THE MONSTER MILITARISM.

NZ Truth, Issue 70, 20 October 1906, Page 1

THE MONSTER MILITARISM.

Wherein Christians Have Failed.

.m the decidedly interesting and thought-provoking work by Professor Alfred Russell Wallace that is entitled "The Wonderful Century," the author places among the "failures" of the nineteenth century the existence and growth of militarism. Greater things for the advancement and happiness of the human race were j done m that century than m any cen- | tury by which it was preceeded—indeed, Professor Wallace says that: more was achieved m the nineteenth j century that is worthy of being re-/ corded than m any of the proceeding centuries of the Christian era, yet m ! spite of what Professor Wallace calls J the "successes" of the nineteenth century, the "failures" of "the wonderful oentury" are as marvellousi j as its "sucoe?ses." Militarism is the worst of these failures. The crushing burden of , the huge standing armies of Europe is so oppressively felt by the masses of the people that it is the main cause of the annual emigration of many thousands of Europeans to America arid other parts of the- world. * ' • .. • That the cursed thing called militarism is one . . of the most odious '{lots upon modern civilisation there can be riot 'the least doubt m the mind of any man who is not ri pro-fes^ional^n\an-slayer.<. > NotwitlrstandiAgtW fact that a. religion oi lieace, Christianity, has been preached for over nineteen hundred years, - and that CHristianity has been the State religion of the most powerful nations lor many, centuries, the Governments of those nations maintain vast human fighting-machines, whose capacity for dreadful destruction of life and wealth is greater than that of any armies at any previous period m the history of the human " race. Moreover, such wars as have occurred during the last twenty or thirty years have been more fiendishly murderous than any 08 the p;reat wars of earlier times. The existence of militarism is one of the things that undoubtedly does exhibit a failure of the most enlightened nations to use their intelligence and other powers to the best purpose. * .« • In this matter of the oppressive ex^ wslence of vast military machines for' the destruction of life and property, the Christian Churches seem most deserving of blame. Christ exhorted men to love one another and. to forgive their enemies, and He warned them that "he that takes the sword shall perish by the sword." Yet, m spite of these facts, it is the Christian nations that are the worst offenders. There is not one of the six Powers mentioned by Professor Wallace as possessing the most murderous military machines that does not loudly proclaim its belief m Christianity. In each of them, m Britain, France, Germany, Russia, -, Austria and Italy, the rulers piously proclaim their love of God and belief m Christ ; yet m not one of these does the Christian Church declare that war is the 'greatest of all crimes; and that, until the Christian nations unite m a league of peace and agree to lay down their arms, they are acting m complete contradiction to the teachings of Christ. The Churches could do this ; their opportunity is better now than it is likely to be «.t any future time ; but the Churches do nothing. ♦ • •. Although the Churches do nothing towards abolishing the murderous military menace, there is scarcely one professional preacher who would have the hardihood to contend that the Churches should do nothing ;. pro- ' fessional, paid protagonists of piety simply ipnore the matter of militarism. Instead of our hearing a demand, voiced m thunderous tones from every pulpit, that the Christian nations should agree not to fight against Christians, we find that, at a .time like that of the late war m South Africa, many pulpit-pounding preachers were bellowing for blood with the ferocity of mad bulls. Nothinir, apparently, is to be expected from ecclesiasticism m the direction of even mitigating; the military men-, ace. and, therefore, it is not surpris-( ing that the working people of\ Europe, who are the chief sufferers from militarism, ■ should turn to Socialism as their only hope. The ! International Congresses of, delegates from Socialist organisations have done what is not done by any Ecumeuical Church Council ; they have repeatedly demanded international disarmament.

The International Congresses of the Socialist Party are convened by an organisation called the International Socialist Bureau, which has its headquarters m Brussels. The members of this Bureau consist of a somewhat small number of well-known Socialists, who are regarded as representatives of most of the countries from I which delegates have been sent to the I International Congresses. The Bureau I members are elected at these CongresI ses. At the last Congress, which was i held at Amsterdam, Messrs H. M. I Hyndman and Keir Hardie, the leader of the Labor Party m the British House of Commons, were elected to the Bureau as the representatives of Great Britain. These facts throw some light on the following cablegrams from London, which have recently been published m the Australasian daily press :— LONDON, Friday Afternoon.— The "Olarion " upbraids Mr. Keir Hardie for his antimilitarism, and favors the formation of a citizen army. LONDON, Saturday Afternoon. —-While the "Clarion " warmly applauds Mr. Keir Hardies action m nailing his socialist colors to the mast, it denounces his attacks upon the universal military training scheme proposed by Mr. R. B. "Haldane (Secretary of State for War). . i ". A strong, citizen arftiyw6ulct,"'tH^ " Clarion "remarks,' "be able to shoot only m defence against ambitious and tyrannous Czars and Kaisers." " The Times " commends the Australian | Labor leader's patriotic views m a similar direction on the question of defence. **• ' ' Whether the "Clarion" is rights m upbraiding and denouncing Keir Hardie for the views expressed by him on miluar;,- matters remains to be seen ; the views of some of the contributors to the "Clarion" with regard to military matters are not always either wise or just. For instance, during the South African War, Robert Blatchford, the editor of the "Clarion," favored the war agains/fc the Boers. The fact that the new scheme of national defe2:ce which has been denounced by Mr Hardie is put forward by such a man as Mr R. B. Haldane, the British Secretary of State for War, is, itself, a sufficiently good reason to regard it with suspicion, for a Rosebery Imperialist like Haldane is unlikely to propose anything that would commend itself to the Social Demdcracy, or to the : thorough-going Radical Democrats of Great Britain.. Nevertheless, it is possible that Keir Hardie takes up a position of a&ti-militarism such as is adopted by some of the French Socialists, who would make a beginning by disarming, and disbanding, the French Army.. Such a course of action would, of course, be suicidal ; it would place the disarmed nation at the mercy of those that are armed. International disarmament can only be brought about by International agreement. - ♦ • « Pending the day when the triumph of Social Democracy may lead to all the leading nations of the world laying down their arms, the world can best be served by the adoption of a system, like that of Switzerland, under which every soldier is a citizen and every citizen a soldier. This is not "an insidious form of conscription," for no man is taken away from his vocation, and the fact that every citizen •is a soldier prevents him from being at the mercy of a military caste, which forms a standing army, having at its mercy the majority of the citizens. Mr J. C. Watson, the leader of the Australian Labor Party, has, together with some other prominent members of the Labor Party, declared himself m favor of a scheme similar to the Swiss system. In Australia and New Zealand, the enrolment of all the able-bodied men' m a citizen army is necessary for purposes of national defence ; and, m Europe, a true citizen army would certainly, as the "Clarion" says, form a useful means of defence "against ambitious and tyrannous Czars and Kaisers." Another Social Democratic organ, "Justice," is also m favor of a national citizen force, and the editor of "Justice, "is also m favor of the Swiss system. • * « It is probable that the organisation of the armies of the world as citizen forces will precede Renewal disarmaiment, but all men who wish well to 'their kind cannot avoid wishing that

the day of general disarmament will come soon. Probably the first move made m the direction of clipping the claws of the military monster will be a demand by the people, who will also constitute the army, that there shall be no additional military expenditure, and that there shall be no more wars of aggression. The political triumph of Christianity ought, long ago, to have made wars among Christian peoples impossible ; but, as it has failed to do this, the world •now looks to the Socialists. If tiles? can, by the International organisation, and their growing Parliamentary strength m every country, make another European war impossible, the world will o Socialism a debt of gratitude 1L t will he impossible ever properly to pay.