wyj'fli
-
The Commoner
VOL. ip, NO. 5
rr r
K
P- H?
IHr.
Paying the Costs of " Preparedness "
Addrcso by Arthur h Wcatherly, Lincoln,
Ncbr., at tho Dob Moines mass mooting of the
Anti-Preparedness committeo, April 12, 1916.
Two very Important quoollonfl in tho matter
of preparedness are, who aro to pay tho hills,
mid what aro their means of paying.
If wo aro to spend 500 millions of dollars in
addition to what wo aro now spending, "as a
beginning," as somo of tho advocates of tho In-
for tho enormous preparation for tho enemy that
is not in sight. Theso underfed and overworked
men and women who live in disease-ridden ten
ements, who toil in life-destroying mines, who
ail day long weave our garments in factories;
theso, who do not earn enough to maintain oven
a minimum standard of living, these are the ones
who aro aBked to pay tho bills.
We aro now spending for preparation for war
croaoo of our array and navy propose, it is well and past wars seventy per cent of our national
to consider who Is going to produce this weaitn income, tuib is approximately bbvuu uuimi
which in a few short years will he cast into tho per capita, or thirty-five dollars for every fam-
scrap heap. ily of five each year. Wo have spent In ten
Tho only revonuo of tho government is the years about two and one-half billion dollars,
nRnnAn,ia f tnvnHnn wim nnvR Urn taxes? Tho which is $126 for each family. And then we
I in.i;i;iin ija. liiauviwiii ? aw -. - w - --- . , -
consumor. Tho plain, avorago man. Who pays
tho taxes on your stores, your business enter
prises, your factories, your railroads? The peo
plo who use theso tools of civilization. Tho
people who toil in shop and factory.
It has boon estimated that sovonty per cent of
tho taxes aro paid by people who recoivo less
than $500 per year. Congress placed a tax of
ono cent on long distance telephono messages
costing twonty-flvo cents or more. Does tho
tolephono company pay this tax? No! You
put your penny in tho box before you get your
connection. Congress places a tax on commer
cial paper. Go to tho bank and borrow some
money, and you will find that you pay that tax.
Tho taxes assessed against every business house
In your city aro a charge upon tho business just
aro told wo have not anything to show for it.
Tho increase demanded would make an amount
moro than our present total national income. A
little development of efficiency would be a good
plan before turning over to the same agencies
anything more to spend.
Those who aro struggling to maintain their
families, who barely live from day to day, who
risk life and limb as a matter of course every
day (we have 500,000 industrial accidents each
year) are near the limit of endurance now. To
add unnecessarily to their burden is a crime
against individuals and the nation. Rather
than rush into now expenditure would it not be
moro wise and more just to insist that before
an additional penny Is appropriated for military
purposes that tho waste duo to political log
as clerk hire and insurance You, tho consumer -Trolling and mismanagement bo eliminated? Po-
pay tho bills. litical navy yards and pork barrel army posts
The tax on sugar, which Is the common man's might go first as a pledge for future economy,
luxury, is paid by tho user; a hundred millions We can, if we wish, increase our army and navy
a year from sugar is a hundred millions largely without increasing appropriations. But this
from tho pockets of tho poor.
PEOPLE WOULD BEAR THE BURDEN
Five hundred millions "as a beginning" is $25
additional tax on ovory family in tho land.
Now what have we, tho people, to pay with? No
would not satisfy tho armament makers.
But why this haste? No enemy in sight; the
nations of Europe bleeding themselves white;
tho people of tho world sicker of war than they
ever were in their lives; the lessons of the war
not yet learned! All ships built now will be in
K !?, BInJl t0 nBh ln an enormou,s expend!- the scrap heap before any European nation can
i "1"yHH convinced or tne recover its breath. Why, I say, this haste Why
need, and has the moans to pay. President Wil- this desperate effort to stampede T the country?
?lZoaTrno Zlu 7 ihaV n Tml.e,8: tlmt What daner confronts us that did not exis? two
there is no immediate danger confronting our years arn? Tf n rrmm nf Q ,
beloved country. That, at least, ought to make day uS areued Sd iS wfX vnw y?U t0;
us pause in a mad rush for armaments. It is LS;2l,S !S? 7 y
easy to spend tho other fellow's money. But you would if not carried i off vmr w ? '
pouring your savings into the
uui ub see wuat wo Have to pay with. Some
yoars ago Dr. Charles Spahr showed that one
half of our people have no wealth. Thousands
on thousands of our children go to school hun
gry and poorly clothed. Great masses live in
Drwauzing poverty in our great cities.
you had been
enternriRo fnr
thirty years and were assured by its officers that
it was a failure. But if you got the notion after
somo hours of conference with your advisors
flint, noma nf tlmm mm.1,1 i . '
- t "'""i "wuiu KtJL a gooa rat com-
m, 7 T , E l C1UeS' mfssion out of yur investment, would you not
Three-fourths of all tho adult mn wnrirpra want tn frn nw , " ' w you n?5
and nineteon-twentioths of the woman workers say "Gentlemen, I guess I'll sleep on this mat
in tho industrial sections of the United States tor." bam sieep on this mat-
OniTniV1 nf ?6 Per yGU We are being stampeded, or rather men are
J? uT S" ,0f, ?!,r mon workers got less than feverishly at work spending untold sumfin trv
five hundred dollars a year. Forty per cent Ing to stampede us. What noBBiblo w n
earn from ?G00 to $1000 per year. come from delay. Put the who! Lh
It has boon estimated by a government com- annate preparedness aU tte'lLSfSE"8 '1
'f Iitl'at f01' f;oa olotl"nB' 'tte1' " "El't. t0 "e s'ampeLd? but to L slow-to wifUS nCt
and a tow extras tor a family of five, It costs a I know it has hV.,?J ?low t0 wait
man in a Now England elty ?731.90 need a great array and niw?C0IVEreas-that we
mTST" rayS(,thnt a falr ". fr, "S tLd SoYe of 0tnhisrwa;emSdaSt
and this is hardly moro than keeping bodv nnrl is to say, that we will co tn td-rJ . 11 l,
tee,tl,l0r' e(lulres In thQ southern states ,s a hor;iblG Propol it on indled it TT X
$050, and in tho northern states $750 a year unthinkable, that a niember of the ni mS-
Every penny that goes into battleships must the United States onlWoLthFT ?
come out of tho earnings of tho toilers in ?hop so to war for mere money Th2 w! f Sid
and factory, on farm and in store. SllP strength of their young manhood I ahonid ?
T DJ Uly an Increased taxation paid fj moers, fafTrom wives anS
by 6ur indirect process but also an IncreS children, lovers from sweethearts in It!L
cost of living caused by the withdrawal f Coll.oct a money - t is monstrous thnf
So?TS2S; "d Pcinagb0: i1tnLt such ats
two-fold burden on the bent backs of the
sitlon should be made.
aug nations have ar-
no
Now a large portion of American Z S bitratad scores on scores t?3l!
paia enough to support their fnminnn m,V... nations have ever rofnori f -r,ma!.m n
require the aid of children taken from ti, inga of a board of arbitration Not w- ndI
SS? 5thJ 2!! ot the rightTo 1 S?8 Jo war in this daffr nnev 7lEl
thp VdfliHnnni l"u"blu l0 Ul children. Place yec Bono Dack to savagery.
?i8.5;diti;;!l1?u.rd!n on the backs of T. AMBMOA-S OPPnp;.
American people and you conH,, i , thG m, , xua'S OPPORTUNITY
rnncM i.i i" " ,you continue in Iarr This auMnn t , .
a srsrars. k-sh jssxs? kms
v-w. u, Kreat g,oof propose to ask to pay The imtbns of the "wnri
the world await the- moral
leadership of America. Never in history has so
magnificant, so splendid an opportunily been af
forded any nation. Not "with the mailed fist,
but with power of America's ideals we will lead
the world. Let us heed the appeal that comes
to us from battle scarred Europe.
From over the sea comes the dirge of war.
In it we hear the cries of children, the moan
ing of mothers, the shrieks of wounded, the
voices of those pleading for help, for comfort,
for assurances for the future. It is the cry of
suffering, bleeding, heart-broken humanity
caught in the grip of .the jaws of that terrible
monster, Militarism. Humanity cries, to us for
leadership in the reorganization of tho
world. It pleads with us to be
true to the great principles of democracy
of brotherhood; to grasp the opportunity that is
laid before us. We, the greatest of the neutrals,
we, the inheritors of the principles of democ
racy and brotherhood, for which countless men
have died in the past on the scaffold, at tho
stake and on the field of battle; we are im
plored not to lead the world into another cata
clysm, not to prepare for another slaughtering
of the innocents. We are besought by the souls
of men lying in heaps 'in unknown graves, by
the agony of mothers, by the little children with
soulless eyes, dying pf hunger, to lead the
world in organization for peace.
To this is added the appeal of the little na
tions, that have made such splendid contribu
tions to civilization. They have no rest from
fear, indeed, no assuring hope for their future
if the great nations are to continue their mad
race for military supremacy. What a bitter
comment -on our boasted democracy if we fail
to respond to their need; if we start the world
anew in a course which inevitably leads to ca
tastrophe. They ask for bread; shall Ave give
them a stone?
This' opportunity fs the opportunity of the
ages. The old world is sick unto death of war.
The mothers of the world want no" more war.
The fathers want no more war. Young men want,
a chance to live the lives God gave them. Young
women do not want to rear, as their mothers
have done, sons to be cannon fodder. Only
those away from the "far flung battle line''
prate about the glories of war. Those who see
men in the strength of their youth torn to frag
ments, want peace.
But preparation for war means a denial of
our opportunity. It is putting our energy, our
thought, our wills, to a method that always has
and always will lead to war. It is a, denial of
God, of brotherhood, and oZ humanity.
NO ENEMY TO BE FEARED
We have no foe to fear. There is no enemy
at our shores. We never will secure the con
sent of the people to a program of preparedness
unless we first convince them that there is an
enemy to be feared. This was the method that
secured the consent of the peoples of the na
tions of Europ.e to the large appropriations for
defense that led directly to this war. We must
have an enemy. We must teach two genera
tions of children to hate that enemy. Yes, rear
our children in an atmosphere of hate before
f ni013 !he ""tariBts and jingoes can be
il J ieL ?? te,' h,ate' hate' is necessary to all
l?wLTaJ10 business'-hate d on fear. And
if there is ho one to be hated some one must be
NowUuef,UAt0 mi thiS rle- 0nce U was Jaan
rVL Germany; Germany torn and bleeding,
beeroraurnLrmaykened by UliS fUl C0flIct' is S
inSi n?Vhere a,re men oC German ancestry
l?ni5 wf ie Zh0 are willinS to solemnly
stand here and offer themselves as hostages
tt Gflrmevnditl0n tUat th0ir lives be torteitS
"S;y Tey,er mal an aggressive war
against us. I do not say that such a war is im-
wiffinieJnbUt i1 Sy U is S0 remote thai men are
willing to seriously make such an offer.
Those who would use our army and navv to
a? ho Sfof11011!8' Wh anto carryVhate
learned ttw f' who have not
wfi nlM T Hve in an international age, are
hale thS ?wr" UP any enemy' t0 elop' any
nato that they may secure their ends wimf
pa r tottS v."" ll l? a traitorous'andTate
ma-de so many of them," to rise in thei? might
and power and Bay in no. uncertain "ones Ihat