The Oskaloosa herald., 1916-02-24
GEN. WOOD FAVORS
BEING PREPARED
SPEAKS AT WASHINGTON cELE.
HRATIoN AT PEORIA, ILL.
HITS AT THE U.s.OtFENSE FOES
Declares That Advocate of Non-Pr e.
paredness Is As Dangerous An
Enem,,, as the Country Has
Many Hear Address.

Peoria, ILL.,, Feb. Go.-Maj. Gen.
Leonard Wood. U. 8. A., last night
made a stirrinR plea for prepared
ness Of men, "not IN preparation for
war, but as insurance against it," in
a 'peech at the annual Washington
birthday dinner of the Creve Occur
club in the Coliseum. A great audi
ence heard him. Other speakers were
Henry d. Estabrook and Dudley Field
Malone, collector of the port Of New
, York.
General Wood confined his speech
to the value of the military instruc-
tion camps, from which, he said, he
hoped to see the army develop $4,000
officers for the reserve. He pointed
out how small even this number is
whei. compared to the $4,000 officers
that wore the blue in the Civil war.
To Commission Graduates.
These reserve officers" said Gen.
eral Wood, will, under the terms of
the. proposed bill, be commissioned Of
ficers of the United States army. en-
titled to wear the uniform, use their
titles, etc. ..r..
II is particularly important that all
classes of men having the necessary
education should come to these
camps. 1t is most desirable that they
should not be considered in any sense
class camps, or camps intended for
men of more or less means; nothing
is further from the truth. These
camps are Intended for all classes of
men who have the necessary educa-
tional qualifications to take up and
carry on the camp work intelligently.
Men of All Kinds Wanted.
We want men not only from the
universities, colleges and the profess
sions, but we want men from all
walks OF life who have enough edu-
cation to be able to take up the work
and carry it on effectively. We want
as many men as we can get from the
ranks OF labor, from the great body
of mechanics; we want to place in
these camps, shoulder to shoulder.
without a distinction, all classes of
American men who have sufficient
education.
There has been some criticism of
these camps on the ground that they
create thoughts of war through train
ing men of war. They do, to a GER
tain extent, but not Sc much to war
as to preparation against it. The
camps are not in preparation for war.
They are an insurance against It,
Points to Great Peril.
Let US no longer heed the HIPPO
critical cant that we cannot be strong
without being unjust, that we cannot
be prepared againct aggression with
out becoming an aggressor; let us
face the situation squarely, honestly
and without fear, realizing that we
live In times of great stress, that our
ship is on storm-swept ocean, and
that we must, as men on whom our
country's safety depends, while guard
ing our ideals, recognize and prepare
to meet conditions as they are.
Let US love peace, be fair and toll
Grant. but let US not forget that these
will not protect ds against aggression.
We must be prepared to help our
selves, We must remember that the
strength of right must be ever ready
to meet the forces of wrong
The advocate of nonpreparedness
is as dangerous an enemy as the coun-
try has; he strikes at the safety, con-
sequently at the life of the nation"