The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1888. COSTLY PEACE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1994, 12 November 1888, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1888. COSTLY PEACE.

Costly ag regards money, as well as regards life, as is war to the nations that engage therein, it is almost questionable whether an armed peace such as now prevails among the nations of Europe is not, as regards the first particular at least, quite as heavy a drain upon the national resources. Not only are millions of men withdrawn from the busy hive of the world's industry, but they have to be fed and clothed and paid at the charges of the workers therein, and a large Bhare of the burden of taxation is due to the enormous annual expenditure upon military preparations, Millions upon millions are thrown away upon the maintenance of enormous armies, and millions upon millions more expended m the manufacture and constant replacement of one new rifle after another, and m costly ordnance experiments, and while money flows like water m these channels, it also runs away m a broad stream through the dock yards and navy yards, where onejstyle of ironclad is no sooner adopted than a newer and better supersedes it. There is a rivalry going on m these matters which is nothing|Bhort of appalling. Germany is just 'spending two hundred and fifty million marks, m additions to her already powerful nayy, and France declares that she cannot afford to b.e behind her rival, and must expend a like sum ip a like way, while England is to have at least eight new iron-clads, twenty cruisers and a host of torpedo boats. Is there never to be an end to all this. It is, of course, all very well to quote the Latin proverb. — " Si vis pacem, helium" bat the unhappy taxpayer is /*pt to begin to think when these preparations are go unending and so costly that ifc would be almost befjjer \q have a war and have done with it.