Sees Peril in Armaments by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 1, 1910

Sees Peril in Armaments

By F. M. W.

It has been argued many times by those favoring an increase of naval armament, both in this country and in the countries of the Old World, that the possession of large, well-equipped navies is the best possible guaranty of peace. Such claims, of course, are anything but logical reasoning, and are only put forth for want of better arguments. In a recent address by Henry Billings Brown, former associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, at the anniversary exercises of the Yale law school, he spoke as follows on this question, as reported by the Washington Post:—

Armaments have not only not decreased, but never in the history of the world has there been such complete preparation and such readiness for war. The usual excuse for the maintenance of large armies,—that they give the most distinct assurance of peace,—is fallacious. Large preparations for war by any power invite similar preparations by others to meet them, and a collision is ultimately certain. The most strained relations of the present day exist between the two powers best prepared for war. It is a general rule that the man who is fully armed and prepared to defend himself is oftenest called upon to do so. The old adage, that the man who is looking for trouble is apt to find it, is as applicable to nations as to individuals.

These words of Justice Brown are sensible and to the point. The millions spent by the nations year by year for the munitions of war are not harbingers of world-wide peace. To him who reads aright the prophetic utterances regarding conditions in the last days, these preparations of war speak with one voice of the Armageddon but a little way ahead. Let none be deceived by pleasing platitudes. Rather let us discern, as students of prophecy, from the shaping of present-day problems, the gathering storm, which is soon to break upon the world. F. M. W.