People's voice. [volume] (Wellington, Sumner County, Kansas) 1890-1917, 1894-11-15


ished traditions of the republic. Not
satisfied with teaching the manual of |
arms in colleges, which should be ded-
icated to peace and true civilization,
the high schools have come under the
curse of this bunting, soul-shrivelling
influence of war, and so cunningly has
this spirit of savagery been fostered |
that the lower schools are now threat
ened with its infection. We are told
that the administration looks with /
favor on charging the scope of mill
tary instructions; and ex-President |
Harrison, not to be outdone, allows |
the admonitions of his acknowledged
Lord and Master to be forgotten in his |
desire to win the favor of capitalism |
and the Grand Army, by exclaiming, |
1T is good for the boys, good for the
schools, and good for the country"
On the 18th of May there passed I'M
der my Office windows sight which |
saddened me for many days. 1t was
the spectacle of more than l 200 lads,
OF from II to 10 years of age, parading
in full uniform, all bearing guns.
They were headed by band which
discoursed popular military airs. The
little street gamins looked enviously
upon the boys clad in blue, with brass
buttons, bearing standards and march
ing to military music. l do not see
how any Thoughtful person could have
looked upon the spectacle without
feeling that the hands on the dial of
civilization were being put back.
To the lover of peace, to the truly
civilized man and woman, to the high
minded patriot, such spectacles are
saddening beyond expression, they re-
veal the fact that, after our country
had reached the point where she had
by arbitration shown the other great
powers of the world a nobler way of
settling disputes than by awakening
the instincts of the savage in man, and
just at the proud moment when it
seemed that the flower of enduring
peace was about to blossom upon the
breast of the great republic, we find
the cry going forth, to transform her
from the worlds harbinger of peace
into military camp; and that this
may be effectively done, we find that
our boys in the common schools are
being trained in the savage art of war.
Every careful student of human life
knows that the ideals and thoughts
which fill the horizon of childhood
color all after life. If during the
formative period the ideals which fill
the childS mind be essentially noble
and humane, if he be taught that his
mission is to help subdue the savage
in man, to transform swords into
plowshares and spears into pruning
hooks, or in other words, to become a
savior of life and a dispenser of hap
pineSs instead of a slayer of his brother
and an angel of darkness, he will grow
to manhood brave but gentle, manly
but loving. He will love justice more
than gold; he will see that the man
who develops the highest side of his
life is the child of wisdom, and that
wherever he may go the flowers of JOY
will spring up, blossom and fling
abroad their exhilarating perfume
On the other hand, the child who is
drilled in the manual of arms has con-
stantly before him the hour when he
may draw the trigger which means
death to fellowman; he comes to love
the sound of the drum beat, and learns
to long for chance to shoulder the
murderous gun. He turns to the lives
OF Alexander, Cesar and Napoleon;
dreams of fame through slaughter. of
power through devastation and des-
truction, fill his mind, and by coming
to believe it is legitimate to kill his fell
lowmen when ordered to do so by a
superior officer, the highest and finest
elements in his mind are benumbed.
And l may say here, what most pro-
foundly believe, that there can never
be an approach to civilization so long
as the child's mind receives military
drill, for the associations, ideals. and
dreams which necessarily follow in the
wake of warlike instruction are so at
variance with the ideals which alone
can redeem the world from hate, greed.
and injustice, that until children are
taught to entertain a profound rever-
ence for human life, human rights.
and for justice in its broadest sense.
humanity will not know what true
civilization is.-B. o. Flower in Ma
tional Waterman.