Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-01-18
Constructive Defense
BY DIR. FRANK CRANE.

.t ..s BY DIR. FRANK CRANE. -.,''.
b.. Hardly mad 1 written the, article nan Army of
Public Service there game in my mail a pam
phlet by Henry G. Traver. entitled Invncble Amer
lea: Plan of Constructive Defense" wherein plan
of about the same kind Is advocated and cogently
argued. "E So" r. +
The idea is to form a-vast c.industria" army, which
will undertake "the great reclamation projects the Mis-
sssipp river improvement and other much-needed pub
lie works under the controP the United States
engineers. Give these engineers an army of young
men who can handle PICK and shovel. live in the
open, drive mules load wagons operate motor trucks
and live the life of soldier and you have the MAX
ings of most effective citizen soldery the world
has -. -..'.
Frequent military drills and occasional extensive
maneuvers could be practiced. ~. ..,..... ..-,
The pamphlet attention cne great need of
buildings in the United States and the deplorable
road conditions in many parts of the country, and
truly says that this will remedied until the
whole matter is turned over to the United States
army. ~. g. -. -.
The ohiection to large standing army is deep
srrone our people Because our only conception of
army is the European kind, consisting of men with
drawn from productive labor, living comparative
fdeness, and constituting tremendous burden upon
An Industrial army" however, would not be such
IT would pay itself 1t would do works that
would improved prosperity to farmers merchants
The mental and moral development of the in
this army would naturally be higher than in the army
under the present system, where so much time IS spent
in monotonous routine.
grinder the old system" says Traver "men often
And difficult their dlScharge, be-
cause their whole life in the service has made them
unadapted by experience disposition to work
IN civil life. Under the proposed system the men will
gain practical knowledge in many useful trades while
their regular habits of industry and the rigid disc
pne of their training will make them efficient wage
earners when their terms of service expire"
Besides all this, such an army would become
e1ectual balance wheel labor, would absorb
''the army of the unemployed" that yearly forms a
threatening problem in cities All who want work
and can not find it elsewhere can find II here.
This then" concludes the plea, 'is the Amer
lean army. Their weapons are not weapons of DEATH
but picks and shovels hammers drills, the
of thrift industry. the instruments of They
are conquerors of men, but of the of
nature soldiers not of battle but soldiers of the
common good How every American bosom will swell
with pride the sight of such The pride of
every American the Panama canal will be reflected
and re-echoed every great highway and river
coast to coast And when the time comes.
come to repel a foreign foe, these will be
bv their training and experience to fight for their
try as we'll any army that ever took the field"
copy of this pamphlet can be secured free by APP
plying to Society of Constructive Defense, Ridge
wood. n. j."
Copyright, 1915 by Frank CraneJ