Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-04-12
APRIL l., 1915.
THE MILITARY BILL.


SO terrible a thing as bath; in first-aid-whicl
has to do with aiding the other fellow to live
ipstead of to de- and in field cooking-which is
designed to diminish instead of increase cur
rent mortality statistics-ninety hours a
year of this is not exactly our idea OF mill
tarism.''
House Bill 14S has raised hue and cry-a
vivid, crimson hue of Indignation and cry of
opposition-to "Prussianism," "militarism, u
transcription" and a few other things
We believe the opponents of the bill are just
as sincere as its advocates. We expect the OPP
ponents likewise to admit in fairness that the
advocates are as sincere as they are.
The tar-Bulletin does not entirely agree
with the provisions of House Bill 14S. We
think the military training which it proposes
should be definitely limited, instead of depend
ing largely upon future orders and rules of the
governor, or others in authority. But we do
not agree with the avowed opponents of the
bill that the whole thing is wrong, that it has
no merit.
The Star-Bulletin believes in a reasonable
amount of training of exactly the kind House
Bill 148 aims to provide. It is useless to close
the eyes to national and international history.
America has suffered from lack of prepared
ness for war and sacrificed thousands of lives
needlessly because volunteer armies did not at
first know how to fight. The pages of Ameri-
can history and the testimony of experts prove
this beyond question.
Nor is it true that the time has come when a
rich and territorially affluent nation can afford
to be weak Look across the Pacific, at China
there nation of 40O,OOO,00O people is yielding
10 the demands of nation of $4,000, 000-be-
canse the nation of 100000 is, bound to pos
sess itself of the vastly greater nation mar
kets. Even assuming that Japan's aim is to
safeguard the Orient, the fact remains that
China must yield to japanese dominance be-
cause China in military sense is unprepared.
The unprepared nation cannot be sure of gov
erning itself.
There is a good deal said about the moral
protection the United States affords the Central
and South American countries through the
Monroe doctrine. Does anyone doubt that this
moral protection would cease to exist were some
aggressive and brutal minded foreign power to
covet one of these countries and the United
States be unable to make a protest based on
strength as well as on justicei
The opponents of compulsory military train
ing are called IN American. In the first place,
.un- American" as thus applied is an entirely
indefinite term. No two men will exactly agree
on it. But, in the second place, what is the
American educational attitude on military
trainings lii. ...--... i. ...... -,
It takes only brief examination to realize
that a large number of state universities re-
quire military drill. These universities are the
representative educational institutions Of their
states lis it "un- American for them to re-
quire military drilli
The Star Bulletin has said before and desiresi
to say again that this proposed drill should
emphasize the physical training. Furthermore,
tie territory should see that the instructors are
competent to, and require that they should en-
phasize upon the youths the fact that the train
ING is for preparedness to defend National
honor and integrity, to uphold the weak, not |
for aggression; they should be taught that war
IS wrong unless it be for justice. With mill |
tary training should go talks and lectures that
mean moral and ethical training.
It seems to us wise also that House Bill 148
should be amended to limit rather rigidly the I
maximum number of hours of this training re- |
ouired. Only minimum is now mentioned.
With such amendments as these precautions
REQUIRE. we do not fear that the bill will start
the youths of Hawaii on the red road to war.