The Alaska daily empire., 1914-12-19

NlionuHnlU QA HahlNNes AAia AH aAa time above all others whom VIC should wish and resolve to keep our strength by seltpossession, our influence by | preserving our ancient principles of action.
 Encourage Military Training.
 From the first we have had a clear and settled policy with regard to mili- tary establishments. Wo never have had, and while we retain our present principles and ideals we never shall ! have. 8 large standing army. II asked, ! are you ready to defend yourselves? We reply. Most asswedly, to the ut most. ana yet we shall not turn America into a military camp. We will mol ask our young men to spend the best years of their lives making soldiers Of themselves. There is an- other sort of energy in us. It will know how to declare itself and make itself eifectiye should occasion arise And especially when halt tho world Is on fire we shall be careful to make our moral insurance against the spread Of the conaagratlon very definite and certain and adequate indeed.
 Le us remind ourselves, therefore, Of the only thing we cen do or will do. We must depend in every time of na- tonal peril. in the future as in the 1 past, not upon a standing army nor yet upon reserve army, but upon citizenry trained and accustomed to arms It will be right enough right American policy, based upon our ac- customed principles and practices, to ] provide 2 system by which every citi- zen who will volunteer for the train. ing may be made familiar with the use of modern arms, the rudimenta of drill and maneuver, and tho main tenance and sanitation of camps. We should encourage such training and make 1t means Of discipline which our young men wlll learn to value. It is not only right that we should provide it, but that we should mnke It as attractive as possible, and SO Induce our young men to undergo 1t at such times as they can command q little freedom and can seek the physi- cal development they need, for mere health's sake # for nothing more Every means by which such things can be stimulated is legitimate, and such a method smacks Of true Ameri' can ideas. It is right. too, that the National Guard of the states should be developed and strengthened by every means which Is not inconsistent with our obligations to our own Deo- pie or with the established policy Of our government And this, also, not because the time or occasion specially calls for such measures, but because it should be our constant policy to make these provisions for our national peace and safety.
 More than thls carries with it Q reversal of the whole history and character of our policy More than this, proposed at this time, permit mo to say, would mean merely that we had lost our self possession, that we had been thrown of our balance by war with which we have nothing to do, whose causes cannot touch us, whose very existence affords us op. portunities of friendship and disin- terested service which should make us ashamed of any thought of hostility or fearful preparation for trouble This ia assuredly the opportunity for which Q people and a government Ike ours were raised up, the opportunity not only to speak but actually to embody and exemplify the counsels of peace and amity and the lasting concord which is based on justice and fair and to earn Just now we should be par ticularly jealous Of t. because it ls our dearest present hope that this generous dealing.
 Naval Development Problem.
 A powerful navy we have always regarded as our proper and natural means of defence; and 1t has always been of defence that VIC hayo thought never Of aggression or Of conQueat. But who shall tell us now what sort of navy to build We shall take leave to be strong upon the seas in the future as in the past; and there wln be no thought of ohense or of nrovocation fu that. Our ships ore our