Article April 20, 1899 Issue

Militarism and Democracy

At the third annual meeting of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, of Philadelphia, the Hon. Carl Schurz delivered an address on the subject, "Militarism and Democracy." He said, in part:—

There has of late been much talk about the necessity of enlarging the field of our foreign commerce, and of large armaments, and even of the acquisition of foreign territory, to sustain our commercial interests in foreign quarters. But while that talk was going on, our commerce was very extensively enlarging its foreign fields without big fleets and without colonies, by its own peaceful action. We simply produced, in our factories, as well as on our farms, more things that other nations wanted, and could offer them at prices with which other nations could not compete.

This golden key of industrial progress and peaceful commercial methods opened to our trade many doors which seemed to be closed against it by all sorts of artificial obstructions; and this peaceful expansion of our foreign commerce went steadily on while other nations that had an overabundance of battalions, batteries, and warships, vainly struggled to keep pace with it. These are facts, undenied and undeniable.

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