The Ordway new era., 1916-10-27

ms not only been too proud to fight.
""' nus "'Ho been too proud to prepare.
The Army ana Navy.
The people of this countrv ,h,,,,
provide Tor first-class navy, n nav
reH,tiVe to the other powers what our
navy was in February. 1908 whcn ~.
battie-flcet returned from the cr,,isc
around the world. We should have n
reGuiar army of a quarter of a million
: mobile army of 125,0OO or l50, ,OO3 to
ueai with such oxigencies as that
"hlch the tecbleness of our Irov.rn
,a, ma.,i mas brought about on the Mexi-
lah pofuef at TINS moment And this
should be only the beginning. free
man must not merely hire others to do
vi. rghtinE for him. II he wishes per-
ninncntiy to remain "a frecmuu he must
~ himssf to fight for his own rights,
thit II, for his c0untry's rights.
honor the National Guurdsmen who
soidicrly stuff in them But the svs-
TEN under which they have been sent
~ an atr"clous one. and should be
nIanSGd rIat,,, at once. They have been
posed was war on behalf of the coIln-
Try. When they entered the militia
most OF them had no idea that they
would be conscripted as they have
been. Their sense of honor has for
hidden them to refuse going. But they
should never have been sent for mere
L,
to MIR. Wilson'S tame refusal to punish
the Mexican bandits. we now have ON
the border force of American sol
licrs from ten to twenty times us M
merous ms the bandits across tI-. bor-
der; and yet this force does nOtainr,
Many men have gone who have been
obliged to leave their wives and chill
aren to suffer actual want. and who
have permanently injured their profess
sionnl or business careers. or definite
ly lost their Jobs. because they had to
t1,. fr~
away from their business, away from
their homes, to make good the damage
done by the utter folly of our rulers
In Washington.
ftulcrs Uniptercsted.
These rulers In Washington were not
really Interested in Preparedness. They
were not really interested In the de-
Tense Of their country. They Thought
only Of their own political fortunes In
the immedinte future. They refused to
give us expert military leRi~intion.
They gave us political military lcgInln-
ttGn, lcgisintiOn designed to secure
votes next November nt the cost of the
the regular nrmy' mt the cost of the
lives of the civilians, men, women and
children ON the border. and In Mexico,
,,,n,,,s md mt the cost ,il OF the weIi-EelnE OF
iuardsIncn who had Themselves been
sent to the Mexican border. The IcKis-
intiOn of the last session should he re-
penlcd and the work of preparedness
entered upon with serious purpose.
See that your representatives vote
for a large and efficient navy and a
always remember that In a free democ-
racy no man should have the right to
vote In the civil affairs of the country
If he does not perform all the duties
required by the country, not only in
peace, burt in war: and he cannot per-
form these duties in time OF war uoless
le fits himself to perform them un-
| IS he trains himself to perform them,
in time of peace. I believe in universal
military obligatory training of all our
young men in time of peace; and, In
Ice for every man and every woman in
" xhntevcr position II iH deemed that
man or woman can hest render such
service to the natfOn.
A Broken Reed.
The mobilization of the militia on
the border has proved that the FEEDER
allied National Guard is broken reed
from the standpoint of National Pre-
paredness. and represents no adequate
national strength either to repel sud-
den attack or to carry on prolonged de-
who was chosen by Mr.. Wilson. with
his usual exquisite sense of entire mil
ttary unfitncss to be Secretary of War.
urattled with Bryan-like cheerfulness
about how "mobi tions take place
easily and need not be upon masnlfi'
cent scale in advance" Then on June
18th, working ON this theory of ensy
commanded the entire National Guard
to mobilize Immediately. After ten days
of maximum effort just IL per cent OF
the men were started for the bornel'
Over 80 per cent OF the Guard we've
found to he unfit for duty. Many OF
the men who started for the boraer
had never received n single days train
ing. Many had never fired rhle.
Most Of the cavalry regiment. had no
horses. Half the artillery batteries
had no guns. know one division IN
which, after three months. 10 per GEM GEM
of the men have not received their
blouses and 20 per cent nave not Re
ceived their rifles. Some OF the reEi .,,
ments on the border have learned WIN
shape Some have made no impIovS
ment. few have PROVED atter,y r.s
worthless. because their officers were
that they could not teach and guide
and help over difficulties and care Ior
their men, who became little. petter
than a mob.
Hest Men Profited.
The best men in the best regiments on
the border have profited mucn' hahe ~
profited more than men who go 10 tne
excellent Plattsburg and simtiar simtiaa mn, INT
tary training camps have protitea; btt
now. after over four months months q xhn !,
with his regiment on the border, writes
me: Here we have all the organise9
troops in the country on the boruer anu anu
they only total very small force, par.
of which is ineffective: 1 should say
that after three months. we nave oe,
tween $4,000 and $4,000 usefui troops II
aIl" In other words, after three
month. we did not assemble an army
fit to resist a single German or yaps
e.e army cOrns, such ms could be landed
T., N.vv York In a fortnight or In san
Francisco In q month. President VII WI,
son has refused to read the dreaaaol
lesson written in fire and nIooa
the face Of the world during the inst AZ
two years and q quarter. He has .e.'
n skanefully unready to Hrotecs
eelve1 or do ouf duty by others.
The Swiss System.
Switzerland II q more genuineiy GEM .na
ocratic republic than We are ana snnIe sn1
more, physically. mentally and morn mosn