n.

But while the friends of international arbitration may honestly disagree
as to the strength of the army and the size of the navy that should be
maintained in times of peace, there is no disagreement in the
condemnation of the conditions which make it necessary to maintain a
large army and navy. These conditions are relics of barbarism. They are
not founded upon any wisdom, reason, or justice. They exist only because
the great men of to-day, who hold the destinies of nations in their
hands have not met upon the broad plane of equality and agreed upon
their abolishment.

Heretofore the cry of international arbitration has come mainly from
those who were moved by the idea of philanthropy, of mercy and of
humanity. It will not be long until these influences will be joined by
all the commercial interests of civilization and all the tax-payers of
the world. For the fiscal year (1907) in our own country there was
appropriated from the national treasury nearly four hundred millions of
dollars on account of war. Over sixty-five per cent. of the revenues of
our national government are spent on account of our wars of the past, or
in preparation for war in the future. Every time our government raises a
dollar by taxation more than sixty-five cents of it is demanded as a
tribute by this blood thirsty demon.

Our situation is only a fair illustration of what exists everywhere in
the world. In round numbers about one-half of the money raised by
taxation in the leading civilized nations of the world is spent, either
in the payment of obligations of past wars, or in the preparation for
war in the future. The expense of this preparation is increasing at a
wonderful rate. Our government expends about the same amount of money as
the other leading nations of the world in the preparation for war in the
future, but for the expenses of wars that are past it expends more than
all the other nations combined. The expenses of our past wars,
consisting chiefly and mainly of pensions, are just, and no one would
cut them down, excepting as they will be curtailed by the hand of Time
as he gathers into his fold our heroes of the past. We will therefore
eliminate the past from the financial consideration of the question.
During a single year of peace, Great Britain, Germany, France, and the
United States spent nearly one billion of dollars in making preparation
for war. All the money in the United States would only pay this enormous
expense for a