Page:Scott Nearing - The Germs of War (1916).djvu/22



Those who benefit most immediately and most directly by the war business are the makers of the munitions of war. The munition makers, or, more correctly, the "war makers," depend for their livelihood on fear, hatred, preparedness, slaughter, desolation.

The jackal is a prince, the vulture a gentleman, the hyena a reputable citizen compared with these war traffickers. God made the beasts and birds what they are; the munitions business is a man-made business. The quivering flesh of nations as its food. There is more joy among the makers of munitions over one nation at war than over fifty nations at peace. These scavengers of civilization make hell on earth and then fatten on the profits of their frightful business.

If you want a picture of the work of the munition makers, write to Congressman Clyde H. Tavenner (House of Representatives, Washington), and ask for copies of his two masterful speeches, "The Worldwide War Trust" and "The Navy League Unmasked." In the first of these speeches Congressman Tavenner shows that the munitions makers have received hugh profits from the United States Government. Shrapnel that were manufactured in the Government Arsenal for $7.94 were sold to Uncle Sam by the munition makers for $17.50; time fuses were made for $2.92 and bought from the munition makers for $7.00; armor plate, torpedo flasks, rotary drums—all sold to the government for far more than a reasonable profit on the cost of production.

If it is true that we are now unprepared, argues Congressman Tavenner, after spending six hundred millions in the past five years on our navy; if we are unprepared, and spending half a billion each year on our war establishment, there must be some reason. "I believe," he says, "that these officers who, in the expenditure of the