Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-10-23


Entered as recond class matte IN. IN
wa, Iowa, under the Act Of Congress -
March 8, 1879.
Foreign representatives: Cone LOT
enzen & Woodman, Mallers Bu'i vari.
Chicago: 225 Fifth Ave-. New ~
CITY: Gumbel Bldg. Kansas CITY, Mo.
THE LOST ART OF oBEYlNG. !.
Military training for the youth OF
the land, not as means to enable
them to fight others but as discipline
enabling them to exercise control over
themselves, is phase of the pre-
paredness policy which gets too little
attention. For be 1t known, the great
est danger this country faces IS not
an invasion by foreign foe, but
rather a breaking down OF those
things needful in republic, through
the general growing disregard ana
contempt for law and established
authority.
The New York World editorially
calls attention to the fact that Amerl-
cans-rich and poor, young and olo-
are daily becoming less amenable 10
law. Spoiled by indulgent parents, by
lax oficials. the American man Is de-
veloping a contempt for and total
disregard Of orders, rules or autnor-
ity Of any kind. He does as he
pieases and how he pleases; he has
. right to his own opinion and is not
slow in showing disapproval when ne
feels It, he feels his personal liberty
to An extent that makes him resent
laws that say NJ must not work his
will: he ilespiseg himself for submit
ting to the orders Of his employer;
he will not do that which is distaste-
full to him and all In all he Is becom-
ing an overgrown and woefully spoiled
child that is In need Of sound
thrashing and q lecture on the neces-
sity Of bowling to established author
ity.
The average American Of today sits
while the national anthem Is being
played: he keeps his hat on when his
national emblem is carried past him
NOT because he is not a patriot but
because he fears that the acts of r1s-
ing when the anthem is played and OF
taking on his hat when the flag passes
will mark AfmgaS aeryile, as obedients
to orders, ~ 'ouoS So throng and not
as q proud, free Individual.
And the result Of all this is most
apparent. It makes the individual
less efficient, it promotes labor
troubles, it causes the employer OF
labor to demand unfair things Of his
employees and to disregard the law to
increase his profits, it causes the
laboring man to make unreasonable
demands upon his employer and to
etoop to violence to enforce his de-
4nands. it causes officials to be lax
and it causes people to wink at lax
dty it aids the demagogue to stir up
trouble and hinders tho authorities IN
restoring order. It is bad for the in
diyidual and in time will prove fatal
to the commonwealth.
The workman who cannot take or
ders is a detriment; the boss who mas
not himself learned how to take or
ders is no good. 1t must needs be
recognized that he Is not fitted to
command who has not first learned to
obey.
And because Of all this. the Ameri-
can youth is sadly in need of military
training. He must learn to subject
himself to discipline, he must learn
to take orders from others, he must
learn to do that which is distasteful.
he must learn how to OBEY and to
do It without hesitation, without ask
ing why and to the very best of his
ability. Those accomplishments are
not alone those Of q soldier, they are
The yery finest basis on which to
hni1d success along any line Of human
endeavor. They are the requirements
of every day life, of the home, of the
school OF college, of the factory and
nf business. The man who has been
vested with the right to command
Mould receive instant obedience to-
Ms orders. The premium should be
on ability to obey quickly rather than
ability to show the needlessness OF
the order.
Military training, better than any
thing else, will develop these TRAITS IN
the American youth. The usefulness
of these things in the battle OF lie IS
even greater by far than on the field
Of battle. If there were apsolutely
no reason to believe that trained
and efficient army would be OF service
to the nation, still would military
training for the youth OF the land be
OF inestfmable value. But because
there is the chance that an army may
some day be needed to lend on
foe, and because trained army may
could do this when an unframed one
could not. then indeed is the training
Of the Young men Of the United States
worth while.
The Burlington Hawk-Eye notes
with evident approval the support
rendered by Ottumwa merchants to
suburban and interurban auto lines
running out Of Ottumwa. The river
publication allows that the way to get
business is to go after it.
There are many homes being built