The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1916-03-22
localities is the worst nfirmity

j, localities Is the worst tnfirmity o.
| popular government.
! The advantage Of keeping our arm!
| In smaller number OF larger posts
| is more than the money 1t would save
First, 1t would benefit the officers
They would help each other in the
study OF the art OF war, and the mill
tary education, SO we'll begun at Wesi
Point, would be kept up during the
whole term of their active service.
Secondly, the larger post, by the
keener competition in drill and mark
manshfp between one regiment and
another will benefit the training OF
the enlisted man.
Thirdly, the larger post will make
it easier to enlist good men. The regu-
lar army man ought to be at least an
average American. The average
America masks for something more
than food, clothing, shelter and army
pay. He wants amusement and ought
to have 1t. In small army post the
life Of the private soldier must be a
dreary one. 1t is a wonder that there
are not more desertiona In the larger
post there is more to see and to hear
and to entertain. The mere daily rou-
tin is more interesting. Apart from
this, the soldier may have more base
ball, football land polo. He may even
have moving pictures and lectures on
popular subjects. All these things,
Uncle Sam can well afford to give
and cannot we'll afford not to give
his regular army man II the army Is
to be what the army of a great repub-
lie ought to be.
Fourthly. It is evident that the
larger army post will make It easier
for the regular army to give military
instruction to citizens. President Will
sons plan will be difficult to execute
under the most favorable conditions. 1t
will be fiat failure under our pres
emit system of small and scattered
army posts.
II We solve the first difficulty in the
presidents plan and render the regu-
lar army capable of giving the neces-
sary training to large number OF c.ti-
zen volunteers, how shall we solve the
second difficulty and induce large
number Of citizens to volunteer to re-
ceive instruction.
II war had actually come or seri-
ously threatened to come, there would
be no lack Of volunteers to defend
the country. It will be harder to get
men to volunteer to abandon their
profitable employments and give up
their freedom of action for a series OF
years merely to prepare the country
for war which may never come and
is less likely to come If the country Is
prepared.
Whatever other inducements we Of
fer to the volunteer we ought to see
to It that his military training inter-
feres as little as possible with his in
til m
to create an army of professional sol
diers, but to train large number OF
citizens to serve the country in the
ranks Of war in time of war and In
the ranks OF industry In time OF peace.
The Industrial career Of the Ameri-
can sometimes begins at the age OF
ten when he begins to sell newspa-
pers, and sometimes at twenty-five,
after he has left college. In the vast
majority of cases, it begins at sixteen
or seventeen. A boy of that age has
generally finished his schooling and
is looking forward to choosing his &C.
cupation and earning his own living.
At twenty-five he is fairly settled in
his trade and is looking forward to be-
ing married. Between twenty-five and
thirty he ought to be the father OF a
family.
For a man Of twenty-five and even
for a man Of twenty, military service,
however brief. is an interruption, and
therefore a disadvantage to his indus
trial career. To boy of sixteen or
seventeen. service for a year or two in
a school of instruction attached to the
regular army with such care for his
physical and moral well-being as
Uncle Sam would be glad to give If
congerss would permit, would be a
positive advantage in his after life. 1t
would teach him habits of bodily and
mental efficiency which would make
him better farmer and better
workman as we'll as a better citizen
and soldier.
It has, therefore, been proposed that
there should be cadet battallions at
tached to each large army post. They
might be called continentals, II
thought desirable to distinguish them
from the regular army and from the
militia. They should consist of boys
Of sixteen or seventeen years OF age.
The term Of service should be one
year, It being the opinion Of many mill
tary men that one year Of steady train
ing will convert a raw recruit into a
well trained soldier. At the end OF
the year they should be discharged to
make room for new recruits. Many
Of them would become members of the
national guard. II war broke out,
nearly all would enlist either In the
regular army or in the state volun-
teers.
A plan something like this has been
proposed By State Senator Keller of
Illinois in q recent number OF Harper g
Weekly. Senator Keller, however
proposes a term Of three years in.
stead Of one and also proposes that in
addition to their military training, the
cadets shall receive instruction in az
riculture, manual training and the
useful arts. Senator Keller's article
| is interesting and deserves serious at
tention. It would be harder, however
to induce boys Of sixteen to volunteer
for three years than for one. To es-
tablish at our army posts schools o!
agriculture and manual training which
would compete with similar schools