The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1915-02-18
MILITARY TRAINED BOYS MAKE
BETTER CITIZENS.

The writer was conversing witn
man from California recently, Wheh
| the man IN substance said:
~ notice that, through your paper
you advocate that a part Of the course
| OF study for your male High schooi
students shall include preliminary mill
tary training. That is good, but the truth
Is what is most needed is compulsory
military training for all the young men
OF the country. Take the case OF Cal
ifornia. for instance. The first race OF
modern California was composed OF
generous men. bright and strong, but
careless The scarcity of good women
made them Indifferent and when child
rem began to appear the heart-hunSer
in many men caused them to spoil those
children The climate was such that
in childhood the youngsters never were
taught to even bring in kindling at
night for next mornings fire; they
learned no duties, they never had any
discipline; they were petted until they
became insufferably egotistical; when
they reached manhood they knew moth
Ing that was OF any use to them and,
worse still, they felt no obligation to
do anything of benefit to themselves
or the world.
This has gone on until the title OF
native SON. is almost a reproach
Now, had they all when they reach
ed the age of eighteen, been forced to
enter a military school; forced to re-
port at a fixed hour in the morning,
to be in their quarters at a fixed hour
at night forced to obey orders; to
submit to certain hours of drilling
every day; to walk upright, to learn
to pay respect to supernors; to attend
to specific duties; to handle weapons,
and TO handle horses and guns; above
all to understand that citizenship is
something to be priced and guarded,
and that the flag above them symbols
sovereignty and power; when they
reached twenty one they would have
acquired self-respect and respect for
authority; all their ideas of duty would
have been changed, and they would havt
been fitted for a useful life work.
Military training to prepare a people
to resist aggression from the outside
is good, but 1t is far more useful to
prepare young men to become intelligent
and useful citizens. BY intelligence
in this connection 1 mean that kind
of intelligence that impresses upon
young man sense of duty and prepares
him for a life work In which devotion
TO duty Is a fixed principle.
The want of this is seen all around
us. 1t develops in quack doctors,
lawyers and clergymen in incompetency
and lack Of character In legislatures
and even in congress, in all the occupaA
lions of men and develops sometimes
Into combined egotism and ignorance
that is disgusting, or lack or thorough
ness that Is discouraging or in break
ing down of character in any OF
thousand ways which 1t is pitiful to
sea
Out of this want of discipline and
the disposition to shfrk duty which
follows. has come the host which has
grown to assume that the world owes
them living with no effort on their
part. The rule will have to be chang
ed or military training win soon be
necessary not to guard the country
from foreign aggression, but to guard
the decent people of the land against
ats own knaves and loafers. "-Goodwin's
Weekly.