Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1895-05-23
SWEARING IN RECRUITS.
How II is Done Here and How In Ger-
many.

How IL IL Done Here and How In Ger-
many
"The unostentious manner in which
our national affairs are administered Is
we'll illustrated by the striking con-
trast between the ceremony of swear
ing In recruits in our army and the
same ceremony in Germany" remarked
an officer who is stationed at Fort
Wayne. "lIere the recruit after ex.
pressing his desire to serve Uncle Sam,
is ushercd into the room, n bare, dingy,
rented apartment, which serves as Office
for the enlisting officer of the army,
and then and there is called upon to
repeat after the said officer, the fol-
lowing oath, its solemn import marked
by the cursory upward tendency of the
irrespective right hand: L do sol
EMMY swear that l will bear true
faith and allegiance to the United
States OF America and that will serve
them honestly and faithfully against
all their enemies whomsoevcr; and that
will obey the orders of the president
of the United States, and the orders OF
the officers appointed over me, accord
ing to the rules and articles of war.
SO help me, God" Signature to this
oath makes him, without more ado, a
full-hedged soldier.
slow different Is the following ccre-
mony used in binding Germany's SOL
diers to their kaiser; The young con-
script is conducted to the church of the
parish in which he enlists, where he is
first addressed by the pastor on the sa-
cred character and great import of the
| oath he is about to take; then the flag
of his country and that of his battalion
| being placed on the altar, the embryo
soldier is required to place his left
hand on these flags and raising his
right, to repeat the following oath: Il
swear before God, who is all powerful
| and who knows all, that | will serve
Loyalty and faithfully my very gra-
cious sovereign under all circum-
stances. On land and sea, in peace and
in war, and in all places l swear to
seek only his good and to do every
thing to prevent injury to him. l
swear to observe strictly the articles Of
war which have just been read to me.
swear to obey all orders and to con
duct myself as every courageous,
honest soldier ought to do, delighting
in fulfilling the duties that honor I'M
poses upon me. AS surely as God will
aid me in gaining eternity through
Jesus Christ, amen
us it not q serious question whether
our simplicity in the administration of
sacred oath does not defeat its very
purpose? We, in this free-born Amer
lean republic, are justly proud of our
simple, transformations ways, marked
by want of useless ceremony, and we,
by our example, daily administer re-
buke to the old world for the vanity of
its ways, but let us not carry this feel
ing too far. Human nature here, as
elsewhere, is impressionable, and if an
obligation is rendered more binding by
impressiveness we should not hesitate
to employ its necessary accompani-
ments even to the fuss and feathers
employed by our elders in the sister
hood of nations.
"The average American, IMMERSED in
patriotic lore, woefully ignorant of
patriotic symbols, is constantly ac-
cused of want of devotion to
his country, of too great individual
ism, too little nationalism. Let us
hope that this is not so. that our
patriotism but lies dormant, awaiting
the occasion which will call it into
play and make its existent strength
emphatically evident to the world
In the meantime, let the soldier
swear by his country's beautiful en-
blem; furthermore let the Star and
Stripes be displayed more often and
with more reverence before the people
at large. Nothing will contribute
further to arouse our heterogeneous
population, our too large disorderly
element, the product of sordid, selfish
individualism, TO realization of other
more worthy interests; of duty para
mount to all others, yet so generally
lost sight OF, Ito country that exists
to flag that waves, on this side of the
ocean. Detroit Free Press.