Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-02-02

llltC ~, w SAaS O. wv OuS w ,
for patriotism.
If we compare them with our ma
tional guard. what do WI find? That
the national guardsmen, being Ameri-
and, therefore, quicker and more
adaptable, ought to learn faster. So
tional guard gets less drill than the
new army got in 10 days. The new
army drill was continuous. 1t was
carried out in the fields under some
thing like war conditions-with the
very latest teachings of the experience
of the trenches at h call of he in
Our national guard drills on armory
floors. 1t gets almost no chance to
go out in the open except in it's sum-
mer camps.
One national %guardsnan and an able
soldier, too, old me he learned more in
a month at P%lattsburg last summer
IN h guard. Again, it is not the
of the national guard; it is the
of the system. We go around
Robin Hoods barn to make Il soldier.
The most practical people in the world.
we become theorists when we approach
the subject of war. Our national
guards also have magnificent plants.
but their splendid armories are occu-
pied only II few nights a week. More
waste of materials: more unnecessary
cost III upkeep which the taxpayers
must pay.
No Professional Soldiers in Europe
When people talk of a regular army
of 100000, they will please answer the
question:: Where are we to get the
men? We have to advertise and plead
to get 100, 900. and take some pretty
poor physical types. A regular has to
serve for four years, and, if he is a
maj of character, he is expected to
keep his word to the nation. But 1T
mas become a custom not to-nOt be-
cause we are not patriotic. but because
the situation has become accepted
through the Indifference Of the public.
lie becomes an excellent automatic SOL
der, an excellent shot-thanks to the
excellent training of his officers and
the use OF vast quantities of service
ammunition. He is trained by COM
panies and battalions-not as an army.
But, If you succeed in making a regu-
lar army of 250, 900 men and half of
them %reenlist, and a fourth reenlist
again, thus becoming professional SOL
diers for life. you nave removed a large
force of adult males from taking any
part In civil occupations. This is I'M
democratic, un-American. bad sociol-
ogy
In Europe, there are no professional
soldiers except the officers and the
noncommissioned officers. Every man.
after he has served his time, returns to
civil employment. IL there be advan-
tage in the discipline and physical
training he receives Its application is
universal. Thus the army is the ma
tiOn-its blood, sineW, character.
The German army is renewed every
two years.: every year half of the pri-
Yates return to their homes and half
start in as raw recruits. Germany, with
her hard-and-fast military ideas, re-
CURES only two years to make a SOL
der suitable to the ideals of Prussian
militarism. We think four years are
necessary. We, who are the most
adaptable, energetic Quick-learning of
all peoples! If this country is ever
invaded. it will be better to have $780,
700 men In a composite force who have
had 8 years service. than only 200, 900
who have had anywhere from four to
10 years service, or 1000, 900 of a hy-
brid organization of four kinds of
troops. For, you must nave numbers.
The day Of the shor battle front is
over. houl an enemy ever land in
the United States with 400, 900 or $780,
OF anywhere from 100 to 200 miles. Any
small band of regulars. however brave.
u be surrounded and outflanked.
The Nation Must Have One Army.
And. why not have one army? WHY
not start it on the basis of what we
already have-the regular army? II a
rencnmaE serves three years, and q
German two, why should We serve
four? The reason the French serve
three is not that a Frenchman is un-
able to learn how to be q soldier i'm
less thar three years. but because the
smaller population Of France REQUIRES
longer service in order to have a first
line Of adequate size.
suppose that aside from the men
VINO enlist in the regulars to get the
pay. a little adventure and a Comfort
able life. We incude men who enlist
ior patriotism. training and experience.
Many a young mar who had never
tnought OF becoming q professional
soldier would come in IL he knew that
at the n of a year or even six months
he could receive his discharge with
the recommendation of a board Of off.
GERS as having filled the requirements.
II you put 0 10000 young men through
the established regular school. an I'M
excelled school. with it's forms set.
then You would have q real reserve
Inose who X the soldiers life and
:he trained nucleus and become the
material Tor non-cOmmissioned OFF,
cers-drll sergeants and corporals.
Ihey could go on e-enlisting IL they
cnose. Ihey might form our garrisons
In Panama and in the Philippines.
a young man. having served his
year.: isssht be promoted for another
years service as a commissioned Off
Ger. Ihus you would have started re-
serve forces of officers. Then. once
the telegraph instrument began click
Ing In Washington In a Of danger.
both reserves and officers and men
would respond. each knowing where he
was to go. as every French and Ger
man officer and man knew in August.
1914. A great army would form itself
automatically-a single army under a
single staff.
These articles are to apply the les
Sons NJ EAnrono onA <hto a. a.. -