Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 54, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 March 1917 — War Price a Nation Pays for Luxuries That the Modem Civilization Demands [ARTICLE]

War Price a Nation Pays for Luxuries That the Modem Civilization Demands

By REAR ADMIRAL BRADLEY A. FISKE

Former Head Naval War College

Without any foreign trade, the United States would need only a little navy; without a navy, the United States could-not long have any foreign trade. The people of the United States could all live on little farms if they wished, and have no commerce and no navy; but i| they want luxuries and fine clothes, beautiful homes, electric lights, and all the rest, they must have a commerce; -and they must have a navy to protect the commerce from the sea highwaymen. ' It may be that luxuries of all kinds are an evil; lam inclined to believe they are. It may be that the savage of Samoa is happier than the millionaire of New York. I think he is. It may be that all our artificial civilization is a mistake and that we were in a happier state when we lived nearer the simple things of nature; and that is my jfbrsonal belief. But the people of the United States do not wish to live like the Samoan savage; theywant all the luxuries they can get, and the women want them more eagerly than the men do. This firings into effect the fourteenth commandment, that you must pay for-what you get. ■■ j Now the only way thus far found in history of the world to pay for luxuries is tb live in big cities, maintain a complicated social system, lead an artificial existence and prosecute an aggressive foreign commence. - These am just the activities that bring on wars, and* necessitate tl» maintenance of navies. The bottom cause of war is the competitive pursuit of luxury.