The Washington herald., 1915-05-16

HUDSON MAXIM.
of war for defense? It would take not
only months. but years to get our navy
into such efficient trim as to resist
any one of the leading powers. We
need forty-eight battleships-a large
number of the Queen Elizabeth type.
We need 200 fast and powerful
cruisers. Moreover. we need ten times
| the amount of smokeless powder we
now have on hand to carry on a sue
| cessful war. and we are deficient most
Of all in officers and men.
Cannot Prepare in a Day.
Ships. cannon. and powder cannot be
! made in day. Officers and men must
have proper schooling and proper
| training. These things take time.
If our navy were once mashed, there
large army on our shores, and this
might be done long before we could
mobilize the troops we have. Mr.. Car
negie and Mr.. Bryan. like Pompey.
seem to think we could raise an army
by stamping the foot on the ground.
Even If this could be done, is it pos
sible to get Maxim guns, field can
non, and siege howitzers by stamping
the foot a second time.
Furthermore, four years would be
necessary for instruction in the use of
these weapons. This is not the labor
of few days or weeks. We know it.
the world knows it, and still We pass
the day in dreams, as If some unseen,
unknown power were to come to our
assistance. When the fatal hour ar
rives. the hour that at last shows us
our woefully defenseless condition.
what will we think? {.
What Invaders Will Do.
When the invading army lands near
New York, it will find, within e radius
of $50 miles our principal storehouses
for arms and ammunition, and the
yards and factories where these things
are made. Everything will be COM
Wandered. The same course will be
taken as to property and labor as is
now taken in Belgium.
Our territory conquered and an
neXed. we will be slaves in everything
but name. Then we would realize for
the first time what the humiliation or
the abolition of our navy meant, and
we would rapidly conclude that the en-
largement of a navy to meet the needs
OF our vast wealth and empire would
be the strongest argument against
war
III we are not awakened to this fact
We might as well prepare ourselves
to take position similar to that Of
China, India or ancient Britain
Our experts tell us We could mobil-
iZe $4,000 men in a month-splendid
isolation of time While we were do
ing this an army of 100000 men could
be landed on our shores. Three thou
sand miles of ocean would be a pic
mic voyage for the soldiers, and that
isolation which the ocean once offered
would no longer exist
Troops can be transported more
easily over water than over land.
and without a powerful navy for de-
Tense landing would be simple and
easy. The troops once landed, mod
ern machinery of war would begin to
tell the tale. the field artillery first of
all AS compared with a nation like
Germany or France our field artillery
is as one to ten.
Victory Depends on Two Thinrs.
Victory in naval fight depends
absolutely today on weight of broad
sides and speed of vessels A COM
parison of our fleet with that of a
hrst-class power would show to our
disadvantage. Victory on land de-
Ponds on the weight of gun fire,
which can be directed against the
position of the enemy. Here again
we would be deficient. An army of
100000 men could walk through the
country as easily as the ten thousand
Greeks marched through Persia. or as
the small army of Alexander walked
the Eastern World. An army
of 100000 men would be a frightful
thing to look at on these shores, but |
in our present state of preparedness |
ii is more than possible that we |
might see it. and live to mourn the |
day that blindness to our needs al
lowed il. !
Maxim Best of Judges.
Maxim not only shows the condi-
ton of our Preparedness as regards |
our navy, but also that of the regular |
army and militia. He takes up at
length the subject of arms, ammuniAl
ton and aerial craft. His extensive
Of the equipment of other
mathematical accuracy of |
comparison. his great knowledge of
history makes him the best of Judges
rs regards our needs A proper re-
view of his book would be a repro
duction of the book itself, and the
subject is so vitality connected with
the questions of the present hour
that every one should read it. 1t is
the logical argument, with maps,
plans, diagrams to make II plain; the
mass of statistical matter. which In
itSciA 10 SoHSiuSiNc, give THuCn 1000
for thought.
While Maxim is a pronounced man Of
peace. he believes in preparation as a
guard against war. and preparation Of
such efficiency as would negative any
hopes Of invasion.
In plain language he says the country
IS defenseless. He says this. not of one
department.. but of every department of
I. He points out in accurate demonstra-
don what must be done to remedy the de-
(ects and bring US to that state of en-
,iency which shall ensure the safety Of
bur country. He has no patience with
oacifists or peace advocates. and agrees
With Col. Roosevelt that they are the
worst enemies Of the nation.
Individual lmportant.
In the contest for existence, which il
10 less severe among nations now thanI
t always has been. each citizen should
'ecognize that he Is an important indi-
'idual factor of the state. The statel
'hould recognize the Individual ~ one OF