The Prescott daily news., 1916-07-05
PATRIOTISM AND PRE-
 PAREDNESS SLOGAN
Feeling Among Military Men Actual War Cannot be Avert ed-Rejected Men Physically
 Defected, Break Down and Cry
By Clio Harper.

and Preparedness have been the slo-
 gans of Little Rock this week Not
 In the memory of the present genera tion, at least, has there been such a popular demonstration as that which
 has stirred the people of the capital city this week. The presence in our midst of two regiments of state troops fully equipped for service on the Mex lcan border, and the imminence of open warfare with the Carranza gov ernment has emphasized the spirit of patriotism until it has permeated prac- tically the whole community. Even the Paciists, many of them carry flags. There are no anti Mexican
 demonstrations-it is all pro-Ameri- can. Americanism, the Americanism of Wilson that refuses to go to war
 so long as peace may be continued with honor, is actuating the people of Arkansas today.
 It has been said that the units of the two regiments have been slow in recruiting. This is true, but it is also true that the rigid physical examina- tions have caused the rejection of as many as have been accepted. Only the physically fit have been accepted, and those who. fall short of the regu- lar army requirements, whatever their rank in the State Guard, are not mus tered into the federal service.
 Governor Hays and the officers of the Guard have been besleged by par .ents and others for the discharge of boys under eighteen years of age who have enlisted under false pretense. Gov. Hays invariably refers all these and similar requests to the military authorities In the case of minors enlisting, the parents and guardians have been put upon notice that if they will make an affidavit that the re- cruit is under eighteen, he will be dis charged dishonorably from the ser vice. and viii be subject to prosecu- tion for perjury. Few nave thought 
 it wise to adopt the alternative.
 No one can foresee what day may bring forth. Ominous rumblings
 from the border and from the diplo- matic exchanges keep the public in a state of feverish suspense, and there is feeling among the military men
 that actual war cannot be averted. The Arkansas boys are anxious to get
 to the front. Men who have been re- jected because they were underweight or had some slight defect have broken down and cried. The morale of the troops could not be better. They are a picked body of men who require only the seasoning of a border campaign
 to make them the equal of any. They are ready to repeat the glorious rec ord of their fathers who taught the MeXicans a severe lesson in the JOS. Should a call for volunteers be made later it is expected that the response would be much more general than it has been for the militia service.
 The subject of military prepared ness is more and more agitating the
 people It is expected that the present conditions will revive interest in the citizen soldiery that was so popular
 generation ago, and that permanent companies will be maintained, like the
 Mccarthy Light Guards and the F'let- cher Rifles of the early '90's. Some of the enthusiasts are agitating summer training camps for business men, sim liar to those held in New York, where for several weeks business, profes- sonal and workingmen may be drilled
 in military tactics and practical camp life. This would prepare large body
 of men throughout the country for actual service should an emergency arise, but would not emphasize the military above the safeguarding of civic conditions.
 The Preparedness Parade today has been a revelation No such demon stration was ever witnessed in Little
 Rock. With the exception of certain organizations which failed to approve
 the project, there was general com
 pliance with the request that was made to march. No vehicles were permitted in line Everybody walked. State, county and city officials, men, women and boys, khaki-clad troopers
 and men from the desk and the coun- ters. all joined the great line of