Evening star., 1914-12-25
j. s. NEVER WHIPPED
HARD FOE, HE SAYS
Nation Is Suffering From False
Teaching, Declares Col.
Heistand.
URGES MILITARY SERVICE
FOR ALL MALE CITIZENS
This Country Unprepared for War,
He Asserts, in Advocating
Adequate Reserve.

CHICAGO. December 2o.-Mtlitary
service during the youth of every male
citizen of the United States is sug-
gested as means of providing a suf-
ficient reserve army by Col. III. o. S.
Heistand. adjutant general of the Cen
trail Department of the Army.
Col. Heistand said the United States
was totally unprepared for war. urged
that the regular army and the National
Guard were inadequate and protested
against what he termed false history
taught the country. He declared that
the wars against Mexico and Spain were
the only ones the United States had
won, and that the United States never
really whipped foemah worthy Of our
steel.
If at this minute he said, every
one Of the 10000 regular soldiers in the
United States. cavalry. infantry. coast
and field artillery. were assmebled in
New York city, there would not be
enough men to man the guns there on
a war footing.
And if every one of the 10000 ma
tional guardsmen were assembled in
New York city there would not be
enough to protect those guns from at
tack. Those guns. as they are now Sit
uated are a greater menace to New
York than a protection. because all
foe would have to do would be to turn
them around and point them at New
York city and begin firing.
For the purpose of defense, ] would
have every male citizen of the United
States in the early period Of his life
give a sufficient time to the United
States to qualify himself in the esen-
tials of a soldier. / would have him
learn how to shoot and how TO march.
would have him learn how to take
care of himself in the field, how to
pitch and roll his tent. how to ride a
horse, how to cook and- take care of
his health and above all learn to sub
nit his will to that of his commander.
And 1 would have him do that with
very small pay.
Blames False Teaching.
But the trouble with our people is
they are suffering from false teaching
and preaching.
I'm our school histories we teach that
in the war of the revolution and of
1912 we whipped England; that in the
war with Mexico we whipped her,
and that in the war of our own rebel
lion. rose up from the fields and the
farms and marched right out and put
down that rebellion.
True, we whipped Mexico We
whipped Spain. There is a slang phrase
about taking candy from a baby and
that is what we did. We did not whip
Great Britain in the war of the revo
luton. Great Britain was busy at
home and quit because she hadn't the
slightest idea what kind of real estate
we had here.
Cites Humiliation in 1912.
In the war of 1872 we were humili-
ated and our capital was burned, and
Great Britain, because she was busy
at home quit without insisting on her
rights.
I'm the war of the rebellion two great
mobs of the finest citizenry that ever
stepped up to the cannon's mouth went
to the front without knowledge of or
ganization or warfare for four straight
years. and at the end the one with the
longest purse and the greatest number
of men triumphed. 1t was scarcely a
war. 1t was conflict of mob organ
ization.
Pleads for Training.
What we want today is to teach our
people that we did not ,really ever in
the history of the world whip a foe
| worthy of our steel for we never haye.
But We have In US the power, for there
is not really good American who is
| not ready to die for his country. /
plead for a training of every citizen.
so that if the time ever comes when
we need to defend these institutions
under which we live so gloriously he
will be able to do SO, and, instead OF
| diving a suicide or becoming simply a
| foolish victim Of the foe. he will have
made q good account of himself in the
| dafapsa nf his cOuntry"