The Detroit times., 1916-04-14
Preparedness
from the Thinker
~ Or. FRANK CRANE
Copyright. 1915. by Frank Crans)

/
Always the one to whom the people
should 60 for council in a crisis il the
thinker. not the doer, not the talker.
The United States is now in q crisis.
The vast and complicated issues Of the
war in Europe are upon us, full of un-
known menace, perhaps also of oppor-
Itunity.
We are flooded with advice from busi-
ness men, bankers, trust magnates, en-
gineers, army officers-doers all. Their
views are unsafe. They lack perspective.
They are too close to the days duty, and
cannot grasp the counsel Of years, the
deep significance of historic forces.
Congress is full of plans. But con-
gressmen are takers. Their eye is too
much upon immediate expediency.
The very biggest idea about prepared
ness we will find in the study OF the
college professor, the remote student, the
psychologist the thinker-WILLIAM
JAMES, the greatest American thinker
since Emerson.
What does he say?
"In war is an appeal to the spirit OF
idealism that expresses itself in magnifi-
cent courage and self -abnegation. If the
world were TO give this up without Sc
curing a substitute there would be i'm
mense loss. That substitute may be
found in the development Of spirit OF
devotion not destructive but constructive.
not leading to the narrowness INSOFAR
able from the intense and bitter partisan
ship of war, but leading to finer con-
ception of public service, and, at the
same time, creating sturdier race"
Read that over carefully. Most things
you see in newspaper you may skim.
But these words you ought to drink slow
ly. tasting every drop. digesting them
well.
For here you see IN nutshell all the
advantage of war, and why people love
| it. II is idealism. 1t is chance to get
out of petty, narrow living, to do some
thing big, magnificent, noble.
Anybody can see the woe and waste
of war; few see its spiritual compensa-
ton.
And here you can see how nation can
get all this advantage of idealism, OF de-
votion to public service, without the hor-
ror and ruin.
1t is to organize the youth Of the coun-
try into a constructive army, with mill
tary enthusiasm devoting itself to public
works.
Says President James A. B. Scherer
of Throop College of Technology:
Take leaf from the wise little book
of economical Switzerland. Under the
civil control of the government why
should we not organize upon the slopes
of our mountains, in the wastes OF the
deserts, and along the flood-threatened
valleys, great camps of constructive
army of peace, trained to the conserva-
ton of resources, Injured to wholesome
hardship, and drilled also sufficiently In
military tactics so that they would
find noble moral substitute for war In
saving life and outstanding the bounty
Of nature. thus serving the state as
soldiers of the common good yet ready
also for defense whenever defense ma
be required? Not dollar of their pay
would be wasted, but every cent prema-
nently invested The hardihood of our
fibre would be toned up, the loss Of bill
lions averted, the pressure of unemploy--
ment alleviated, and a peaceful army Of
la million men gradually built up. inspir-
ed not with military ambition but with
the joy of creative achievement in the
service of the state, and therefore, be-
cause they have put their own bone and
muscle into it all the more ready in time
of national peril to stand like a stone
wall against the threatened invasion?"