The Topeka state journal., 1908-09-14
EROAs702,T.HER 702,T. PENS
OUR FUTURE GENERALS.

tia of ll7the states is being organized
as a reserve OF the regular army. 1t is
natural, therefore. that the new army
regulations should permit militia off,
GERS to take 2 courses of study in the
military schools and colleges of the
! United States Hereafter the various
army schools and the army staff col
lege, at Fort Leavenworth, the coast
artillery school, at Fort Monrce and
the army medical school at Washing
ton, VIII receive national guardsmen as
student officers. In our next war these
/ men, as the secretary of war intimated
| in his address at the army service
school last week, are destined not to
be officers of Squadrons and battalions
but ito command as colonies and gen.
erals"
The American people are historical lily
opposed to the maintenance .0f a large
standing army. They trust implicitly
to the potential strength residing in
many millions of patriotic freemen.
Whether war with a f1rst-class power
should come tomorrow or 20 years
hence, conditions would be the same.
There would be no large army ''in be-
g."-New York Times.
%
INCREASE OF INSANITY.
Each succeeding report on insanity
in America grows more sinister. To
the much debated question whether the
number of aberrant minds is increas-
ing, affirmative answer is given by the
bureau of the census in its recent JiIl3
letin about the insane and feeble
minded in hospitals and institutions.
The statistics, based upon evidence
collected four years ago, reveals a re-
sane to which they relate" Since 1890
both the number of asylums and their
inmates have more than doubled; at
the beginning of 1904 the 32S institu-
tions for the insane harbored no fewer
than 150.151 unfortunates. The investi-
gators show that this enormous growth
cannot be wholly explained away by
a corresponding one of our total popu-
lation, nor by the increased use of hos
pitals by those who were once preju-
diced against them. But, apparently,
no attention has been given to the ef-
feet which widening conception of
dementia has produced upon the sta
| tistics.-New York Evening Post.
TAFTS PERSONAL CAMPAIGN.
Judge Taft has steadilv grown on
the country since his nomination. His
| judicial poise, his sobriety of utterance
and his attitude of deep responsibility
have all impressed the country. They
are what is wanted to give confidence
| in a period of doubt and depression.
The campaign has reached the point
where it is wise to make his PERSONAL
| ity known and familiar over the coun-
| try. Every presidential campaign has
/ it's specials lschaEaeterist and the con-
| test of 1908 Is marked by its sober
discussion and the manifest movement
| of the great current of public opinion
! toward a conservative desire to see the
| great issues now opening handled with
] care, consideration and a judicial
| scrutiny.
| No personal Charges are made. No
campaign orators are aspersing either
candidate on either side. There Is an
absence of the rant. the talk and the
attacks on the "money power" heard
/ in other years. The gravity of the
situation IS seen and the responsible
/ ity of the national decision apprecia-
i ted, but the matter is being argued
rather than agitated.-Philadelp