Arizona republican., 1904-09-09
PHOENIX, ARIZONA, SEPT. 9, 1904
Warriors Are Made, not Born.

Because we achieved our independ- ence against Great Britain, because we have conquered numberless Indian tribes. because we fought a bloody war among ourselves we are accustomed to look upon ourselves as one of the war like nations of the earth. There is no doubt of the valor of the American or the Anglo Saxon people, but valor alone in these days of scientific war fare does not mean victory. The fight ing which has been going on in Man churia shows us how little we know Of war. The British learned how little they knew of it when they fought the Boers and they were then as far ad vanced as we are now. We can only contemplate what spectacle we would have presented to the world if we had got into a war with Japan instead of Spain.
 Realizing, in spite of the efforts of peace socities and arbitration tribunals that there will be wars as long a s there are men, England is thinking of pre- pairing for it. Strong and influential advocates are found there for an elab- crate system of military training for the youth Of the empire. It provides that all schools shall be required to make military drill a regular part of their routine, that every borough and county shall form a cadet corps in which all boys shall serve for at least two years, and that every boy between the ages of F and r shall be required to obtain a certificate showing that he has successfully completed a course of military drill. The plan also provides for the issue of arms and ammunition and the supply of competent instruc- tors to such corps by the war office.
 The purpose of all this is obviously to revive the conditions existing when archery was the great popular pastime of the English, when the butts were set on every village green, when every able-bCdied Englishman could shoot straight with the long bow, when the English militiaman was of all soldiers the most expert in, the best missile weapon of the time and was, !n con- sequence, the most effective in battle of all soldiers. If the modern military rifle could be made to the Englishman of today what the bow was to his an- cestOrs Great Britain could easily solve most of the military problems that now vex her.
 Great Britain and the United States have both drifted very far away from the militia idea-the idea that every able-bodied citizen of the state is a sol dier of the state-whicn is one of the essential fundamentals of free govern ment. Both are suffering from the consequences of their folly Both are beginning to see that the only solution of the problem of combining military strength with civil liberty, that every free state must solve or perish, is the militia system that makes every Citi- zen a soldier and every soldier a citi- zen.
 Some such plans as that now advo- cated in England is the first step to- ward the revival of the militia system. The people, as individuals, must be trained to arms. Every citizen must be taught expertness in the use 0f the most effective missile weapon of the time, the modern military rifle. This is perfectly feasible There is no lea- NNr ri ch the English and American people of today what archery was to their com mon ancestors, the bowmen of Agin- court and Greasy.
 Some feeble and tentative efforts have been made in this country to in- troduce military drill in the public schools and other schools of the coun- try. They have aroused a. good deal of silly criticism of the "anti-militarist" type that need not now be considered. The really serious criticism of them is that they ignore the most necessary part of the free citizens military edu- cation. The school battalions, as rule, drill with toy gun, and are taught nothing about the use and care of the rife.
 Instruction in the use of the stand ard military rifle of the United States army should be regarded as an essen tial part of the education of every young American. The country would then have the material for d militia and so could soon have a real militia and be safe against both foreign az gression and domestic "militarism," as it is not now and never has been since the revolution. For a well-regula ted militia is necessary to the security of