The effect of such continuous commotion has been most disastrous to
the country and the people at large. This is all the more saddening
when it is considered that, less than ten per cent of the people took
part in the disturbances. Revolutions, successful and unsuccessful,
have been fought to a finish with less than a thousand men on either
side. Ninety per cent of the population are law-abiding citizens who
would like nothing better than to be let alone and permitted to pursue
their vocations in peace. The other ten per cent were not entirely to
blame: they have been the victims of their environment.
Not only have the revolutionary disturbances caused enormous indirect
loss to the country through paralyzation of agriculture, arrest of
development and loss of credit, but they have also been a large direct
expense. A considerable portion of every budget was devoted to
appropriations for the purchase of war material and the maintenance of
the military and naval establishment. When uprisings occurred the
additional amounts necessary for their suppression have been taken
from other appropriations, those for public works usually being the
first to be cancelled.
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