The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1917-07-21

the Spanish-American war was from bad beef In
stead Of bullets, from mosquitoes in place Of mis-
siles, from flies and disease rather than from the
destructive force of the Spaniards.
Science and sanitation riumph over the
mosquito. Now 1t remains for American army
moral sanitation to triumph over the ruthless enc
mics, booze and disease.
One can read in the draft law, in the regula-
tions and in the express actions Of Secretary Of
War Baker that he means this army of 100000
clean young Americans to be the first army that
ever took the field and stayed in the field and re-
turned from the field untainted by the dual war
vices. Secretary Baker is determined that the
wounds inflicted upon our army of liberation shall
be those inflicted by the central powers, and not
those so habitually inflicted by the army upon
itself.
Recreation is to take the place of idleness
and indulgence. Adjoining miasmatic swamps of
booze and vice are to be drained. Resort will be
mad In garrison to healthful exercise, to whole
some amusement, to off-hour activities, to ath-
letics, to play and to the devices that healthy men
indulge In at home.
Says Surgeon Major D. c. Howard in a recent
war department bulletin:
Recreation will be of great value. Tdleness
is said to be the mother of lechery. Wholesome
amusements and athletics will make the garrison
so attractive that the soldier will be inclined to
spend his spare time in garrison. No present-d ay
problem In military preventive medicine Is Of
greater Importance In relation to the physical
efficiency of the army than that Of effectual con-
troll of venereal disease"
Thus boldly is the issue stated, because thus
boldly does the secretary of war propose to meet
mans worst enemy, which Surgeon Major Mans
describes as "The Great Red Plague"
Here is the common foe of embattled mankind.
Aid and comfort have been given this enemy by
the in-advised and prudish censorship of social
science.
I'VE want no damaged goods in the American
army of democracy" Capt. E. B. Vedder of the
United States Medical cOrnS dnc1oraS And RI
show how strictly does General Gorgas propose to
make the American expedition as clean as he
made Havana and Panama, the Wassermann test,
and not mere height and e~yesight, is the supreme
standard of fitness for this war.
This 100000 army of select men, possessing
youth, physique and health, the war department
proposes to return to their homes, If they survive
mere shot and shell, as fit fathers of q future race.
The distressful (many returned men and officers
say the disgracefuD social conditions that OBJ
tanned on the Mexican border will not be repeated
at Plattsburg, at Niagara, at Fort Sheridan or in
Europe. The FL Paso vice barracks, the hideous
dives-this nightmare will not be lived through
again. 1t belongs to the typhoid-malaria age.
The great American game of baseball will form
a vital part in the training of the soldiers of the
army of democracy. When young America in
civil life is not at work it is at the ball game or
at the motion picture show or at play in some
form. The American expeditionary soldier will
play as fast as he will train for service.
This is the dictum of a recreation expert who
knows the value of recreation, moral and educa-
tional, and who also knows the philosophy Of
Messrs. Baker and Gorgas. My authoritative in
formant continues with an enthusiasm that is in
fectious:
"Good athletes take such pride in their physical
fitness (and good soldiers are necessarily good
~athletes) that they will not abuse their health by
indulgences. But, aside from personal pride in
fitness, play is in itself the great prophylaxis
against immoral abuses.
''NVOrk Is n nrODhVlactic agent against digpASe
but play is its counterpart, If not its peer. Play
means health. The play spirit alone is strictly
normal. Play is the preventive against physical
and mental and moral breakdown"
The rediscovery of play as a social agent is one
Of the most vital discoveries of modern times.
Recreation is it's organized application. 1t has
been applied educationally. 1t has been DELHI
erately applied to redeem the city youth from
crime and degeneracy. But 1t lent itself natural
ly, unconsciously, to the adults, needs in the
marvellous development Of recreations other than
booze and vice.
Secretary of War Baker is sensitive to modern
sociological developments. 1t went without saying
that, whatever might be his merits or dement's in
practical military organization, he of all men
would bring to the American army of democracy
an appreciation of the sociological factors. A
system of recreation for the enlisted man that
! will supplant booze and vice will undoubtedly take
shape from the earliest mobilization, and will con-
tinue to be a safety device for this uniquely pro-
tected army on the battle front.
One observes with keen interest that the war
department has engaged a number of recreation
experts for the supervision of recreation at the
large training camps. There is here no mere
theoretc attention to play, no paper application
of recreation philosophy, no mere philanthropic
interest in the soldiers idle hour similar to the
interest which a charitable gentleman would take
in supplying tracts to a hospital, or books to an
old ladies' home, or a bat and ball to a nephew.
The problem before us is scarcely of a part with
sewing society work. However, to avoid any
gesture of sensationalism, it is well to follow the
plain, serious words of the war department bulle-
tins to illustrate the vice side of the problem.
Capt. Il. B. Vedder of the United States Medical
corps, In War Department Bulletin No. s, writes
substantially as follows:
"our sick report has been a reproach in that we