnegie
Steel company, which concern has
obtained $32,OOO,OO0 worth of con-
tracts from the navy department for
armor alone, and other millions of
dollars worth of contracts for other
materials used in the increasing Of
the army and navy.
ION February 2, 1915, one of Sen
ator divers newspapers editorially
asked:
But what is meant by that re-
mouthful, disarmament by
the United States?' Isn't the fact
that the United States is pretty we'll
disarmed as matters stand? :.
There isn't much sense in talking of
the United States disarmihg before
it is armed"
Get Ready to Pay In Earnest From
al Now On.
"Two billion dollars have been
collected In ten years from the men,
women and children of our Nation
ta smilitarism, = sum sufficient to dig
~ anafha Cans, ,sasy aoff the ma
tional debt, with enough left to de-
fray for one whole year the entire
expense of all the churches, ,includ-
ing foreign missions, all the free
schools. colleges, and universities in
America.
"And the end is not yet. The war
traffickers have not finished reaping
their harvest; they are just getting
in good trim to make us pay the cost
of militarism in, real earnest. Amer
lean people, listen to this little col
loquy which occurred recently at one
of the hearings of the naval affairs
committee between Representative
Finly Gray, of Indiana, and Admiral
Vreeland, a big-navy booster:
"Mr. Gray: 1 wish to inquire Of
the admiral If it is not the policy of
other governments to increase their
navies with all the other leading
powers?
Admiral Vreeland: 1t is, sir.
"Mr. Gray: What would be the ad-
vantage to us or any other powers if
the navies were increased equally by
all the nations of the world? Would
there be any advantage to us or to
any other power?
admiral Vreeland: Not If you
mean in the same ratio.
"Mr. Gray: Would not the same
grounds exist after an increase for a
further increase?
admiral Vreeland: 1t would seem
so.
'Mr. Gray: There would be no ad-
vantage gained by the nation, then.
How long could that be maintained,
that even increase, and what advan-
tage would it be to any nation?
admiral Vreeland: If it continues
to increase, the poorer nation will
eventually exhaust itself, and then
the other nations, the United States
included, will have free hand-1
mean be free to build In accordance
with the changed conditions.
''Mr. Gray: Then it is only ques-
ton of limit of taxation?
Admiral Vreeland: Yes, sir"
''In other words, the only thing
that the international war trust has
to fear on the score Of reduction of
profits Is the limit OF the ability OF
men. women, and children to keep
on paying the ever and ever increas-
ing per capita appropriation tax in
the form of higher prices for food
stuffs and wearing apparel. This is
certainly a bright prospect for the
Armor, Powder, Battleship, and Am
munition trusts. But for the tax
payers the prospects are not so
bright.
"If the taxpayers of the world
want to escape being forced to pay
higher and higher, taxes until they
get SO high they simply cannot pay
them, there is but one thing to do.
and that is for the people Of all the
nations to insist that their govern
ments manufacture their own mu-
nitions sof war. .s q
~