Evening star., 1924-09-13
HOOVER HITS WAR,
BUT BACKSDEFENSE:
Declares U. S. Has No Taint
of Mi|itarism-CalIs Yes.
terday's Test Peace Aid.
by the Associated Press.

by the Associated Press.
NEW YORK, September 13.-Amer-
lea is not militaristic; nor on the
other hand, is it a nation of paciftsts,
Secretary of Commerce Hoover said
in Defense day address last night.
Speaking at a dinner of the 106th
Regiment in Brooklyn. he extolled the
pervading idealism that seeks to abol-
lSh warfare, but warned his audience
that, strive As we may for the ideal,
we must look out upon the world
through the clear glass of realism"
The Secretary held peace-time con-
scription, a practice never adopted
by the United States. to be the great
est war r-breeder and instigator of the
mtlitaristic spirit. On the other hand
the disarmament movement lead by
America, he said. was probably the
most effective world peace move in
history.
Declaring militarism to be the 'di-
rect or Indirect fostering of the be-
lief that war is enobling to a nation"
Secretary Hoover said that America
has little of this stuff
Hits Peace-Time Consrription
In fact" he continued. lit cannot
he stimulated out of our chosen form
OF defense system. Militarism feeds
itself most successfully upon popula-
tions militarized through peace-time
conScription of the whole manhood
II Is only in such Il nationwide school
that ii can be sustained. We are the
only important nation today whose
standing army is less than the po-
Hcemen on its street corners
Our Army, Mr.. Hoover said had
never been the centerpoint of A mill
traistic doctrine. America. Land OF
political experiment. he asserted. had
always held the determination to car
ry on national defense without peace
time CONSUMPTION. He continued:
Had the United States undertaken
peacetlmc conScription. thereby main
tanning compulsory standing army
and reserves on the basis of MANY
countries, we should today have a
million and half standing army
and four millions OF reserves. In our
resolution to maintain our defense on
our own system we have saved the
western Hemisphere from the catas-
trophies Of Europe, for had we estab-
hShed such an army We should have
imposed the necessity of conscription
upon every state in the Western Hem-
iSphere. with it's net of military al
Hances and its inevitable clash from
the malign forces whit n such ideas
and sue n armament would have it.
self produced"
America Loathes War.
From his own observation. Mr.
Hoover related, he knew the harrow
ing sufferinGs that followed wars
Americans in general knew them
too. he said. adding:
so it is that We in America have
come to loathe war and to yearn for
universal peace. We harbor neither
lear nor hate, neither aggression nor
desire for power or prestige other
- liaS in he Of
peace.
Nevertheless, however we might
fervently hope and pray that wars are
over. We cannot found our national
policies upon such a basis. We know
how the seeds OF war are planted
and that humand nature and
understandings change but slowly;
that man is proceeding only little by
little toward the goal of perfection
and that nations are but aggregations
of men. If we survey the world we
ind it is a s greatly armed as in the
finder box days of 1911. though not
in the same places.
preparedness for defense is a
necessity SO long as the great arma-
ments and the spirits of fear. hate,
militant nationalism. arrogance or
aggression linger in the world.
show America Ready.
And the world is not free from
these uncomfortable bad fellows
though some of them be stunned by
the exhaustion OF the last 10 years.
We must needs maintain such forces
as assure us in defense: whose equip
ment and morals keep it ever ready
and whose public support is one Of
appreo alton of national service
well given to the security of us all"
Men throughout the nation did not
march today to cultivate any martial
spirit nor to manifest any desire for
war. the Secretary declared, but to
show to ourselves and to the world
our readiness to protect ourselves
against any unlocked for aggresSions
And there is greater significance
than this. America without arminG
is demonstrating it's power to arm
and its wish for peace"
Cannot Go Undefended
Reduction of armament. the Com
merce Secretary said. was an i'm
portant step toward universal peace.
The settlement of disputes by
judicial processes. arbitration and
other international negotiations he
held to be almost equally important.
But. he went on. lin the end
peace is not to be maintained by
documents, no matter how perpetual
their declarations may be, nor is it
maintained by institutions. no matter
how perfect they be- 1t is only to
be gained through good will, through
esteem, by the upbuilding of these
same relations of consideration and
respect that make good neighbors.
I'm the meantime, work as we will
to these purposes, we cannot go
undefended.''