The Naujienos has already pointed out many times that preparedness for war does not safeguard a country against war, but, on the contrary, increases the danger of war. This same point is made by Ziliu Antanas in the Kova (The Struggle). He writes as follows:

"We know very well that this country [the United States] is ruled not by the people, but by a small group of people--the capitalists. Representatives of the capitalists sit in Congress, and the President is their servant. They spend much money during elections, and their candidates always win. Congress, together with the President, has the right to declare war at any time and against any country. American capital is now very active; industry has expanded to such a great extent that new markets are necessary. The capitalists must have the privilege of free use of the seas to reach all the countries in the world; they must transport their products to other countries under the most favorable conditions that they can secure. And 2as quickly as other countries refuse to grant these privileges to our capitalists, the latter will just as quickly find an opportunity to start a war.

"Who does not know that the large majority of our capitalists want the United States to occupy Mexico? Not infrequently, reports are deliberately circulated to the effect that Mexicans have killed an American named Smith, that Smith was born in Chicago or some other city and is thirty years of age. Who would suspect this to be a lie? Although such a person never existed, a demand is soon made that American lives and property must be protected, that an end must be made to the disorder in Mexico, and that this can be achieved only when Mexico is occupied as a result of war and is annexed to the United States. We can expect this to happen. Or take another example. A few years ago, when the American capitalists decided to wrest the Philippine Islands from Spain, they arranged the sinking of the battleship "Maine," and then declared that Spaniards blew up the ship. This served as a pretext for war.

"If and when our capitalists desire to start a war, they will always engineer a pretext, and then through their newspapers they will arouse the public against the accused country in such a way that the public will believe their story and agree that the alleged aggressor country must be punished. There is no doubt that as soon as the American capitalists feel that this country can lick any other country, and that the American army and navy are strong enough to do so, then their Congress and President would immediately declare war on either Japan, Germany, or any other country. Then the men of America would be forced into the army and compelled to slaughter others and to be slaughtered."

"Military preparedness would not be a danger to the country when the country is ruled by the people," says Mr. Siliu Antanas. He continues: It is a good thing to be prepared to defend our country against any aggressor, but before this is done, the land, industry, etc. must be placed in the hands of the people. It is necessary that no one shall have any interest in bribing the people to vote for this or that candidate for Congress or for 4the Presidency. Under such conditions, we can then prepare for war as much as possible; then and only then will we have a guarantee that we will not become involved in a war unnecessarily."