Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-03-28
The following appeared last week in

tuG DIuDhlNu CtttsCHs
To the Editor: The letter against Mill
tary instruction in the schools, published
in Saturdays Citizen, brings to mind
Josh Billings saying: at is better not
to know so many things than TO know
so many things that are not So" am
glad, however, that il has appeared, as
1t affords me an opportunity Of stating
to the many readers of the Citizen why
military instruction in the public schools
should be approved. am
not, as your correspondent seems TO
think, acting in this matter individually,
although | would be glad to do so.
Neither do ! represent the National
Guard, except by having its good will.
The Grand Army of the Republic, act
ing officially through its delegates attne
last National Encampment, has for
mally approved of the previous action Of
Lafayette Post and of the New York
State Encampment in recommending the
introduction of military instruction in
the schools, and has charged its com
lnander.in-chief with the duty OF pro-
noting it throughput the United States.
In pursuance of this authority, Com
mander-in-C Lawlor has organized
a special staff in relation to this subject,
and has placed it under my direction.
The appointment is an honor which
would not feel at liberty to decline ii
| felt so disposed. II is also one which
my experience and Judgment leads me
to think is of great national Importance.
The phenomenal success which the
movement has already attained shows
that the public SO regard it. In every
State special staff officer of the G, A.
X. is in charge of it. The posts are press
ing it, the Press is advocating it, and the
educational authorities, with occasional
rare exceptions, favor it. The Woman's
Convention, the Quakers, the Single
Takers, and few ethical teachers, with
a sporadic "crank," are all that opposes
it, and they amount to little III practical
life. In New York City alone it has
within the last three months been intro
duced into nearly 40 public schools by
the voluntary act Of their principals,
VIII promise to parade 1000 uniformed
and well-drilled boys on Memorial Day,
and every principal who has adopted ii
speaks of il in the highest terms as benc-
fetal to the boys and to his school. In
seeking to introduce this system, the q.
A. II. is wholly unsellish. Its members
|
citizens of republic should have the
rudiments of military training, and moi
wait to learn it in actual warfare. They
feel that their own days of soldering
have passed, and that it is II patriotic
duty to do what they can to ensure that
the youth of the country who will soon
take their places shall be better pre-
pared than they were 10 serve thcil
country in its time of need.
Practically none of our schools have
any provision for physical training. The
proposed system is not to be confined, az
some think, to the manual of arms anC
matching, but starts by giving the boyi
thorough "setting-up" drill, which
will make them erect, well-developed
active and alert 1t teaches them ex
treme neatness in person and clothing
attention and prompt obedience, both t.
their teachers and to their officers, on
of the New York principals said at til,
last meeting of the advisory committee
"In my school the sons of banker,
, lawyer and a truckman stand togethe
, il the ranks, and obey without question
the orders of the son of bricklayer
, and it is equally good for all of them.
The boys are taught that to be goot
soldiers they must be gentlemen, couftc
Gus and respectful; that they must b
/ brave, honorable and manly; that the
: must protect the weak, scorn to do
Y mean thingS and, above all, that the
/ must be truthful; that a liar is coward
Ii this succeeds, or even helps towar
making the school boys of Brookly
| straight, graceful, alert, kind, honorabl
> and truthful, their fathers and mother
o will rejoice, rather than complain. Tn
q only reasonable objection that has bee
!; made is the expense of the uniform, an
: the feeliL : that, although the drill wa
& entirely voluntary, the uniform Que!
J. ton might tend to draw line betwee
# the poor and the prosperous. ExperienC
v has proved that this is not the draw ac
IS it was feared it would be. The cost
I a uniform is no more than an ordinar
: suit, often less. and the boys take
" much better care of it that il is chcape
A cheap uniform also does away vii
the distinction in clothing which no
OF exists between poor boys and those wi
m are well.to-do, and which the former fe
,a keenly. In the schools upon the Ea
A. Side in New York City, which are a
= tended by a much poorer class than al
it, who attend the Brooklyn schools (e
Of cept, perhaps, in Brownsvillc), the nur
" Der of boys who have uniformed theI
ol selves is fully as great, and the interc
IN the matter is greater than In the u
town schools, where the boys con
a from the prosperous classes.
ty 1t is not expected that any Of the
lis boys will enter the army. IL is pro
", able that number of them will, WHIT
"a, they become 10, join tine Nation
bo Guard. The great majority will
az neither, but will take up the same ay
ire cations as boys do now who leave scho,
But, unlike the boys Of the past, tn
will be thoroughly grounded in DIR
and accustomed to discipline, and IL
'ai acquired while young they will new
iFt forget. They will also be Impress
,ve with spirit Of patriotism, Of loyalty
~ the flag as the representative of ~
od Republic one and indivisible with Ii
& erty and justice To all" to which tn
ir- will, as part of their drill, daily pled
their allegiance. Can there be a,
doubt that this will be good thing f
ts the community?
,er Our regular army consists of %, 0
Ms, men. The National Guard OF all 1
.iy States numbers but lIT,00O. Yet
Ar would take 1000 men in case of war
or garrison the existing forts around Ne
"a; York alone, and $4,000 when they a
"N completed. Eighty-tiye thousand M
are required to man ali the fcrts of /
las seaboard, although it is conceded III
'or they are behind the age. Ii war shou
break out, where are we going to {
es:: these men, not to mention the otbe
,ol who will be required to protect o
III shores and prevent Washington fro
n being burned by an invading force,
me was done by $500 British in 1si