Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1905-12-15
Is England Prepared for War?


Is England Prepared for War?
At the present moment, when. &C.
| cording to the revelations made by the
former French minister of foreign af.
fairs, we were a few weeks ago on
the verge of a war against Germany,
the questions force themselves upon
us: Are we prepared for war as a
nation, as an empire? Do we make
the most of our potential strength i?
And is the manhood of the country pre-.
pared and ready to come forward as
did the Japanese, discarding all pri-
vate and selfish interests, to fight for
the existence and independence of
the nation?
The vital question for the nation is:
Have We an army? That is to say. an
army which can in any sense be meas.
nred by the standard of the armies of
other great powers.
In reply to these questions Lord
Roberts recently said: 81 am satisfied
that unless some system of obligatory
physical training and instruction in
rife shooting be enforced in all schools
and colleges and among the youth of
the country generally, up to the age
OF IS years, we shall be compelled
TO resort to CONSUMPTION in some form
or other. For in no other way would
1t be possible for the very large re.
serve of men required in the event of
serious war to be provided-sO far
trained as to warrant their taking
their places in the ranks against a
civilized enemy"
Lord Roberts words can only be in
terpreted to mean that we are abso.
lutely unprepared, and parliament will
do nothing until it receives what it
is pleased to call the mandate of the
people. The first step must be taken
by the people themselves when they
have relied the danger run by a great
and rich unarmed nation, surrounded
by jealous and we'll armed rivals.
| do not propose CONSUMPTION, and
certainly not cOnscription as the word
is understood on the continent of Eu.
rope, but l do propose that our nation
al education laws should be so franz
Ell that every able bodied youth should
be taught that which will enable him
tC defend his country, as being at
least of as much consequence to the
nation as teaching MIN reading, writ
ing and arithmetic.
Perhaps we are a commercial ma.
ton, but what says history about the
fate of all the great commercial ma.
lions which had graually lost their war
like qualities and were content to let
others fight for them, instead of being
ready and prepared to fight with the
best manhood of the nation and the
weapons of the day?
| They all went down. And are we
so vain as to imagine we can reverse
ali history in our own special case and
continue to enjoy our riches and our
vast possessions without being ready
to fight for them?
If the women of England could only
be made to see and realize the abso
/ lutte necessity which mas now arisen
/ for universal national training, they
would very soon teach the men theil
business, and they can do it without
being endowed with the franchise.
They have a franchise of their own
wnich they can use very effectively
All that is wanted is the will-the will
to see that their sons prepare them
selves to play mans part, without
skulking or Sinking, or any excuse ex
cept mental or physical inability, rich
and poor alike. In fact, the rich, ever
more than the poor, for there might
be some reason for letting off the
only son of a widow, her sole support
but there must be no buying off.
The son of the millionaire must be
taught to defend his country in his
proper person just as much as the sor
of the day laborer.
AS matter of fact, l do not believe
that there would be any very exten
sive attempts at Sinking if compul
sorry military training were added as &
sequel to our present education laws
The very disgrace, the social obloquy
if the women choose to make it sol
of trying to shirk a mans duty would
surely prevent it in ninety-nine cases
out of hundred.
Our young men can not be so very
differently constituted from the young
men of other nations, who think it ne
disgrace, but rather an honor to play
a mans part.-Admiral c. c. Penrose
Fitzgerald.
Doctors Could Not Help Her.
Il had kidney trouble for years,
writes Mrs. Raymond Conner, of Shell