was 67,000; died of wounds received in action, 43,000; while the total number of deaths from all causes was 359,000. I have no statistics of the Confederate army, but certainly they would largely increase the total casualties of the war. On the other hand, the Spanish War lasted but a few months. The total number of men mustered in was 223,000. The number killed in action was only 218—not as many as have been killed in many a single mining catastrophe; the number of those that died from wounds received in action was 81; the number dying from disease, 3,848. The total casualties during that war were less than the number killed in railroad accidents in this country during a single year. According to the report of the Interstate Commerce Commission, the number killed on our railways during the year ending June 30, 1908, was 3,764; the number injured, 68,989. Other years show a greater fatality. In the Civil War were some of the greatest battles of history and a terrible loss of life on either side. In the Spanish War, outside of two brilliant naval engagements, there were only a few skirmishes. The two wars taken as a whole compare about like a twelve-inch rifled gun with a small pistol; and yet, as we have seen, after the Civil War there was no cry for an increase in armament, no call for a navy to challenge the fleets of the world, a steady payment of the national indebtedness, a devotion to the pursuits of peace, and a magnificent enlargement of our industries and business, while after the Spanish War we increased our army, and we have been steadily building ironclad after ironclad, until now our navy stands second among the navies of the world.—David J. Brewer.
(3422)
See Sacrifice, Too Costly.
WAR AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT
In a sermon on the scientific indictment of war, Dr. James H. Ecob says:
Soldiers must be young men; not only
that, but young men of the finest possible
physical development. The question at once
presents itself, What effect must it have
upon the physical stamina of a people, if the
very flower of its young men are led out and
fed to the cannon? What would we say of
a farmer who should lead out into the back
lots the very flower of his stock and shoot
it down, leaving it there as food for crows
and foxes? At first we would cry, shameful
waste? But a second thought, more
fundamental and portentous, is, what effect
must such a policy have upon the physical
status or grade of the stock that remains. If
the best are thrown away and only the second
best are retained, progressive degeneration
of the stock must result.
(3423)
WAR, COST OF
That we may better appreciate the present
problem in its relation to the United States,
attention is called to the appropriations made
by the United States Government. For the
year ending June 30, 1910, the appropriations
for the army, fortifications and military
academy amount to $111,897,515.67; for the
navy, $136,935,199.05; and for pensions, $160,908,000.
The total amount to be expended
during the current fiscal year on account of
wars and preparations for war aggregates
$409,740,714.72. Compare these figures with
the relatively insignificant sum of $32,007,049,
which is the total amount appropriated
for the use of the executive, legislative and
judicial departments of the Government
during the same period.
The total expenditures of the Government of the United States from its beginning in 1789 to 1909 has been as follows: For war, $6,699,583,209; for navy, $2,441,572,934; for pensions, $4,155,267,356. This aggregates the vast sum of $13,296,423,549 expended for war purposes, as against $4,466,068,760 expended for civil and miscellaneous purposes.
The average annual cost of the army and navy of the United States for the eight years preceding the Spanish War was $51,500,000. The average annual cost of the army and navy for the eight years since the Spanish War has been $185,400,000. The average yearly increase in the latter period as compared with the former has been $134,000,000, making a total increase in eight years of $1,072,000,000, or 360 per cent. This increase for eight years exceeds the national debt by $158,000,000. The amount of all gifts to charities, libraries, educational institutions and other public causes in 1909 in this country was $185,000,000, or $400,000 less than the average annual cost for the army and navy for the past eight years. What benefit has the nation derived from all this expenditure?
(3424)
See Armies of the World; Navies of the
World; Militarism.
WAR DISPLAY
Edmund Vance Cooke writes of the cruise of the American fleet around the
