Bridgeton Pioneer

As to That "War Scare."

Perhaps you didn't hear about it, but there was a "war scare" in the United States the other day. Nobody took to the woods, so far as we know, but nevertheless there was a genuine scare in national official circles because Secretary of War Dickinson had prepared a report showing so alarmingly the weakness of our army that President Taft suppressed it, though as a matter of fact it got into a few of the newspapers.

The "suppressed report" and the discussion evoked thereby drew forth a large body of comment from military and naval men.

Naturally a military man, who earns his living by his sword - at rest or in action - wants an increased army establishment. And just as naturally a naval man wants a larger navy. All the navy experts are enthusiastic for the building of battleships, big ones and plenty of them.

They maintain that the most effective means of protecting the United States against foreign invasion is to build a navy powerful enough to scare off any enemy who tries to "board" us, so to speak. On the other hand, the army men want heavy coast defenses and more soldiers.

The discussion should serve to bring about the wisest and safest conditions of national defense possible in the premises, but somehow the whole question as to how big our army should be reminds one of Abraham Lincoln's reply when somebody asked him how long a man's legs ought to be. "Just long enough to reach the ground," said Mr. Lincoln. Our army should be large enough to fit its job.