It gives one an unpleasant, gruesome feeling to think about it. The substance seems always to have been on the side of war, the shadow only on the side of peace.
That is no reason why the movement for peace should be abandoned, but is it not a reason for completely changing the ideals and methods of the peace movement, and adopting a plan such as is embodied in this book for a constructive peace propaganda, that will strengthen the peace movement, and at the same time solve our most difficult internal social and economic problems and make sure that if war ever does befall us we will be found not unprepared, not unarmed, not unready, not undefended?
If everything were done that the most extreme Militarist advocates, we would still be undefended, and we will remain so until our whole military system is constructed anew, and a real system of national defense organized as outlined in this book.
The Frankenstein of war can be controlled.
But it can only be controlled by organizing a system of national defense against Nature's destroying forces, which can, by touching a button, be instantly transformed, if need be, into a force for national defense against a foreign invasion or to uphold the rights or honor of the nation.
CHAPTER III
The Militarists will never initiate an adequate system for national defense in the United States, because such a system necessitates an organization under civil control in time of peace. It must be an organization that will at all times act as a self-operating and self-perpetuating influence to promote peace and prevent war. It must also automatically and instantly become an impregnable defense against foreign attack or invasion if, in spite of all precautions and efforts to prevent it, war should actually occur at any time in the future.
Whatever we do for national defense should be done primarily to prevent and safeguard against the breaking out of war. Every plan for national defense should, like the plan proposed in this book, be formulated with that end in view. That should be its clearly defined objective. There should be no possibility of any mistake about that. It should be made so plain that there never could be any misunderstanding as to that being the primary purpose of the plan.