Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-08-26
nLlrERAcY AND SOLDIERS


NIITERACY AND SOLDIERS
question - to whether Educati tion
Makes Fighter.
Military men, and especially military
men Of . higher rank than common
soldiers and subalterns. do not agree
very much better on disputed points
than doctors or lawyers One point
If serious difference between soldiers
arises over the question whether. as q
.ule. well-educated soldiers make bet
:cr fighters than those who are either
lliterate or have only the rudiments
,f education. Recently some official
figures have been published by the
War Department In st. Petersburg
showing that more than IS per cent. of
the Russian cOnscripts are illitera te.
Out Of $4,000 men drafted into the
army each year 100000 are unable to
read or write. On entering the army
they are taught to do both. Hence the
Russian War Minister claims for the
csnscriptive system the credit Of beinS
an adjunct to rudimentary public In,
Itructi0n.
Russia has always ranked lowest
| among the countries Of Europe In re-
,pect to the education Of It's soldiers.
and In the same category with Russia.
though a little above 1t. are the Danu-
bian States. Servia and ROumania.
Above Russia. but below the other Eu-
rspean countries In which educational
advantages are most generally diff
fused. are Italy, Hungary, Portugal.
Spain, and Greece, forming. so to speak,
an intermediate group. or the Italian
:onscripts Of 1866. before the Vene-
tian provinces secured their independ-
ence or before the unification Of Italy
was established, only 80 per cent. were
able to read, and the standard Of edu-
cation was lower ut that time anon:
the soldiers than among the general
populati tion Of Italy, for 40 per cent. Of
the men who married were able at that
time to sign the marriage register.
In 1871, the year following the estab-
ilshment Of Rome as the political cap
ital Of Italy, the number Of conscripts
able to read had risen to 43 per cent.
In 1881 1t was 50 per cent, In 1887
It was IS per cent. and in 1895 90 per
cent. the present average. In Hungary
the ratio Of conscripts able to read and
write Is the same AS in Italy. 80 per
cent. but 1t varies very much through
out the Austrian Empire. being 20 per
cent In Poland. So per cent. In Tyrol.
S per cent. In Bohemia, and 80 per
cent. In Austria proper. In Spain II
Is So per cent; In Greece 1t Is IS.
Above these figures Of percentages
come those European countries where,
as 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.-must be
able to read and write. In Germany
the percentage Is nearly as high. 90
per cent. In Switzerland 1t fs 80. and
In Holland, France. England. and Scot.
land it Is 30. In Belgium 1t Is IS.
Some military authorities declare
that soldiers familiar with reading and
writing and inspired by the ambition
which comes from education. make
alert and ambitious soldiers. and can
be depended upon for taking the ini-
tiative where illiterate soldiers would
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 observa-
tons of Generals In modern warfare
prove the contrary Of this proposition.
The first duty Of soldier, 1t is a
proposition. is to COM
ply with the regulations and conform
to the discipline Of the service-in
other words, to obey orders. Literary
or even a rudimental
Of the requirements Of edu-
ca ton do not help a soldier In firing
q 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
battle- field or In trenches. physical
strength and a willingness to obey I'M
plicitly the orders of commanders are
much more important than general
1t ia certainly a fact that scandina-
Wan soldiers, with whom the standard
Of education Is now highest, have not
in modern times, shown any superior
In fact they have kept out
of war as much as possible, except
during the Danish -Prussian war of
1854, in which certainly the Danes did
not conscpicuously distinguish them.
selves as formidable adversaries to the
better trained, II not better educated.
Germans.