inland waterways detrimental to country—Army Engineers wedded to System of "Pork Barrel," political, piecemeal appropriations—Reason why Army methods of education hamper progress in river improvement—Mississippi River requires comprehensive treatment—Necessity for Source Stream Control on all upper tributaries—Why the Calaveras Reservoir was not built—Blunder in Construction of Stockton Cutoff Canal—War may be uncertain, but necessity for fight against floods and storms is certain—Description of a great Gulf Storm—Comprehensive plan for protecting lower delta of Mississippi River by great Dikes like those in Holland Safety from floods guaranteed by construction of Atchafalaya Controlled Outlet, Wasteway, and Auxiliary flood water channels.

CHAPTER XII

Benefits From the National Homecroft Reserve System 335

OUR NATIONAL DEFENSE

THE PATRIOTISM OF PEACE

CHAPTER I

Shall there be an end of war, and of all danger or possibility of war in the future, not only in this, but in all other countries, and shall we have universal peace on earth through all the coming centuries?

That is the most momentous question that has ever confronted any nation in the history of the world. The United States of America stands face to face with it to-day, and can answer the question in the affirmative, if the people of this country so determine.

On their decision depends, not only the safety and perpetuity of this nation, and the welfare of our own people, but the welfare of all the other nations and peoples of the earth as well, through all future time.

The question will have been answered in the affirmative whenever the plan proposed in this book shall have been adopted by the people of the United States.

Its adoption will strengthen every plan that can be devised to prevent war.

It will vitalize the influence of this nation in behalf of peace.

It will make the nation impregnable in case of war, if, notwithstanding all efforts to prevent it, war should come.

In the great crisis through which civilization is now passing, the United States alone has the opportunity and the power to emancipate humanity from militarism, and prevent it from ever again being drawn into the maelstrom of war. Unless that is done, liberty, the world over, will be slowly submerged by the subtle and insidious growth of military power in the affairs of government, and our present civilization will ultimately go the way of all the civilizations of the past.

If, on the other hand, this country rises to the opportunity, and provides a system of national defense which will not only safeguard the nation against foreign invasion or internal conflict, but will also at the same time promote human advancement, insure all the blessings of peace to the people, and check the growth of militarism, we will establish a civilization that will endure as long as the human race can inhabit the earth.

The first thing that must be done to achieve that boon for humanity is to arouse the people of the United States to a realization of the fact that the settlement of this great question cannot be left by anyone to somebody else.

Every man and every woman, the length and breadth of the land, must enlist in a great national campaign of education to get the real facts and all the facts into the minds of the people.

"As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

This is a government, not so much by the people as by the thought of the people.

Right thought must precede right action. Knowledge must go before right thought. The people cannot think right until they know the facts, and they must study and understand and analyze those facts and face them squarely.

That can be brought about only by a nation-wide campaign in which every patriotic citizen must participate. Each must first learn the facts himself and then carry the knowledge to others—drive it home to them and stir them to action.

To every reader of this book let it be said, as a personal message:

When you have read this book, do not lay it down with the thought:

"Yes, that is a good idea. I hope somebody will succeed in getting it done."

Buckle on your own armor and helmet, lift up your own sword and shield, and go right out into your own community and make converts yourself, who are willing not only to think but to act and to do things themselves, to lift the deepening shadow of militarism from this nation, and rescue the world from the barbarism of war.

The souls of the people must be set on fire to fight a great battle for peace and to save the ideals and traditions of our forefathers from being submerged under the rising tide of militarism.

That battle must be fought with voice and pen against ignorance, indifference, and every powerful interest intrenched in selfish opposition to human advancement.

Popular interest must be stirred to its depths to create an irresistible wave of public sentiment that will sweep away all opposition to the necessary expenditures and legislation.

Every man who would be willing to serve his country in time of war must be enlisted to serve it in time of peace, by fighting in advance of war to safeguard against it and ultimately end it forever.

Every woman who wants the menace of war lifted from the lives of the women of the world must show the faith that is in her by putting her whole heart and soul into the work of enlisting her own community in this great movement to do away with war, and to save the women of the future from the inhuman cruelties and heart-breaking agonies that war has brought upon them in the past.

The people of this country must stubbornly stand their ground to check the future advance of militarism in the United States. For years it has been stealthily gaining, while the people at large have paid no heed. Military expenditures have grown larger and larger—they have trebled within a generation—and the people have voiced no vigorous protest. They have been "asleep at the switch."

There must be an end of this