The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1915-01-28

became in the Civil War. With waste
:. Of life most appalling, nearly three
years of that war were spent selecting
and developing officers who could and
would do the work as II should be
done. When they had been selected,
they produced, largely from new levies
of volunteers, the finest armies the
world has ever seen, barring not even
the fighting machines Of the German
nation.
So far as may be, without working
real hardship and suffering, the best
of our military colleges reproduce the
experiences which made those officers
and they add thereto a far wider ex-
perience in military matters technical,
all in conjunction with the academic
work of college or Of technical school.
| am not unmindful of the value OF the
military experience gained in the MIL
tia and by the drill in school and col
lege and in summer encampments. The
men who share in these gain very
much of high value in time of SPECIFIC
need and much which serves most
happily in their civil pursuits. The
results of training through these
means are all good and will become
better.
But however good these may be-
come, there is one thing which the
general government and the state
have failed to do in connection there
with. They have failed to find way
to make note and TO keep record OF the
men who have had such training, who
they are, how qualified, and where
they may be found if needed. 1t VIII
cost something to get and to keep
such a record, and cost something TO
make such men want TO be so noted
and recorded. But it should be done,
unless. indeed, we, as q nation, are TO
adopt some system of compulsory
military service. For the moment, the
people of this country are not prepar-
ed for such a system, and 1t is mol
plain that there is need of it, whole
some as it would be in many respects
Unless compulsory service is adopt
ed, more should be done by nation, OF
by state, or by both, to improve the
forms of training now existing IN
school and college, in military schooI
and military college.
OF necessity, | see most ciearl!
, some things pertaining to the last
I believe the records attest their ex'
traordinary worth. At another time
. and for specific purpose, wrote; I'll
i, is suggested that such schools tend tc
foster the 'militarist spirit / doubt
: II. for to have so studied arms, is tc
know when and how to use them, tt
have so studied the art and practice OF
war. is to have learned its horrors
and the senselessness or wickedness
which provokes it. 1t is the clamor OF
those ignorant of these things whlcf
precipitates war. 1t was the voice OF
the uninitiated that cried for war with
, Spain. months before it came. In sud
den rage, the uninitiated, by daii!
paper, by telegraph, by any means
any day have been willing to provoke
war with any nation. The man right
! ly trained in these matters following
his daily vocation in civil life, is not
, fire brand, not a provoker OF hostili
ties but an active conservator OF
3 peace.
. All thoughtful persons are keenly
! alive to the need of finding suitable
and effective means for conserving the
6 neace between nations. The ables'
, men of our day wrestle with the prob
, lem as have such for century and
more. We are slow to believe, thougf
we cannot wholly deny, that war mus
remain as a part of Gods great plar
for the correction Of greater evils. IT
, a way we know that when there shai
have come to be no distinction be
, tween races, nationalities, politica
, parties, religious sects, when famiiS
, lines have been obliterated, and the
meaning of mine becomes the same
, as of thine there will be no more
war. We are slow to begin on TINS
, possessive pronoun business where the
, whole must start. But whole hearted
, ly for brief intervals, half heartediy
, for greater, we struggle with this less
, er and with the greater problem as dic
/ our fathers before US. Peace VII
reign they said there will be no more
war. And straightway they plunged
. into civil strife. What peace was
r really theirs, they fought for, and VIC
, may be reasonably sure that our chill
dren will have only the peace they arc
, willing to fight for. We cannot be In
, different, the primal forces within US
; all that we consciously recognize as
guiding our relations to posterity for
ta.a s.4.moxnroa Thara iS no dead