The Penn's Grove record., 1896-08-21
rLIreRAoY ANo soLolsRa
.aestion as to Whether Edae"'o'
' Makes a Fighter.

..on nj. IN Whether lion
Makes a Fighter
Military men, and especially military
alea of a higher rank than comiu'H
soldiers and subalterns, do not aE'se
very much better on disputed po'ns
than doctors or lawyers. one pun
II serious difference between soiule's
,rises over the question whether
.ule. w~ell-educated soldiers make .,
ar lighters than those who are el'"e'
niterate or have only the rudlhlth'S
IF education. Recently some o'n',''
acures have been published by tne
War Department in st. PetersDu'-
showing that more than rs per cent 81
the Russian conscripts are ~iiltern,e'
Out Of 100000 men drafted into Tue
army each year 100000 are unable 10
read or write. On entering the army
they are taught to do both. Hence the
Russian War Minister claims Tor Tue
conservative system the credit OF pens
an adjunct to rudimentary puOllc III
Itruction.
Russia has always ranked lowest
among the countries Of Europe IN re-
,pect to the education Of Its soldiers
and II the same category with hussia'
though a little above II, are the pahn
bian States, Servla and Roumanla'
Above Russia, but below the other E",
,opean countries In which educatlohal
advantages are most generally ar
fused, are Italy. Hungary, Portugal
Spain, and Greece, forming, so 10 speaN'
an intermediate group. Or the ltni'au
conscripts OF 1866, before the Ncne-
tian provinces secured their independ-
ence or before the uniication OF ltaly
was established, only 36 per cent. were
able to read, and the standard of edu-
cation was lower at that time anon
the soldiers than among he general
population Of Italy, for 40 per cent. Oh
the men who married were able at thai
time to sign the marriage register.
In 1871, the year following the estab-
lishment of Rome as the political cap
ltal Of Italy, the number of conscripts
able to read had risen to 43 per cent.
In 1881 1t vas 81 per cent. In 1887
1t was So per cent, and in 1895 80 per
cent, the present average. In Hungary
the ratio of conscrlpts able to read and
write Is the same as in Italy, co per
cent, but 1t varies very much through
out the Austrian Empire, being 20 per
cent. In Poland. SO per cent. in Tyrol,
SO per cent. In Bohemia, and 30 per
cent. In Austria proper. In Spain 1t
L.. XII aank . TN n,an,a - Ia Xxx
Above these figures of percentages
come those European countries where,
in the United States, there is an edu-
cational test for admission to the army.
In Norway, Sweden and Denmark all
soldiers-a full 100 per cent.-nust be
the percentage is nearly as high, 80
per cent, In Switzerland 1t Ia 9S, and
In Holland, France, England, and Scot.
land it is 90. In Belgium 1t Is SO.
Some military authorities declare
that soldiers familiar with reading and
writing and Inspired by the ambition
which m from education, make
alert and ambitious soldiers, and can
be depended upon for taking the ini-
tlative where illlterate soldiers would
not know, or might not know. what
to do. That's what some of the mill
tary authorities say, but there are
others, claiming to speak with similar
authority, who say that the obserya-
tons of Generals In modern warfare
prove the contrary Of this proposition.
The first duty Of a soldier, 1t is a
well-established proposition, is to com
ply with the regulations and conform
to the discipline Of the serVice-!D
other words, to obey orders. Literary
accomplishments or even a rudimental
knowledge of the requirements of edu'
cation do not help a soldier In firing
a gun or aiming at an enemy or per,
forming sentry duty or making a long
march. For officers, perhaps, writing,
and arithmetic may be a very good
thing, but for actual service on the
battlefield or in trenches, physical
strength and a willingness to obey i'm
plicitly the orders of commanders are
much more important than general
knowledge.
1t Ia certainly a ract mat Scandlna-
Wan soldiers, with whom the standard
of education Is now highest, have not,
in modern times, shown any superior
efficiency. In fact, they have kept out
of war as much az possible, except
during the Danish Prussian war of
1854, in which certainly the Danes did
not conscplcuously distinguish them,
selves as formidable adversarles to the
better trained, If not better educated,
Germans.