EDITOR'S CORNER. 



AFTER PEACE, WHAT ? 



This is an age of object teaching, and the 

 war now happily terminated has taught the 

 American people a lesson they will not soon 

 forget. It has taught them to revere the 

 memory of the man who first said, " In 

 time of peace prepare for war." It has 

 taught them that the best way to insure 

 peace is to be ready for war. 



This war, though short, has been a 

 bloody one. It has again demonstrated 

 the valor of American soldiers and seamen; 

 the resistless power of American arms. 

 Every good man and woman will wish 

 the era of peace on which we are now enter- 

 ing may last a hundred years ; yet this is 

 too good to be really hoped for. 



Now, let the next 10 years show how well 

 we have learned our lesson. Let us see if 

 the American people, as represented in their 

 Congress, will goto work industriously and 

 intelligently to prepare for the next war. 

 If they will do this, and will make such 

 preparations as they should, then we may 

 reasonably hope this generation, at least, 

 will never see another war. 



What shall be the measure of this prepa- 

 ration? 



ist. We must have the greatest navy in 

 the world. 



2d. We must have a standing army of at 

 least 200,000 men. 



3d. We must have a militia organization 

 of at least 1,000,000 men. 



4th. We must have a naval reserve force 

 of at least 100,000 men. 



Of what shall our navy consist? This is 

 the most important question the government 

 will have to deal with in the next decade. 

 Valuable lessons have been learned from the 

 2 great naval engagements that have taken 

 place in this war, as well as from several of 

 the less important combats. One of these 

 lessons appears to be that the first-class 

 battleship, of high power, heavy armor and 

 great speed is pre-eminent. Then let us 

 have at least 20 of these modern machines 

 of destruction, and let the people who built 

 the Oregon build at least 10 of them. 



The high-power, high-speed cruiser ap- 

 pears to be next in importance. Then let 

 us have at least 30 of these. 



The questions of ordnance and equipment 

 for the new navy may well be left to our 

 naval and artillery experts. First let us 

 have the navy ; then we shall have no fear 

 as to its armament. 



If we had had such a navy as this 2 years 

 ago, we would have had no war with Spain. 

 We could have enforced our demands with- 

 out the shedding of a drop of blood. There- 

 fore, let us hope the new navy may be a 

 veritable peace navy. 



Our naval gunners have proved them- 

 selves the greatest in the world. Let them 

 be bountifully supplied with the best ammu- 

 nition that science can produce, and let them 

 have such ample practice in its use that they 

 may at all times be as expert as they are now. 



We have seen the folly of putting troops 

 into the field poorly armed and poorly 

 equipped. Hundreds of lives have been 

 lost, and thousands of men wounded, that 

 might have been saved had we been as 

 well equipped as were our enemies. Col- 

 onel Bell, of the 2d Cavalry, told me 

 an object lesson was given to the world, 

 in the first day's fighting before Santiago, 

 that should never be forgotten. He said 

 the fighting, for some hours in the morn- 

 ing, was between troops armed entirely 

 with small bore, smokeless powder rifles, 

 and that it was exceedingly difficult to 

 locate the lines of fire on either side. Thus 

 the losses, for a time, were light. Later in 

 the day the 71st New York got into line, 

 and opened. on the Spanish works in its 

 front. This regiment was armed with old- 

 time black powder rifles, and at the first 

 volley a great wall of smoke arose in front 

 of the entire regiment. This was a con- 

 spicuous target, and the fire of the whole 

 Spanish line, for 3 miles in either direction, 

 was concentrated on it ! This is why the 

 71st was cut to pieces so badly. It was not 

 because these men fought more valiantly 

 than the other commands. It was not be- 

 cause they were closer to the enemy. It 

 was simply because their exact whereabouts 

 were made known to the enemy, and, al- 

 though the 71st men lay flat on the ground, 

 turning on their backs to load, they were 

 fearfully cut to pieces. It is safe to say 100 

 men were killed and wounded in that one 

 regiment who might have been saved had 

 the men been armed with Krag-Jorgensen 

 rifles. 



The lesson of this one fight should never 

 be forgotten by the men charged with the 

 responsibility of arming and equipping the 

 United States land forces. Our troops 

 should immediately be armed with modern 

 small bore rifles and smokeless ammunition. 



But where is the money to come from to 

 pay for this great navy and this great stand- 

 ing army? 



A loyal people will cheerfully furnish it as 

 fast as needed. The horrors of the past 

 war have come home to us all, and none of 

 us want to see another one. We are all, 

 therefore, ready to do our part toward 

 building up and equipping an army and a 

 navy which will guarantee a permanent 

 peace. We do not expect this great navy to 

 be built in a year, or in 5 years. It may even 

 take 10 years to build it. Meantime the 



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