Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-09-24

ress, that will put great premium On
that young man who is ready with
trained engineers diploma to step
into the breach? Perhaps we will
catch many a young man who might
not have gone to college otherwise who
awakens to this wonderful opportunity,
and will make sacrifices to enter col
lege now that he would not ordinarily
have made.
why, only short year ago one
of Americas foremost engineers told
me that fully half of the engineering
talent of this country was already un
der contract for reconstruction serv-
ice in Europe for the period following
the war!
A BIG JOB FOR THE COLLEGES.
THE college that is doing its bit
this fall for Uncle Sam is planning to
take all the young men of military
age into its arms that 1t can gather,
prepare them for the big job of eco
nomic, business, social and political
reconstruction that is bound to follow
this European carnage, and, at the
same time train them for actual mill
| tary service-push the military in
| struction idea right in and up to the
| hilt If the worst comes to the worst,
and the last man of all Americas war
| age has to plunge into the war against
autocracy, why, then, the plunge must
| be made.
THE idea that this is not a college
mans war is simply preposterous. 1t
is a college mans war, but it was a
| big mistake, nevertheless, for those
crack regiments to be hurried together
! back on our eastern college and uni
versity campuses with brilliantly
| equipped men, mentally and physically,
in the ranks, every one Of them po-
| tention officer. England made that
mistake on a bigger scale. Some Of
her regiments of such crack talent
were hurled into untimely graves, and
some fine officers for the great mob
of drafted men that came later were
wa sted.
The western colleges handled this
situation more wisely than the eastern.
They were advised Of the government
plan of a national army, and they went
about training their men in the rudi-
ments of military drill. with the idea
that they who might be called into ma
tional service should be fit.
THE coLLEGIAN'S
NOBLE ANSWER.
'.Tactically. 1t was an inspiring
thing that the eastern colleges rushed
forth with their volunteers. The psy
Geological effect of it ell was magntfi-
cent. for II showed that the great
heart of the American college beat true
and In time to the country's pulse.
1T heard one of thu big southern ed
ucators speaking at the n. f. A. in
Portland this summer declare that one
reason for the slow recovery of the
south from the devastations of the civil
war in her reconstruction period was
the fact that al the outbreak of the
war every college shut their doors.
The big proportion of these trained
youths fell on battlefields, and there
| were none ready to take their places.
The call for trained men for the south
big economic problems after tIal war
found pitifully few prepared, and tne
south suffered terribly.
Our high government officials
from the president down. notably Gen
eral Wood, have appealed to our col
leges to push ahead, full steam up, TO
bring forth trained young men of the
highest efficiency for not only war
service, but for economic service, for
the war after the war.
The University of Idaho has made
a noble response. We are checking up
on the records of enlistments, but the
list is not complete, and | could not
approximate the number of present
students even, let alone the scattered
alumni and former students. ! an
told that Idaho U made a wonderful
record during the Spanish American
war, sending a quota out of all pro-
portion TO the record of other colleges
of its size.
THESE so4 LOOK GOOD TO HIM
Many of our young officers have
come back from the Preside within tn,
last few weeks, and they were won.
derful sight to me. Such fine. up
standing chaps. They are, many o
them, from the uplands, from the for
ests and mines and from sturdy oil,
pioneer stock, born outdoorsmen, deep
chested straight back boned natura
born fighters.
Il am told that so per cent of tn
Idahoans who entered the Officers
training school at the Preside mad
good, which was far in excess of tn
record made by other coast states.
Lieutenant Felker is coming fror
Douglas, Utah, to be commandant c
our military this fall, succeeding Nal