Our National Defense: The Patriotism of PeaceMaxwell, George Hebard
History
Our National Defense: The Patriotism of Peace
Maxwell, George Hebard
United States -- Defenses
Each Reservist would pay for the use of the Homecroft and for educational
instruction for himself and family, a net annual rental of $120, being
twelve per cent on the fixed capitalized value of $1000 placed on each
Homecroft. Of that rental of twelve per cent, four per cent would be
apportioned to interest, and two per cent to create a sinking fund that
would cover the entire principal in fifty years. The remaining six per cent
would cover expenses of operation and maintenance, instruction, and all
other expenses connected with the Homecroft Reserve Establishment,
including military expenditures. The government would be under no expense
whatsoever for the maintenance of this Homecroft Reserve Establishment that
would have to be borne out of the general revenues, not even for field
maneuvers. There would be no expenses of railway transportation to those
maneuvers. Every regiment would march to and from its annual encampment.
One hundred and twenty dollars a year would be the revenue to the
government from one Homecroft. After that it becomes merely a question of
multiplying units. The revenue from 5,000,000 Homecrofts would be
$600,000,000 a year. As fast as the capital was needed for investment in
the creation and establishment of Homecroft Reserve Rural Settlements, it
could be easily secured by the government. A plan that would insure this
would be the adoption of a financial system to cover this branch of the
operations of the Government which would be modeled after the French Rentes
System. Instead of Government Bonds, as they are now called, Government
Homecroft Certificates would be issued, bearing four per cent interest, in
denominations of twenty-five dollars. The interest on each certificate
would be one dollar a year. If such certificates were available, the purse
strings of the people would be opened to take them as readily as those of
the French people were opened to take the securities issued by the French
Government to pay the war debt of a billion dollars to Germany after the
Franco-Prussian War.
$500,000,000 a year of these certificates could be issued every year for
ten years. That would complete the work of creating the entire Homecroft
Reserve Establishment and provide the capital of $5,000,000,000 necessary
for investment therein.
Starting from that point, in fifty years thereafter the entire investment
of $5,000,000,000 would have been repaid with all current interest, and the
government would own the 5,000,000 Homecrofts free and clear of all
indebtedness or financial obligations relating thereto.
Now put the two propositions side by side and look at them.
An increase of 100,000 men in the Standing Army would mean in fifty years:
1. An expense of $5,000,000,000 for maintenance.
2. An economic waste of another $5,000,000,000, being the potential labor
value of the 100,000 men who would be withdrawn from industry.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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