Page:Scott Nearing - The Germs of War (1916).djvu/21

 It is a commercial proposition with us. They are anxious to buy. We sell. Business is good. What is it to us whether they set the guns we make in trenches or put them up as monuments in the public squares? We made the guns; they bought them. They have what they wanted and we have the cash!

That is the point, exactly. War has become a matter of business. War profits are large profits. So much the better. We will make hay while the sun shines!

But suppose the sun should cease to shine? Suppose the war should stop tomorrow? What would become of the hundreds of millions of capital that have been invested in munitions plants?

There is nothing easier! We must begin now to prepare a market that may be used in just such an emergency. A large navy, and a good-sized standing army will keep a good deal of munitions capital busy, even in peace times.