Gilpin observer., 1916-01-27
WASHINGTON NEWS
BY Edward Keating.

of war. Any plan to reo7eanize our
army or our navy must include pro-
vision for government manufacture
of munit ems CT VIZ
Under existing conditions certain
individuals and CO pcra ions have a
direct, selfish int,r st in promoting
Vac and rumors of war. PREPARED
ness" in their lex cons is a synonym
for ''dividends" and actual war-the
staying of hundr1 ds of Thousands of
human beings and the ma 'mirg of
millions more-means to them wealth
beyond the dreams of Avarice.
| AS Christians we fray LEAD us
not into temptation" and as a chris
tian nation we mrst not deliberate
ly place any pol ticn CT our citizen
ship in q position where their ma
terial interests wll not square with
the peace and We'll being of their fel-
low mortals.
cummins' Great Speech.
Senator Cummins of Iowa, Re-
publican, stated tie case in the
course os grsat sreeoM which he
delivered in the senate OH Jaffuary
10. He said:
MIR. President, il It is good pol
icy to permit the private manufac-
ture of arms and munitions of war,
why is it not good policy to allow
men to recruit arm es and to sell
them to the government which is
. To-. IA hoe %
long since that was the practice of
many governments. 1t has been but
little more than hundred years
since it was regarded as entirely
consistent with the highest moral
ity and tine most allied ethics for
a government to rm out TIE enlist
ment and the training of its armies.
The civilized sense of mankind over
turned so brutal and so dangerous a
policy, and 1T will not be lorg until
account the dsare possessions of
civilized man, will drive out this
source Of profit from the gre It court
which finally dste' mines whether
we shall be at p ace or whether
we Shall be at war"
Too Much for Mortn Man.
Discussing the Temptation to which
the existing system of private manu-
facture of war munitions subjects the
| men who are engaged in that bust
ness. Senator Cummirs said:
The present situation illustrates
my thought in startling way. We
are considering t. problsm of pre-
paredness. 1t IS grave, serious
4 problem and demands the d'spassion-
ate and patriotic judgment of the
people of the naticn. We ought to
determine the subject in the most
, unse'fish, farsigi d, courageous spir
it. In this criti;a moment what is
the attitude CT Il e makers of arms
and munitions? Without exception,
, so far as l know, they are insisting
upon the most omprehensive pro
, gram which 1t is possible to con-
ceive. and they gre employing
, through all the channels and all the
instrumentalities which mould public
: thought, all the forces at their COM
(. mand for CO ,pleteness Of prepara-
n tion that would turn this country in
: to a military camp, and practically
destroy all ambition, save TIE ambi-
. ton to overcome by force of arms,
the entire world. This is perfect
iy natural course for them to pur'
: sue, and l would be astonisled II
they were to pursue any other. Their
. business is to surp'y material for
war, and 1t Is not in mortal man to
!. escape the temp ations CT gain in
)the enterprises in which they are
+ engaged"
Some Sample Profits.
Sena.or Cumm'ns submitted some
: startling figures to show tie "war
!. profits" gathered in by a few men
not only in this country, but in bel
u ligerent Europe.
Since August /, 1914.-the day hos
tilh'es began-174 corporations have
been organized in this country some
Of them immensely large, fer no 9th
er purpose than to manufacture mu
nitions OF war for Europe.
During the la fifteen months
there were exported to Eurore from
this country arms and ammunition
valued at 1.964, ,276 and the ex
ports are increasing month by month
The market value of the stocks
OF seventeen of the companies en-
gagged In this war traffic has increas
ed in the time mentioned s432.056,
500. If accurate figures could be
!, secured concerning the advance ir
the stocks Of all the companies af
fected, tie total would, II is estimat
ad axcaad e76O nm OnO