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The Commoner
'APRIL, 1916
1
27
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the ycssels of war of different na
tions, which beget wars and consti
tute the weightiest objection to na
vies." He expressed himself oven more
strongly in a letter to Blbridge Gerry
in 1799 when he said: "I am not for a
navy which, by its own expenses and
the eternal wars in which it will im
plicate us, will grind us with public
burdens, and sink us under them."
Here is the answer of Jefferson to
those of today who want uo to have
a navy as big as any other nation:
"To aim at such a navy as the larger
nations of Europe possess would be
a foolish and wicked waste of the en
ergies of our countrymen. It would
be to pull on our own heads that load
of military expense which makes the
European laborer go supperless tr
bed and moistens his bread with the
sweat of his brow."
Let us not be led astray by passion
and sentiment for stars and garters
and titles of nobility, for gold lace
and brass buttons. Let us be loyal
to America, let us not ape the sod
den and hideous idiocy of the
crowned and sceptered murderers" of
Europe.
DEMAND FOB JUSTICE TO W. J.
BRYAN
Although supporting the Presi
dent's side of the - "preparedness"
issue, and declaring Bryan to be
wholly wrong in that regard, the
Washington Star calls for fair play
for the Nebraskan, and points out
that to ridicule him for his views is
exceedingly unjust.
Such tactics, it says, are of a kind
to do him more good than harm, and
teud to arouse strong resentment
among his host of friends.
As an example of the foolish and
wrongful treatment of Bryan, the
Star quotes this from the New York
.Tribupe;. ,.., M,-, . .
"No one has the smallest sympathy
for Bryan. If the President had
never put him .in a place for which
he was grossly unflt his voice would
be received with derision now. But
the President made him secretary of
state."
To this the Star truthfully and
forcibly retorts:
"The shoe belongs on the other
foot. Mr. Wilson's obligations to
Mr. Bryan are rgreater than Mr.
Bryan's to Mr. Wilson, and they
come first. If Mr. Bryan had not
made Mr. Wilson president, Mr. Wil
son could not have made Mr. Bryan
secretary of state. And while secre
tary of state, Mr. Bryan performed
all the functions for which he had
been chosen.
"That is to say, through his friends
in congress he assisted valuably in
the shaping and passing of all the
domestic legislation of the first two
years of the administration. With
out his help that would have been
difficult even for the President, with
all the White house power at command."
Regarding the Tribune's accusa
tion that, while secretary of state,
Bryan filled his department with
"deserving democrats," whose "de
serving consisted in having followed
him from defeat to defeat," the Star
declares the record will show that
he "dispensed less patronage than
any other man, probably, who ever
held the office," and further re
marks: "Not a single one of the important
European or Asiatic diplomatic posts
was filled by him, but all were be
stowed upon men not associated in
any way with what had come to be
known in our national politics as
Brvanism."
The fact is that much of the ridi
cule with which Bryan is assailed,
comes from persona far beneath iimi
In. ability, public spirit. and integrity
vi. purpose. :buui ameiuo uai. ) - jueQi
Mistakes of the Militarists
To hear the militarists talk, the
uninitiated would conclude that the
United States had been spending
nothing at all upon its military es
tablishment for the past 20 years.
The truth Is of course that our army
and navy have been costing us as
much as Germany spent upon her
army and navy previous to the out
break of the present war. Congress
has .not only been appropriating
money sufficient to make a "reason
able preparedness" possible, but Jt
has been appropriating enough
money to place us in the very front
rank as a naval power and well to
the front as far as our army is con
cerned. It may be argued that the most has
not been made of our appropriations;
that money has been wasted; that it
is necessary now to make good the
mistakes of the past; that the system
has hitherto been at fault. All that
is doubtless true. But is it not well
to Inquire, before appropriations ar
increased, whether or not the system
that has proved so inefficient In the
past 1 s been changed? Is It not
well to make it certain before appro
priations are increased that the in
creased appropriations will not be
wasted?
Here Is the question that the men
down in the Cambria mills, in the
Pennsylvania railroad shops and out
on the farms must face. They have
been contributing toward our mil
itary establishment through the de
vious channels of indirect taxation
three dollars and some odd cents for
themselves and the same amount for
each member of their family. The
money thus contributed has been
wasted and the proposition put for
ward now Is an assessment of $6 for
every man, woman and child in this
country be levied in order to give the
militarists enough money to get re
sults operating under a wasteful sys
tem. How do our people like that
proposition? Would it not be better
to change the system and use all of
the three dollars per head we are
collecting now for reasonable pre
paredness instead of blowing it on
foolish frills?
How has the money been wasted?
It has been spent maintaining useless
navy yards at New England and
southern ports. It has been blown in
on Charleston, Portland and similar
"naval bases." It has been used to
minister to local pride and to pro
vide "pork" for congressmen and
senators who have cared more about
preparing for a re-election than they
have about preparing their country.
It has been spent on useless forts
and army posts in the interior. It
has been spent in maintaining parade
grounds for the benefit of rural com
munities. It has been spent on the
lawns in front of the houses occupied
by all the colonels. It has been scat
tered around among a lot of ineffec
tive arsenals. It has been used to
patch up worthless docks to rebuild
antiquated army posts. It has been
thrown away on about all the schemes
inefficiency could devise. And those
practices are not a sudden develop
ment: They prevailed under Pres
ident Taft; they were in vogue when
Roosevelt roared in the White house;
they were familiar in the days of
McKinley.
The point that should stick fast in
the mind of every workingman is
that we are spending enough right
now to insure reasonable prepared
ness. Those who contend for n in
creased appropriation contend for
an, unreasonable preparedness. We
,arfl r-spending three hundred million.
jflQHar.s ,a yearj to'raalntain peace.".
jLfwe do nobhaxe anything- to'ruhow
for our money, the fault docs not
rest with the people as a whole. The
fault lies at Washington. If Presi
dent Wilson Is determined to obtain
a more efficient army, the place to
start is with the congressmen who
uso government funds to feather
their own political nests, with the
army and navy officers who have per
mitted waste. If our army is some
thing to be ashamed of, a whole lot
of the gold lace boys should be cash
iered and some efficient men put in
their places.
The people are spending the
money. They are doing their part.
It is up to Washington to make good.
The cry for moro funds is a cry cal
culated to cover up the "mistakes of
the militarists." Johnstown (Pa.)
Democrat.
PATENTS
Wntaon K. CaIama.
ratent J-nwyer,WMti1nctin,
Uau-a rrauonnhle. 21 Igiieat reference. JScttMrvloe.
toffiqi(2SJj
1720 Colorado
IJowlovml
Denver, Colo,
Subscribers' JMwilstofl Dpt.
This department In for tho benefit of
Commoner imbhcriborn, and a apodal
rate of six conta a word per Insertion
7TU l0AVK,Kt rftt,,afl been mndc.for
ril clnU A'wr'H All communications to
llio Commoner. Lincoln. Nebraska.
J7C55KMA SPECIFIC Will abolute!y
euro eczema, nalt rheum, barber
!.? ii aJV1,J?t,1r w,ln dlwcusos. Bent by
AimirV?0, SSnrt for recommendations
No,Ah,DaBkota.harmUCy' cW.town.
THE FARMER PAYS TILE TAX
How much will it cost tho people
of the United States to equip and
sustain an army of 400,000?
Will the cost of tho hig army fall
on tho rich, or will the burden be
saddled onto tho producers?
Here are two very important ques
tions, and they should receive very
careful consideration. And so it is
that wo turn to tho experience of our
neighbor country on tho north to
learn tho cost of an army of a half
million men, and also to learn how
tho military tax touches tho men on
the farms. We shall not present any
testimony from any publication
which is opposed to war, because that
might be regarded as prejudiced tes
timony. On the contrary, we shall
present the testimony of a newspaper
which is madly devoted to the cause
of the war trust. From that news
paper wo clip tho following para
graph :
"Some of the American farmers
who went to Canada in such large
numbers during the last five or six
years now wish that they had re
mained at home. Tho war taxes
make them sick at heart. It is esti
mated that the cost of a Canadian
soldier on active service is ?1,000 a
year, and that the Dominion will have
half a million under arms within
eight or ten months. War expendi
tures for the coming year are esti
mated at $360,000,000."
Tho estimate of the cost of an
army is here based on an army in ac
tive service, so it would be unfair on
our part to say that our big Amer
ican army would cost as much money
during times of peace. However, it
must be remembered that the ex
pense of maintaining an American
soldier in peace times is almost as
much as maintaining a soldier dur
ing war times in any other country,
so that the estimated expense is not
far out of the way.
And if it be true that the military
game is so disastrous to the farmers
in Canada, is it not safe to assume
that the burden of it will be propor
tionately oppressive to our farmers
if we shall get military crazy In the
United States? If tho military bur
den is greater than Canadian farm
ers can bear, will It not be greater
than our own farmers can bear?
Remember, when reading the
above quotation, that it was not writ
ten by Mr. Bryan, nor by any other
opponent of the military craze. Re
member that it was written by the
editor of a newspaper whose princi
pal owner is a member of the United
States senate, and always a support
er of the military programme de
manded by the war trust.
In the face of this evidence is it
any wonder that the farmers of the
United States are, now so earnestly
opposing the preparedness craze?
Columbus (Neb.) Telegram.
u
TZ'j3 "QOJ.D ItOCIt" strain Buft
x-iyuiuuui jcockh, uuff Cochin
BantiuniJ. Stock! Eggs! 191C Matin
Mat. Uts Poultry Farm, EBthorvllle, la.
TRUSTWORTHY woman to Introduce
Prlscllla fabrics, laces, hoHlery,
ilrossos among personal friends. Good
nco,!Yl fifthly earned. Wo furnish
beautiful samples. FltzcharJen Co.,
Dept. 11C, Trenton, N. J.
VYANTKD to hear from owner of Rood
" farm for Bale. Stato cash prloo
and description. D. F. Duuh, Minne
apolis Minn.
F'NI.? A,a,)anm ffraln and stock farm,
nr ??,ar.ro?' for Wllc caBll Dr- R. K.
Wyatt, Kthelsvllle, Ala.
pOR Puro Maplo Sugar and Syrup
New1 York. c'olvo"bcli, rcrrynburg,
JJUSTM3nS-.$20 to ?30 niado weokly
distributing circulars, samples,
tacking signs, etc. Advertisers National
Agency, Dopt 200, Chicago.
TUB rush for eastern Colorado land
already ertmmenced. A very spe
cial bargain of U40 acres cornering on
the town of Llmon, 200 acres culti
vated, fenced, small creek of water, a
largo portion Ideal alfalfa land, 10 to
J 5 eet to water, roots go to moisture
Injuring 3 or 4 good cuttings per year.
COO acres of same can bo plowed with
an engine, eloso enough to town to
soon bain demand for garden tracts
worth $nq per acre, can bo secured for
rB o0r t,n?? at I2.5 Pr ncvc- Address
W. S. Pershing, L,lmon, Colo.
CONQ "Desert Air" High-clasft bal-
n 'i-J ?rotty. 15c. Send today.
I' rank Cottlngham, Greenup, Illinois.
WANTED to hear from owner of good
" farm for sale. Send description
and cash price. R. G. List, Minneapolis,
Minn.
9347CockcreIs' 41 varieties chickens.
en geco and (iucfcH s00a-H and
trees. Aye Bros., Box 27. Blair, Nebr.
SMALL MISSOURI FASM
SlOcith nd IS mnnthfr. win Int. ...I ....... l.i..tl.. ....
ir.i,;i,i.:. .i.""'t.i ..'" ",rr" 'y."Bc.
'.J".? ?" " ""ee '"tr n"lrt Wr ir Ir.r nliofnrrnhl
ml full Information. MWOKR J. ZSS jr. T. Llf. HaWar.
til City, Ka. '
KENTUCKY'S niflST NATURAL LEAP
TOBACCO, chewing or smoking, parcel
post prepaid, i lbs. $1.00; 10 lbs. 2.00.
S. JtoMenMtitf, HaivcMvlIle. Ky.
Wiinfprl Trfnac w'h for l.tat or Tnvonllona
VVdlllLU lULdb Wanted. $1,000,000 In prizes
offered for inventions. Fend rUolch for free opinion
of patentability. Our four book Bent tree.
Victor J. Evans It Co., 122 0th. WaabluRton, D.O
NEVADA MINING NEWS
Frea for Three Months
na Is a recognize! authority on uU miner, mining cimr and
mining itocU of Nrvada. It wHI be jnalled to you for tareo
month! IBSOLUTELT HIEB upon teque.t Write for It to
day andatkui for any tpeclil Information u may dctUe
abaatany mine In Nevada.
NEVADA MINING NEWS
23C Clay Peters Bldg. RENO, NEVADA
GgtThisCarj FKEtl
JMrftkfl
figenty
for Yew
TtnitM?
PawtHfr 0 H. 112 te.VflteHww,Htt
It! tor Hmc BitMiMtaM fOmm FU Ww.
fane Rm Ula-32xa4 neinm, A wsaderot and aras
mm get one Fr, Write bow toe tail information.
hmtrn how yon can set this car free and nab He
aMacy In (Jbo aotomobita btuintM. Do't delaythe
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ae. AdareeaBsepcrBoaauijr. utatpn irewri, rr a
wapt - tatfr
JtekMafarCollege,hic.
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