The Daily Missoulian

ANNUAL BUNK.

As a rule, it is as easy to predict what will be the tenor of the annual report of the secretary of war as it is to forecast on what day in December Christmas will be celebrated. Each year the administrative Mars of this country calls attention to the fact that, in case of war, it would take the United States from forty to one hundred years to get ready. The direst sorts of things are prophesied, always with the in-case-of-war proviso.

Each year the secretary of war manages to impress congress and the nation at large about as much as did Alexander Dowie years ago when he started out to tip off the future, as the street language puts it. Under present conditions, with the world knowing the strength and resources of this country, there is a very slim chance of there being a war, at least, with any power that could make this country worry. With the diplomatic red tape that must be unwound and with the involved process of avoiding international entanglements, the time needed to start a first-class fracas is about as great as the period the secretary thinks we would need to gird on the sword and loose the dogs of war. As far as the average citizen, the United States has about as much need to be prepared for war as has the Bee colony. War is becoming unpopular; it is with some course, it must be admitted, that the international fashion has