Preparation for War by Francis M. Wilcox

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Dec 25, 1913

Preparation for War

By Francis M. Wilcox

WILL the time ever come in this world's history when wars will cease and there be ushered in a reign of universal peace and righteousness? There are many who fondly anticipate this; it is taught from many pulpits and lecture platforms; it is the dream of peace advocates. We would indeed that it might be so. We devoutly wish that all international questions might be settled by arbitration. The Scriptures of Truth, however, warrant no faith in this doctrine. On the contrary, they repeatedly assert that conditions in this world will grow more and more complex; that perplexity and distress among the nations of earth will increase; that wars will multiply, strife intensify, and evil men and seducers wax worse and worse till the day of Christ's coming. It is difficult for many who in the quiet of their own homes and neighborhoods pursue from day to day the even tenor of their ways, to appreciate the manner in which the nations of earth are preparing themselves for the last great conflict. The prophecy of war, as given by Amos, pictures with unerring accuracy conditions that we see existing in the world today.

Warfare in this age has been reduced to a science. Scientific genius and invention have been made to contribute to its destructiveness. To its promotion and support all industries of peace pay heavy tribute. The extent to which this is being done is well illustrated by some striking statistics which have recently been published. In the November number of the Nineteenth Century and After, an article by Edgar Crammond gives the immense monetary cost of the leading wars for the last sixty years, as follows:—

WAR	DATE	MONETARY COST
Crimean	1854	$1,700,000,000
Italian	1859	300,000,000
Schleswig-Holstein	1864	35,000,000
American civil war	1861–65
Northern army		4,700,000,000
Southern army		2,300,000,000
War of 1866 between Prussia, Austria, and Italy	1866	330,000,000
Franco-German	1870–71	2,200,000,000
Turko-Russian	1877	510,000,000
Chino-Japanese	1894	100,000,000
Spanish-American	1898	1,295,000,000
South African	1899–1902	1,350,000,000
Russo-Japanese	1904–05	2,515,000,000
Balkan war	1912–13	1,230,000,000

“The debt of practically every nation has either originated or been built up by the processes of war.” These debts at the present time amount to immense sums, entailing for European nations alone an annual interest of one billion dollars. In the Literary Digest of November 29, the national debts of the leading nations of the world, showing the increase of ten years from 1902 to 1912, are presented in the following figures:—

	1902	1912
France	$5,857,000,000	$6,284,000,000
Russia	3,414,000,000	4,553,000,000
United Kingdom	3,885,000,000	3,486,000,000
Japan	262,000,000	1,242,000,000
German Empire	699,000,000	1,178,000,000
German States	2,688,000,000	3,736,000,000
British India	1,103,000,000	1,475,000,000
Italy	2,561,000,000	2,707,000,000
United States	925,000,000	1,028,000,000

Large expenditures for war in the past have been mostly confined to the nations of Europe, but the war spirit is now taking possession in a marked manner of the leading nations of the Orient and of the great American nation.

According to Senator Burton, in the Saturday Evening Post of Dec. 6, 1913, for the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 1914, the United States has appropriated five hundred and thirty-five million dollars in preparation for prospective wars, and for the payment of pensions, etc., in consequence of the wars of the past. Two thirds of the money appropriated by Congress today is expended on the army. Says Senator Burton:—

In short, sixty-seven cents out of every dollar expended by our national government goes to feed the present-day mania for wars and armament. The remaining thirty-three cents goes toward the payment of civil accounts. Think of it! in the United States, a nation founded to secure universal liberty and consecrated to peaceful pursuits, two thirds of our money goes for warlike purposes, and only one third is disbursed for all other purposes, including internal improvements, the erection of public buildings, the improvement of our rivers and harbors, the conservation of our natural resources, the maintenance and enlargement of our agricultural work, the salaries of our civil employees, the fight against tuberculosis and other diseases, and the countless other national expenditures.

Contrast is made between the amount of money required for navy purposes today and the total war expenditure in the period of the civil war: “June 30, 1861, at the beginning of the civil war, the total expenses of the government were sixty-six million dollars a year, or considerably less than half of what we are expending for the navy alone during the current year.”

Not only are the leading nations making, from year to year, large appropriations which are consumed directly in the building of war-ships and in the improvement of the army and navy, but there is continual demand for the increase of the money reserve which every nation has laid aside to meet the unusual pressure that would arise in consequence of the outbreak of hostilities. Germany for some time has had an imperial war chest amounting to thirty million dollars, but by the recent German Army Act steps will be taken to increase this immediately to ninety million dollars. In event of war, it is proposed that Germany, on the basis of this metal reserve, will issue new notes to the value of two hundred and seventy million dollars, and this, Dr. Riesser, the well-known German economist, carefully estimates would cover the war expenditure during the first six weeks of active engagement, affording time for the making of new loans, the levy of new taxes, etc., to meet the continued demand. The expenditure for an army in the field has been reduced to a mathematical calculation. Dr. Riesser estimates that six shillings a day per man would suffice for the German army, but in the Franco-German war of 1870 the army cost per day per man for the French army amounted to six shillings fourpence, and in the British-Boer war the cost per day per man in the British army amounted to one pound. The utter foolishness of this vast expenditure of money is well illustrated by comparison with the conditions of actual

need which exist on every side. Says Senator Burton:—

And while civilized nations are thus spending hundreds of millions of dollars in the mania for arms, in all the metropolitan cities of the world people are starving in the slums, children are dying for lack of pure milk, and illiteracy is rampant. In England alone there were last year, by authentic census reports, 1,086,707 paupers,—people entirely unable to take care of themselves, and dependent for every mouthful of food and every stitch of clothing on public or private charity. Mr. Lloyd-George declares that under the old-age pension bill there are in Great Britain twelve million people who, under the terms of the act, are entitled to this public charity to permit them to end their lives decently, to die properly and be buried respectably.

But these figures deal only with the financial side of the question. We now turn to the personal factor, to the one which involves the expenditure not merely of money but of men. It is estimated that the loss of life resulting directly and indirectly from wars since the beginning of authentic history amounts to fifteen billion men, equal to nine times the present population of the world. In the wars of Napoleon alone six million men were slain, and the great American civil war cost eight hundred thousand lives. And those who fall in battle are the fittest of their fellows,—the strong, able-bodied men,—and in that period of life when their productive powers are the greatest. These are withdrawn from the industrial pursuits which otherwise they would follow, and instead of becoming producers become actual charges upon the taxpayers of the country. By this means, for the most part, the country is robbed forever of the strength and flower of its male population.

By a system of conscription many of the nations require military service from every male subject. After several years of service the majority are permitted to return to their homes, but with the understanding that they are subject to the call of their country in time of need. The following figures, taken from the World's Almanac for 1913, present the peace strength of the leading armies of the world, their reserves, and the total number of men that may be summoned to the field of battle:—

	PEACE STRENGTH	RESERVES	WAR STRENGTH
Germany	620,000	3,380,000	4,000,000
France	560,000	2,440,000	3,000,000
Russia	1,200,000	3,300,000	4,500,000
Austria-Hungary	360,000	1,640,000	2,000,000
Italy	275,000	925,000	1,200,000
Great Britain	254,500	545,500	800,000
Japan	230,000	970,000	1,200,000
Spain	115,000	185,000	300,000
Turkey	420,000	780,000	1,200,000

And let it be remembered that these reserves are by no means raw material. They are men who have been trained in the science of war, and are prepared on the call of their country to enlist in a struggle to the death against opposing forces. In view of these figures, consider how many armed troops could be brought onto the field of action. When it is realized that these armies are equipped with the most modern implements of warfare, capable of dealing death and destruction on every side, it is terrible to contemplate the time when they will come together in deadly conflict.

Unquestionably the withdrawal of so many men from the productive pursuits of life, and the expenditure of such large sums of money for military and naval equipment have to do in a large measure with the increased cost of living. This at least is the opinion of many students of political economy, and the view taken by the Massachusetts commission on the high cost of living, in its report made in 1910. The commission says:—

This diversion of labor and capital from productive industry to waste and destruction, with the accompanying diminution of the necessaries of life and an inability to supply the world's demands, inevitably resulted in an advance of the prices of the commodities of common consumption. . . . In weighing the causes which have contributed to increase the cost of living, this commission is convinced that a most far-reaching influence in creating, fostering, and perpetuating high prices is militarism, with its incidents of war and its consequences in taxation. The debt piled up for war and waste remains a burden on the life of the world,—a burden calling every year for a huge interest payment of more than a billion dollars taken from the earnings of the nations. This is supplemented annually by many other billions to maintain huge armies and navies of men taken from industry, who are organized, trained, and maintained for the day when they will again be hurled at each other, to duplicate the destruction of the past and pile up new and heavier burdens upon the thrift and industry of the world.

Quoting with approval the report of this commission, Senator Burton adds:—

It was this terrible and growing burden of the armaments of the nations of the world that inspired the first Hague Conference in 1899. In the language the czar then used in summoning the conference, these financial burdens “strike at the public prosperity at its very source.” The strength and resources of the world were everywhere being diverted from their natural channels and consumed in unproductive lines. The lower classes were staggering under a terrible burden of taxation, and were compelled to give two or three years out of their lives to the government. . . . Hundreds of thousands of Europeans have immigrated to the United States to escape these burdens of taxation and enforced military service. And now this country has entered the mad contest for military and naval supremacy, and in her expenditures for this purpose runs abreast of the leading exponents of militarism among the European nations. The navy of the United States is now second in cost to the navy of Great Britain—more costly than that of Germany. . . . Seemingly no nation dares to stop. They seem all imbued with the mad delusion that every nation is waiting to pounce upon any country that is not armed to the teeth. Suppose this armament struggle continues for another decade, what will be the result?

It was in view of these appalling figures that Winston Churchill, last March, advocated in a speech made before the House of Commons the arrangement of a naval holiday, proposing that for one year the great powers of earth cease increasing their naval and war armaments, maintaining for a twelvemonth their present relative relations to one another. This policy, however, met with no substantial encouragement either in England or among the nations of the Continent.

And what will be the end of all this great preparation for war? The growing burden of taxation, resulting in the increasing unrest of the people, will find vent in internal strife, and in order to ease the burden and preserve unity at home the nations will hazard a conflict. “No wonder that the oppressed in France and Germany cry out: Let us fight and have it over with. We would rather die in war than stagger along under this terrible load.”

The end of it all will be that foretold by the prophet, the end looked for by far-seeing statesmen—the battle of Armageddon, the last great conflict of earth just preceding the coming of the Lord. No wisdom of man can forecast the immediate future. We know not how soon the dogs of war will be let loose. It is only as the restraining power of God has held in check the passions of men that the world today is enjoying a reign of political peace. He has a message to go to the world. The winds of strife and commotion are being held in check till the gospel message shall do its work. Rev. 7: 1-4. An occasional outbreak reveals to us the pent-up strife and suppressed emotion hidden under the surface. But sometime in the near future, this suppressed passion will break forth in all its power and fury.

May God help us to be warned by what we see around us today of the things that are coming on the earth. May he enable us to do our part now, while yet there is opportunity, to reach our fellows with his saving truth. We have assurance only of today. We know not what the morrow may bring forth. But we have the promise that when the Lord shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and by his mighty power shake the heavens and the earth, “the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel.” This is our assurance for the uncertain future. F. M. W.