Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1915-04-14
Arguments FOR AND AGAINST
MILITARY BILL MADE At HEARING
Delegate Kho Questions Loyalty of Japanese Residents to
Teriory-Bg Crowd at Senate Committee Session Hears
Advocates and Opponents Emphasize Views

W no had received the same drill as
he had fought in the SpaniShAmeri-
can war: today they are private Citi
zens, with no more ambition for
fight with a foreign nation than the
most peaceable man who doesn't know
hat a gun looks like.
In the event of war his classmates
and he were ready TO join the ColOrs;
his own name was on the rolls in the
W2r DEPARTMENT and if such turbulent
times ever come he would he one Of
the first private citizens called out.
Rath Opposes.
j. A. Rath, who has served Is years
in the British army, holly opposed the
bill. The drills and education make
men no greater respecters of law and
order, he said he could testify to by
personal experience. The talk of the
valuable knowledge of hygiene att7in
ed through it was fallacious. In al
NEST every war save the Russian-Jap-
anese campaign the number of deaths
from disease in the army had exceed.
ed those on the battlefield and the
record Of the American army in the
Spanish-American imbrOglio therefore
was no exception. The few hours train
ing given under the proposed law
would not do, he averred. 1t would be
forgotten soon. If men are to be train
ed thus at all, they must be trained
thoroughly.
More Opposition Voiced.
Dr.. Doremus Scudder and Rev. Aka
iko Akana opposed the bill On the
ground that If such educ alton is found
necessary the man can get it quickly
in the regular army. His only pre-
paredness necessary is a strong, hardy
physique, maintained by hard labor in
the peaceful pursuits Of daily life.
Attorney w. H. Smith of Hilo filed
with the committee a written protest
from people of the Crescent City. The
protest bore the signature of Sc men,
which he said had been obtained in
two hours time, thus showing the
unanimity of opposition on the Big
Island. He also read a resolution
passed by the Hawaii county board
of supervisors. He said Capt. Jack D.
Easton of the Hilo company of the ma.
tional guard had expressed the opin,
ion that the only thorough preparation
for war was drill in the regular army,
where a man would learn more in
three weeks than he could in six years
in the national guard. Thus, the value
of the education under the proposed
law would be negligible as preparation
for actual warfare. >., -.
Attorney Smith declared the bill un.
American and not wanted by the peo-
pie of the territory. Had the CUES.
ton been submitted to the voters at
the last election it would have been
defeated and he thought that before
such a system were approved by the
lawmakers it should go to the cleo.
torate In a pleblscite.
Value Of Hysienic Education
Emphasized. i
Ed Towse and G. W. Smith, speak.
ing in the measures behalf, empha-
sized the value of the hygienic edu.
cation it would give young men.
Towse quoted from the sayings of
many famous men and declared that
despite all peace-lovers may say, war
always comes, history in this respect
repeating since the world began. The
greater part of the Bible is given to a
history Of war. The opposition OF min
listers is to be expected. He told of a
straw vote taken by Abraham Lincoln
at the time of his second election,
among the ministers of Springfield, ILL.,
All of the II officiating ministers were
opposed to Lincoln's reelection and
he quoted Lincoln as saying, II do
not believe these men have read their
Bible Alright" Lincoln was opposed to
war as much as any citizen; but it
was thrust upon him, just as it may be
forced on the United States again.
Towse thought the Legislature
should not be bound by the hue and
cry of the senseless mob" This re
mark was taken up in ridicule by all
the bills antagonists who followed
him.
:. l.. Andrews. remarking he guessed
he belonged to the 'senseless mot"
said that just before the meeting
Towse had been urging him to support
the bill. Towse, he understood, was
a member of the Promotion Commit
tee, and Towse had said that If Ha /
vail took the lead in this Just think
what an ad this would be for Hawaii
on the mainland" :
Yes" said Andrews, 1--WE advertise
these as the Isles of Peace. Imagine
tourists, deluded with that idea, COM
ing to Honolulu to find such specta:
cles as myself standing on street
corner between ]. A, Magoon and Ed
Towse. going through the German :;
goose-step!" The idea, he claimed, I
was un-American because it suggested
compulsion. Moreover, it specified no /
age-limit. Every man above Is years |