The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-06-07
THE M1L1rARY SYSTEM.
At univer.lty. of Alabama-com

Dlscussion by Warheld C.. Hlcnarosoh
 of Tuscaloosa
 The University Is face<to face with a grave problem. AS Sir Roger de Beverley would say, much might be said on either side, but that much would diner very widely in quality. Much might be said of the moons superiority to the earth as a place of abode. On one side of it Is eternal summer; on the other eternal winter. |. On one side eternal day; on the other eternal night. There are no pick thanks. no Petigrews there. No goe- sips. no misunderstanding mosquitoes no lynchings. no Butler County outrages, no hazings, no Tobasc0 sauce. No water and of course no tears there. No dying for everything is dead already.
 A college without the military! A college in this age of the world with out the military! A college in a land where even the greatest military in- stitution on the continent is reeling, tottering on the bring of ruin because of characterization! A college without the military-can you conceive of Il? |? Then go write a world-resounding epic, for your imagination transcends that of Homer or of Milton.
 Mir. Pettus. in the last legislature, moved that the trustees be empowered at will to retain or abolish the military. It is not stated. that another member moved the re ntion or abolishment of the literary departments. That menl- Der was out of his seat. Had he been there-had he done so-there had been perhaps a fiery uproer. But which advantageth more? Is 1t a new thing thnt tr. ton, that attention must go before knowledge? Shall callowness and crudity arraign wisdom? Shall ignor- ance prescribe order? Can training or cramming avail without respect for authority? Has the time come when any of the barricades of restraint can be removed? There Is but one Holland dyke between order and the deep sea. Will you unsettle it? If you do, you had as we'll close the doors of the University, and write upon the epistyle no school today.
 Napoleon said that 1t took three months hard drilling to teach the first lesson of soldier-obedience. Obedi- ence is the first lesson in the filial rela" tion, and 1t is the first lesson of a pupil. It Is so eminently essential. that withou tit there can be no train ing. Learning by all means and at any cost, but with it the noble port, the many bearing, the esprit du corps. teh code of honor, the courage, the chival- ry, the grace, the system. the neatness invited, enjoined. compelled by the military.
 As young men coming from home are heterogeneous. raised under dissimilar influences and systems of discipline, 4A Aat Gru Itttx u6 thav qrrfVH flta University should be to discard all previous rules and methods. and be- come unified by accepting the code by which university life is to be govern sd. If they decline to do so. their place is elsewhere. Roys come to Tuscaloosa green boys, red boys. blue boys, rich boys, poor boys, town boys, farm boys. The first thing to be done Is to maGe them all look alike. To this end they are clapped into uniforms. This ex- tinguishes whole mountains or envy and distrust, obliterates social and sr- bitrary distinctions. and shows at starting that all are to be treated alike. They are made to look alike and made to feel alike. This makes them all feel well. This means that there shall be no partiality, no unfair discrimina- tion. The boys all looking alike feel that they are equal. and this at once sets them at ease with each other, and identifies them as one body. It makes each feel that he is as good as his fel low. as good as the best. Being alike. and feeling alike, he takes on self respect, and fraternity being thus em- phasized, they at once make common cause and begin to plan for the gen eral good. So thoroughly do cadets make common cause, that when their fellows lapse, they fall with them. They willingly accept the odium and share the penalty of the guilty. They are no longer isolated, but parts of great whole. This inspires loyalty. insinuates responsibility and gives birth to esprit du corps without which association is futile. The uniform itself means something-it means unity it means comradeship, it means solidarity. It is a badge, mark of distinction, a commission, passport. It promises training, it promises order. it promises obedience to law, 1t promi- ses respect for authority, 1t promises gentlemanlynegs. it promises polite ness.
 The military was originally adopted because all other devices for the main- tenance of order had been exhausted. It was inaugurated by lifelong and eminent teacher. who had tried. and tried in vain, all scholastic methods. It was inaugurated by father who had exhausted every parental method. It was inaugurated by theologian who had exhausted every spiritual ana ethical method. The students con- gregated here were incorrigible. Mothers darlings would not he sub dued. Fathers pets would not be sub taken captive. Even the Trustees plaintive appeal, who had known their fathers in the legislature" would not avail Nothing but an iron-ciad code with gatling gun behind 1t would suffice.
 Forty years have elapsed. The mili- tary has grown hoary with age. It has had a fair trial. Are the argu- ments for its retention less cogent than those for it's adoption? Has 1t played out? Has 1t failed? No one has said SO. Mir. Pettus did not say so: MT. West did not say so; MT. Moore did not say so. but only that they were hampered in its execution. It has not failed at Auburn. 1t has not failed at Starksville. it has not failed at Mar ion. It has not failed at Eastlake. The military has not failed at Tuscaloosa.
 What is the matter with the mii- tary? IUis a check, 1t is a restraint, and it is as natural for young minds to fight restraint as for spark to fly up ward. They do not like restraint. What they do not like must he ex- punged. tabooed. Did they not re- gently signalize their hostility to 1t? Did they not barricade themselves with barhed wire against 1t? Did they not hurl cannon crackers against 1t? Did they not fight 1t with fire. If the