The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1917-04-26
OUR
AN EFFICIENT ARMY OIL
PRIME REQUISITE.

"The failure of the RoumanlanS was due
to the lack of sufficient number OF
trained officers and men and the short
age of artillery. machine guns and avl-
ators. Prior to the war the insufficient.
funds prevented the training OF all OF
the men in the country. Thus the war
compelled the use of large numbers OF
unframed men, who, in spite OF their
recognized bravery, could not compete
with the trained enemy. Only trained
and disciplined men are of value inr the
modern warfare and universal setvlce
in time of peace therefore is essential.
Modern war demands more discipline
than ever, and it has become the soul
of an army"
In spite of their bravery they
could not compete with the train
ed enemy" is a sentence in the
above quotation that should be
deeply considered by every
American.
The million brave men that
would spring to arms between
sunrise and sunset" as Mr..
BRYAN said, would be nothing
but a mob against trained troops.
Without trained officers, sufficient
artillery and machine guns and
skilled aviators the American
army would melt away to total
destruction against the modern
warriors of the German Empire.
And yet with all history back
of us pointing out the errors of
the past, men like Bryan. Calm
ger, Sherman. Dent, Vardaman,
Kirby and others are contending
for the indefensible volunteer
system. Mr.. Vardaman says,
compulsory military service
at this time is an affront to the
patriotism of the better class of
our people. 1t should be resorted
to only when the nation is down
to the dregs for men,. "
How a man, pretending to be
statesman, can give expression
to such language at this time is
beyond the comprehension of
rational minds. America is in
desperate need of an army to
protect the present and guaran-
tee the future. There is only
one way to raise this army and
train the men quickly to meet
the requirement of modern war
fare. That is universal liability
to service. The president is con-
WINGED that this is so. The mil
itary authorities are on Bonded
knees, as it were. begging con-
gress to enact such a law. And
now the common sense of the
United States accept the fact.
The American people realized
that they lin a real war and
a desperate one. We must win
it, yet we are totally unready
to strike an effective blow in
military sense, and it will be
months before we are ready even
if the army general staff's plans
are carried out with energy and
intelligence.
Patrick Henry once said:" |
have but one lamp by which my
feet are guided, and that is the
lamp of experience. l know no
way of judgment of the future
but by the past.
We hold the military record of
this country is one of disgraceful
incompetency, laundering and
criminal waste of lives and
money, because of a persistent
policy of unpreparedness, and in
the use of the volunteer system.
In sthe revolutionary war it
took 100000 'cofonist and their
French allies, fighting on their
own grounds, to, defeat $50, 600
British regulars. There was
hardly battle in the war in
which British were not outnum-
bered.
No wonder Gen. Washing ton
said:
Regular troops alone are equal to the
exigencies of modern war, as well for
defense as for offense. Whenever a
substitute is attempted it must prove
illusory and ruinious. The firmness re-
uuisite for the real business of fighting
is only to be obtained by a constant
course of discipline and service"
In the war of 1912 British sol
diers were veterans of the Ma
poleonic wars in Europe still be-
ing waged. Hence it took only
$4,000 seasoned British soldiers
in that war TO invade American
soil, hold off $4,000 American
volunteer soldiers, devastate the
eastern coast and burn the nat
ions capital.
In the Creek Indian war it
took $4,000 volunteers to SUBJ
due 1000 Indians. In the Florida
war it took $4,000 volunteers to
subdue 5000 Indians. In the
Mexican war it took 105, 000l
American volunteers to defeat
45, 600 Mexicans.
With such a record to guide
us; with the United States I'M
prepared and at war with the