Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-03-21

Judge who sstill with us at the ear
lier meetings of your club which Il
attended, and. whose portrait, through
the generosity Of hts family, has re-
Gently been added to our collection at
Yale: ;, William Law Learned. @-g#
The particular form. of public ser
vice which is called for is different
In different generations. During the
first. century of our existence il was
for the most part the service of min
listers and magistrates. Afterward the
work Of the scholar, the inventor, or
the pioneer In the various lines OF
human ACTIVITY. took its place side by
side with that of the minister or the
importance. Today the younger men
of cur nation are confronted with the
possible need for yet another form OF
public service, no less exacting than
any which | have named: public ser.
vice in the defense Of their country.
In one sense this is a departure
from the lines Of the old charter II
is not service In church or civil state.
But the spirit Of the charter is more
important than its letter. II Yale and
colleges like her should fail to take
their share in providing for the de
Tense of the nations integrity and
honor at time when its integrity OF
honor may be endangered, they would
fail miserably in their duty. You al.
ready know how the Yale students
have responded to this appeal. Gen
Wood told the Yale, boys at Platts-
burg that the most effective work OF
preparation that they could do during
the winter at New Haven was to or.
ganize battery. So many enlisted
that they organized four batteries in.
stead of one. A large number of our
best men are giving time and labor
and serious study to kind of work
which has little Of the show of mill.
tary lifv and much OF its substance
The Yale battalion is not cadet
corps, but an organized unit of the
state militia. Neither officers mol
men have parade, uniforms. If there
should be riot with which the civil
authorities could not 'deal-God grant
we may never see one!-they would
be called upon to do their share In
suppressing it.
All this represents a spirit of public
service of the kind which is impera.
lively needed today. One of the very
best things about this new movement
is that it brings home to the boys
their duties as citizens Of the com.
munity. There is too much tendency
to- regard our government as a ma
chine which will run itself; Of under.
taking to enjoy as much as We can
of its benefits and contribute as lit
tie as we can to its support. This is
a natural enough tendency, but it is
perilous one; and believe that mil
itary training on the part of our stu
dents will help to lessen this peril
There is another result Of serious
military training in our colleges which
is equally important. 1t conduces to
sobriety of Judgment in international
matters. A course of instruction like
that which the Yale artillery battalion
receives emphasizes the reality OF
war rather than its parade. The boys
know that If we have to fight 1t viii
be their duty to 60 to the front, un
der conditions of extreme peril This
makes them less ready to give free
rein to their emotions, and far less
ready to indulge in unwise utterance
1t not only gives JUS the benefit Of
training, but 1t guards Us against the