Monographs of the United States Infantry Society (Volume 1-2)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896. Excerpt: ... THE ARMY; ITS EMPLOYMENT DURING TIME OF PEACE, AND THE NECESSITY FOR ITS INCREASE. By First Lieut. L. W. V. Kennon. 6TH U. S. Infantry. U F)EACE is a dream, said Von Moltke. It is a dream as J yet far from realization. Human nature must change before war shall cease; monarchs must lose ambition and lust of power; the strong must respect the rights of the weak; oppression and misrule must pass away; the spirit, not the professions of Christianity must reign universal, before man shall cease to war upon his kind. At present, selfishness is the ruling motive in the intercourse both of men and nations. It is still true, however disgraceful it may be to human nature, that nations in general will make war whenever they have a prospect of getting anything by it. The just and pretended causes of war are infinite, and arbitration is not always appealed to for the adjustment of conflicting claims. Strong nations, where they may, will prefer by force to make good their pretensions whether they be just or unjust. It is idle to assert that Christian nations will practice the doctrine of love in their mutual dealings; and the past century, which has seen the highest development of Christian civilization, has been marked by the bloodiest wars the world has ever known. We ourselves have not been exempt from the general scourge. One-sixth of our first century of national existence was spent in war. Remote as we are from the old world, and free as we are from entangling alliances, the state of European politics has once drawn us into unavoidable war. The abridgment of time and space by electricity and steam has brought us closer to the outer world, and our relations with European powers are daily becoming more intimate, with greater danger of entanglement, clashing o...