Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-04-17
RUDYARD KIPLING MAKES A
PLEA FOR MILITARY BANDS

In the light of the agitation in our
army to do away with military bands,
and substitute trumpet corps. the fol-
lowing pleas for martial music made
by Rudyard kipling. is of consider
able local interest, Oahu having five
military lands.
The March number Of The Metro
nome, n musical publication, contains
! the following:
BY RUDYARO KIPLING.
On January 81 meeting was held
! in the Mansion House. London, for
the purpose of promoting the recruit
ing of military bands. Rudyard Kip
! ling, the famous author. made stirr-
/ ing address in which he spoke at
length about the present lack Of mar
tial music in the English army of to-
day, the serious effects this is hav-
| ing on the mems morale and the ma
gic of drum and fife in war times.
The address in tull was as follows:
The most useful thing that civil
liam can do in these busy days is to
speak as little as possible, and if he
feels moved to write, to cOnfine his
efforts to his check book. But this
| is an exception to that very sound
rule. We do not know the present
strength of the new armies. Even
IL we did it would not be necessary
to make 1t public. But We may as
sumo that there are several batta-
lions in Great Britain which were not
/ in existence at the end of last July,
and, some of them are in London. Nor
it is any part of rour national policy
to explain how far these battalions
are prepared for the work which is
ahead of them. They were born quite
rightly in silence, but that is no rea-
son they should continue to walk in
silence for the rest of their lives.
unfortunately, up to the present
most of them have been obliged to
walk in silence or to no better &C
compartment than whistles and con-
certinas and other meritorious but
inadequate instruments Of music with
which they have provided themselves.
In the beginning this did not mat
ter so much. More urgent needs had
to be met; but now that the new ar
mics are what they are, we, who can
not assist them by joining their ranks,
owe it to them to provide them with
more worthy music for their help,
their qualification and their honor.
81 am not a musician, so if | speak
as a barbarian | must ask you and
several gentlemen on the platform
here to forgive me. From the lowest
point Of view a few drums and flies
in the battalion mean at least five
extra miles in a route march, quite
apart from the fact that they can
swing a battalion back to quarters
happy and composed in its mind, no
matter how wet or tired its body
may be. Even when there is no route
marching the more come and go, the
roll and fourishing of drums and flies
around the barracks is as warming
and cheering as the sight of fire IN
room.
"A band, not necessarily full band,
but a band Of dozen brasses and
wood-winds, is immensely valuable in
the district where men are billctcd.
1t revives memories, it quiCkens as
sociation, it opens and unites the
hearts of men more surely than any
other appeal can, and in this respect
it aids recruiting perhaps more than
any other agency. | wonder Wheth-
er | should say this-the tunes that
it employs and the words that go with
that tune are sometimes very remote
from heroism or devotion, but the
magic and the compelling power is in
them. and it makes mems souls real
ize certain truths that their minds
might doubt
Further, no one, not even the ad-
jutant, can say for certain where the
soul of the battalion lives; but the
expression of that soul is most often
found in the band. 1t stands to rea-
son that 1900 men whose lives are
pledged to each other must have some
common means Of expression, some
common means of conveying their
moods and their thoughts to them
selves and their world. A wise and
sympathetic bandmaster. and the
masters that | have met have been
that-can lift a battalion out of de-
preston, cheer it in sickness, and
steady and recall it to itself in times
of almost uncomfortable stress.
You may reme5er a beautiful poem
by Sir Henry Newbolt. in which he
described how a squadron of weary
big dragoOns we're led TO renewed Ell
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