Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1896-09-04
iLLlrERAcY AND SOLDIERS,
Question as to Whether Educatio,
Makes a Fighter.

Military men, and especially military
men Of a higher rank than common
soldiers and subaltcrns, do not agree
very much better on disputed points
than doctors or lawyers. One point
of serious difference between soldiers
arises over the question whether, as a
rule, well-educated soldiers make bet
ter fighters than those who are either
illiterate or have only the rudiments
of education. Recently some official
figures have been published by the
War Department in st. Petersburg
showing that more than 75 per cent. of
the Russian conscripts are illiterate.
Out Of 25O,O0O 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
conscriptive system the credit Of being
an adjunct to rudimentary public in.
etruction.
Russia has always ranked lowest
among the countries of Europe in re-
spect to the education of its soldiers,
and in the same category with Russia,
though little above it, are the Danu-
bian States, Servia and Roumania.
Above Russia, but below the other Eu-
ropean countries in which educational
advantages are most generally diff
fused, are Italy, Hungary, Portugal,
Spain, and Greece, forming, so to speak,
an intermediate group. OF the Italian
conscripts Of 1866, before the Vene-
tian provinces secured their independ-
ence or before the unification of Italy
was established, only SO per cent. were
able to read, and the standard of edu-
cation was lower at that time among
the soldiers than among the general
population 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-
lishment Of Rome as the political cap
ital of Italy, the number of conscripts
able to read had risen to 43 per cent.
In 1881 it was 80 per cent, in 1887
1t was 90 per cent, and in 1895 60 per
cent, the present average. In Hungary
the ratio of conscripts able to read and
write is the same as in Italy, 60 per
cent. but it varies very much through
out the Austrian Empire, being 20 per
cent. in Poland. 55 per cent. in Tyrol,
So per cent. in Bohemia, and 90 per
cent. in Austria proper. In Spain it
is 50 per cent; in Greece it is 50.
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
soldicrs-a full 100 per cent.-must be
able to read and write. In Germany
the percentage is nearly as high, 80
per cent. In Switzerland it is 9S, and
in Holland, France, England, and Scot
land 1t is so. In Belgium it is S5.
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
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 observa-
tiOns Of Generals in modern warfare
prove the contrary of this proposition.
The first duty of a soldier, it is a
well-established proposition, is to COM
ply with the regulations and conform
to the discipline of the service-in
other words, to obey orders. Literary
accomplishments or even a rudimental
knowledge Of the requirements of edu-
cation do not help soldier in firing
gun or aiming at an enemy or per-
forming sentry duty or making 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 willingness to obey i'm
plicitly the orders of commanders are
much more important than general
knowledge.
1t is certainly fact that Scandina-
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 as possible, except
during the Danisl-Prussian war of
1864, in which certainly the Danes did
not conscpicuously distinguish them
selves as formidable adversaries to the
better trained, If not better educated,
Germans.