British Army Expansion and War Alarm
The British war office has lately set forth a plan for the reform of the army, which, it is said, gives satisfaction in the House of Commons. The new scheme adds 23,000 men to the army, the largest increase ever proposed by that government in time of peace. “So great is the empire’s demand now,” says the Western British American, “that one in every sixteen able-bodied men in the country is serving either in the army or navy, and one in every four youths reaching the age of eighteen years, joins one of the two services.” Is such a system of war preparation and war education likely to create a peace sentiment in the minds of the coming men of the country? If this is the condition in the nation that is doing more than any other in the matter of enlightening the world, is it any wonder there is a general alarm of war?