The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900, 1895-12-15

athletes from other countries we
bring forward trained athletes; other
wise we would be defeated.
Shall we expect them to meet foreign
trained armies with amateur armies!
The arbitrationist will cay Run" the
political hermaphrodite will scream
"Jingol" the enthusiastic great self
satisfied will cry (and God bless him!)
sour militia can whip anything~
They are all Of them wrong again.
When the amateur armies of the north
and the south met, neither side had
| the advantage as far as military train
ing was concerned. But, if we are sud-
| denly called to face trained armies, it
will be another matter. Do the people
| of America know what trained armies
are? Few of US have ever seen our
troops, scattered in poor little garri-
sons over the face of the continent.
What they do, they do WE'LL but they
are only drop in the bucket Now,
what can the national guard do against
trained troops? For it is to the guard
we must look for defense. Can it
march rapidly from dawn to dusk?
Can it stand sun and heat and rain
and snow? Can it tramp day after day
over icy roads or sun-baked plains,
carrying its own equipments? Has it
! ever maneuvered in brigades, divisions,
army corps? Does it know what hun
ger and thirst is, day in and day out,
and is it physically capable of stand
ing single whole days march under
the most favorable circumstances and
conditions? Has it repeating rifles?
Has it shoes that could withstand
weeks campaigning? Has it horses,
froinc honuonn onninmnnfS HQa if
even proper uniforms for winter, for
summer; overcoats that keep out cold
and rain; fatigue caps that shelter the
eyes from sun or sleet; helmets for hot
weather. that protect the neck?
Trained soldiers have.
Is there a colonel of the National
Guard who would undertake to march
his command from New York to Albany
today? If so, will he please state what
condition his men would be in after
such q march? Can our guard smen
dive into q river and swim across in
their uniforms and equipments? Can
they eat army rations? Can ther wear
army shoes, if they had them?
Brave troops, gallant otticers-they
would face their fate very calamity, no
doubt, and die as enthusiastically as
any writer of fiction could conceive.
And what then? Why, an open field
for the enemy, unprotected cities, rich
plumber everywhere, and only mass
of volunteer citizens or veteran corps
here and there to oppose them.
In our proposed seacoast forts where
are we to find the men for gun and tor
pedo? How are you going to "annihi
late" the fleet in the ocean outside of
Sandy Hook?
National Guard cavalry and infantry
can't do it. Are we nation of geni-
uses, who can learn trade or profess
sion in a month or two?
Either the regular army must be
adequate, or we must all be willing to
give year or two to learn how to pro-
tect ourselves and our property. And
why not? In our schools and colleges
we learn how to think; in our trade
schools and in our professional schools
attached to universities we learn how
to take care of ourselves; in a year or
two practical course in military
science would teach US how to protect
our homes and our nation, intelligent
ly. Brute force and patriotic enthusi-
asm won't stand before Maxim guns
and people who know how to use them.
Ii we can give q certain number of
years to our public school education,
why can we not give year or two to
educating ourselves for the common
welfare which is also the welfare of
every individual.
Suppose every young man should
serve for a year or for two years with
the colors.
Suppose every young woman should
serve certain time in practical hos
pitsl work or at nursing.
The exceptions would be, Of course:
First, any person physically or men
tally incapable; second, any person
who was the whole support of family
or parents.
Young men who intended to become
blacksmiths could enter the farrier's
shop; those who preferred railroading,
civil engineering, tailoring, instru-
mental music, clerkship, bookkeeping,
could all be accommodated in the
ranks and ali could learn something
there.
What they would gain would be in
moral, physical and mental health.
We would be race of athletes, proud,
self-reliant, intelligent, courteous, re-
gardful of the rights of others, with
manly respect for law and authority.
We would be temperate, hardy, con-
siderate; we would understand and ap-
preciate the country which we were
called upon to guard. Few profess
sional politicians come from the ranks
of soldiers, fewer heelers. | do not
say that it would abolish Lauterbsch,
Plat, Croker, PETER, Altgeld, Tam
many Hall, sweatshops, lynching and
the Sunset Cox statue, but it might
be the means of limiting these phe-
nomena until they became unique Gu
riosities.
There is one kind of millennium
that will never come. The other kind
might come; ard, gentlemen of the
United States, the advent is in your
hands.
AN OLD MAIDS EPITAPH