Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1916-05-29
MARTIN DIES POINTS TO THE
DANGER OF MILITARISM.
By Congressman Clyde II. Tayenner.
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(Reprinted from the Congressional
Record of May 8, 1850
l desire at this point to quote from
the speech of Congressman Martin
Dies, the kind Of speech that the
great newspapers of the country as
general rule do not publish, for it is
not conducive to the creation of a mill
tary autocracy in this country:
| ION yesterday, the anniversary of
the immortal Washington, we hear
| the wisdom and the greatness of that
revered patriot extolled in eloquent
| terms. Let me take q sentence from
| the farewell address of Washington
and PROFOUND it as an interrogatory to
| the membership of this body:
why forego the advantages of so
peculiar a situation Why quit our
own stand to stand on foreign ground?
Why, by Intervening our destiny with
| that of any part of Europe, entangle
our peace and prosperity in the tolls
| of European ambition, Tivalship, in
terest. honor, or caprice"
But we seem to have forgotten the
admonition of the fathers. We are no
| longer satisfied to stay upon our OWE
shores and pursue the avocation of
peace and enjoyment Of liberty.
shake their heads ominously and hint
at war; the heads of the great supply
| committees that spent the peoples
money tidget in their seats and cry
out in trembling accents for more
| money with which to purchase powder
and shot, guns and ships, arms and
ornaments. All, Mr.. Chairman, the
great trouble with US is that we are
| pursuing policy which we know is
likely to bring war. tApplause). If
we were attending strictly to our own
/ business, there would be no excuse for
| all these mock heroics about war, and
| there would be no excuse for spending
these fabulous sums of money taxed
| from the labor of the people. History
gives ample proof of the fact that mill
| itary men are prone to exert influence
against peace. War is their game and
naturally enough, they fret and chafe
at piping times of peace. There can
be no AleXanders and Hannibals with
out battles, and there can be no bat
ties without war. If we listen to our
generals and would-be generals, every
appropriation bill will bristle with war
preparations, and there will never be
an end of it until their is a soldier up
on the back of every citizen and the
neglected implements Of husbandry
lie rusting in the fields, while their
former users FURNISH Payments and
black boots in the camps of an army.
Il am not a pessimist. Mr.. Chair
man, but history does not encourage
me to hope that our free institutions
will long survive the time when the
military shall be made paramount to
the civil affairs of our government
When we send great armies away to
Cypress our neighbors they will re-
, turn to Cypress our own people.
Rome sent Caeser and his soldiers
to conquer the barbarians, but he re-
turned with his army to destroy the
last vestige Of Roman liberty and sea,
) himself upon a throne. The people
of France, in more recent times, en-
ployed Napoleon to lead a grand army
against the neighboring peoples OF
Europe, but when the conquerine
general came back to France he
promptly overthrow the young repub-
lie and crowned himself emperor with
his own hands. Your great generals
are not democrats; they are not re-