ARTHUR JAMES BALFOUR
States, concerning commerce and slavery, became so acute, from the years 1850 to 1860, that war between the two factions was almost openly discussed. The Government at Washington had no army or navy sufficient to quell a rebellion of the Southern States, and regardless of the heat of the discussions on the question of slavery, both in public and in private, the Government made no attempt to strengthen its arm. The fatal hour struck, and in an instant two imperfectly equipped armies faced each other and fought a disastrous fight for four long years. If the Central Government had been prepared, as it should have been, with an adequate army and navy, the rebellion could have been crushed in its infancy, and lives innumerable and property saved.
Nature and the Designer of nature may consider these long wars that deplete and desolate necessary to a mysterious and preconceived plan of life. I remember Senator Stewart once telling me that he had said in a speech to the Senate that no nation had ever become great until after it had had a great war, and that no senator present had been able to deny it. Be that as it may, the want of preparation prolongs the misery and increases the disasters of war, and who knows how many conflicts might be averted by a preponderating strength in one or in several allied nations?
In 1870 France thought she was prepared, but was not. But her adversary, Germany, was ready, and the struggle was short and comparatively bloodless.
A few months after the first Boer War I was sitting in the Art Club of Philadelphia with Mr. William Addicks, Mr. Harrison Morris, and two or three other men, who were discussing the short and ineffective conflict that had
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