The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1916-04-23
Nv HENRY BRECKENRIDGE.
FORMERLY Ass,stoat secretary Of va

y OINl'ft ~ stNflclbNt ff'f'''| y ". ''H
r y previous articles ! hove treated
of the Fundamental necessity of
force IN Government. Now let
vs. examine th" "a. 90 I0ciiist
w. the Defence Of the Nation
4 p%aCiist is not n man Fine po-
lieves I'm peace. lie is a man Wh" be-
lieves In peace ~ any price. tv"rN-
body believes IA peace. Everybody
abhors war. Nome would have war
except ia ,scap" something worse, or
to obtain something without vnicn
life would not Ice worth living. y
pacifst L. a disarmor. q man vino
woul risk tho safety "f the nation To
avoid armed conflict: who would sac
rifico certain rights of the nation or
the individual in tn" same interest;
who believe. tna' peace 'S best uh-
tanned through ~impot"u""; b be-
l!eves that II We are too weak to
hurt anybody We shall not he
aggressive ana try t. hurt ANS uoJy,
and tina nobody Will Wish TO- hurt US.
lie Is certainly rishi In thinking that
our impotence would stop III from
hurting auvbnly. ~" is certainly
wrong IN thiuhirS that 70 wuuld stop
others from hurting us.
Preparedness for war may NOT pre-.
vent war. l;ut neither .lne~ urpre-
psredress. W. were u~upgeuar"d in
the Revolution ana Yet II came. AMI
only the most prndig1"us leadership of
the greatest American. along viii the
aid Of France. saved ~ from our uu-
preparedness W. Noro u~uprcpnr"i
A. "a,
On land. with % few ,~NrcptouS. oar
unprepareduoss brought a cham of
shameful disasters. SiN Thousand
American militia turned tail and lied
from half tho number of British. with
a loss "f eight Killed aud q, ven
wounded. leaving IN" nations capital
To he burned. t,nglnrl's Involvement
In the Napoloonir wars ~ IN" time
saved H. FROM complete humiliation.
We N"r" u~npr"pUrod In lNii and
with uispr"1ortIoUI'" expenditures
conuieft-l a Nrc weak foe. IN lS,S.
lik"wis.. "" v,ro .'r r,Iur"I ,.t VAR
can,c, and despite a." weakness - the
en"mN our uuurciar.-IU,~~ tru-, it,
toll IN rnc fever AMP, ~ tn, spanish
war. II uupropar"du.>- for var pre-
Nt'N'' - u All N'h.u nav
ManchuriI. kiao-Chov. C"r.a, Hong
kong. W.l-iiai-W.l. I'urmosi. Mon
golia, Tibet. AMMAN. t%ulnhriia, Ton
kin and Port Arthur.
The paciiist. however. continues 20
Nerate that the country should not
prepare for war. because Preparedness
for war breeds war-tNat a ma Wi"
owns a gun desires to Use 1t. This is
no more true than that IN" possession
Of Il pistol leads q policeman to it's
unjustIfiablc Use
But who i tho enemy y"dl Tea vii,
attack US" insists The Iucii~i.
why do YOU AK that is the ~
tort. "lpu know "a great war now cX-
lists. You know az ."as' som" 81 its
participant ar" engaged in ii ahsu-
lutely against their desire. YOU know
war is goiuc on somewhere practically
ell the time. NoI know his countr
has been in some sort - war, nls. lttlc
or med UNI sized. - third az It's Ne. and
yet You ask me WY IS III" enemy
that viii Ht'i"t rs, as # 10 imply tat
the assumption is g%roundlcsS that we
should. under any conc"iNabi" circum-
stances. ever II" attacked.
when ~ friend insures his house
against fire d." you insist on knowing
from him who viii SGT the fire. DO
you ask him against what burglar he
considers II necessary 10 insure his