Great War Syndicate

by Frank Richard Stockton

and theUnited States in ratifying the peace made through the Syndicate, and inconcluding a military and naval alliance, the basis of which should bethe use by these two nations, and by no other nations, of theinstantaneous motor. The treaty was made and adopted with much moredespatch than generally accompanies such agreements between nations,for both Governments felt the importance of placing themselves, withoutdelay, in that position from which, by means of their united control ofparamount methods of warfare, they might become the arbiters of peace.

  The desire to evolve that power which should render opposition uselesshad long led men from one warlike invention to another. Every one whohad constructed a new kind of gun, a new kind of armour, or a newexplosive, thought that he had solved the problem, or was on his way todo so. The inventor of the instantaneous motor had done it.

  The treaty provided that all subjects concerning hostilities betweeneither or both of the contracting powers and other nations should bereferred to a Joint High Commission, appointed by the two powers; andif war should be considered necessary, it should be prosecuted andconducted by the Anglo-American War Syndicate, within limitationsprescribed by the High Commission.

  The contract made with the new Syndicate was of the most stringentorder, and contained every provision that ingenuity or foresight of mancould invent or suggest to make it impossible for the Syndicate totransfer to any other nation the use of the instantaneous motor.

  Throughout all classes in sympathy with the Administrative parties ofGreat Britain and the United States there was a feeling of jubilantelation on account of the alliance and the adoption by the two nationsof the means of prohibitive warfare. This public sentiment acted evenupon the opposition; and the majority of army and navy officers in thetwo countries felt bound to admit that the arts of war in which theyhad been educated were things of the past. Of course there weremembers of the army and navy in both countries who deprecated the newstate of things. But there were also men, still living, who deprecatedthe abolition of the old wooden seventy-four gun ship.

  A British artillery officer conversing with a member of the AmericanSyndicate at a London club, said to him:--

  "Do you know that you made a great mistake in the beginning of youroperations with the motor-guns? If you had contrived an attachment tothe motor which should have made an infernal thunder-clap and a stormof smoke at the moment of discharge it would have saved you a lot ofmoney and time and trouble. The work of the motor on the Canadiancoast was terrible enough, but people could see no connection betweenthat and the guns on your vessels. If you could have sooner shown thatconnection you might have saved yourselves the trouble of crossing theAtlantic. And, to prove this, one of the most satisfactory pointsconnected with your work on the Welsh coast was the jet of smoke whichcame from the repeller every time she discharged a motor. If it hadnot been for those jets, I believe there would be people now in theopposition who would swear that Caerdaff had been mined, and that theMinistry were a party to it."

  "Your point is well taken," said the American, "and should it ever benecessary to discharge any more bombs,--which I hope it may not be,--weshall take care to show a visible and audible connection between causeand effect."

  "The devil take it, sir!" cried an old captain of an Englishship-of-the-line, who was sitting near by. "What you are talking aboutis not war! We might as well send out a Codfish Trust to settlenational disputes. In the next sea-fight we'll save ourselves thetrouble of gnawing and crunching at the sterns of the enemy. We'llsimply send a note aboard requesting the foreigner to be so good as tosend us his rudder by bearer, which, if properly marked and numbered,will be returned to him on the conclusion of peace. This would do justas well as twisting it off, and save expense. No, sir, I will not joinyou in a julep! _I_ have made no alliance over new-fangled inventions!Waiter, fetch me some rum and hot water!"

  In the midst of the profound satisfaction with which the members of theAmerican War Syndicate regarded the success of their labours,--laboursalike profitable to themselves and to the recently contendingnations,--and in the gratified pride with which they received thepopular and official congratulations which were showered upon them,there was but one little cloud, one regret.

  In the course of the great Syndicate War a life had been lost. ThomasHutchins, while assisting in the loading of coal on one of therepellers, was accidentally killed by the falling of a derrick.

  The Syndicate gave a generous sum to the family of the unfortunate man,and throughout the United States the occurrence occasioned a deepfeeling of sympathetic regret. A popular subscription was started tobuild a monument to the memory of Hutchins, and contributions came, notonly from all parts of the United States, but from many persons inGreat Britain who wished to assist in the erection of this tribute tothe man who had fallen in the contest which had been of as much benefitto their country as to his own.

  Some weeks after the conclusion of the treaty, a public question wasraised, which at first threatened to annoy the American Government; butit proved to be of little moment. An anti-Administration paper inPeakville, Arkansas, asserted that in the whole of the published treatythere was not one word in regard to the fisheries question, thecomplications arising from which had been the cause of the war. Otherpapers took up the matter, and the Government then discovered that indrawing up the treaty the fisheries business had been entirelyoverlooked. There was a good deal of surprise in official circles whenthis discovery was announced; but as it was considered that thefisheries question was one which would take care of itself, or bereadily disposed of in connection with a number of other minor pointswhich remained to be settled between the two countries, it was decidedto take no notice of the implied charge of neglect, and to let thematter drop. And as the opposition party took no real interest in thequestion, but little more was said about it.

  Both countries were too well satisfied with the general result to wastetime or discussion over small matters. Great Britain had lost someforts and some ships; but these would have been comparatively uselessin the new system of warfare. On the other hand, she had gained, notonly the incalculable advantage of the alliance, but a magnificent andunsurpassed landlocked basin on the coast of Wales.

  The United States had been obliged to pay an immense sum on account ofthe contract with the War Syndicate, but this was considered money sowell spent, and so much less than an ordinary war would have cost, thatonly the most violent anti-Administration journals ever alluded to it.

  Reduction of military and naval forces, and gradual disarmament, wasnow the policy of the allied nations. Such forces and such vessels asmight be demanded for the future operations of the War Syndicate wereretained. A few field batteries of motor-guns were all that would beneeded on land, and a comparatively small number of armoured shipswould suffice to carry the motor-guns that would be required at sea.

  Now there would be no more mere exhibitions of the powers of theinstantaneous motor-bomb. Hereafter, if battles must be fought, theywould be battles of annihilation.

  This is the history of the Great Syndicate War. Whether or not theAnglo-American Syndicate was ever called upon to make war, it is not tobe stated here. But certain it is that after the formation of thisSyndicate all the nations of the world began to teach English in theirschools, and the Spirit of Civilization raised her head with aconfident smile.