The Detroit times., 1917-06-12
The Real Thing
BY Or. FRANK CRANE
Copyright. 1915. by Frank Crano)

Almost all army men will tell you that
the worst thing about war is not getting
shot, not the marches and the limited
diet-these are by way of being adven-
turous-but it is the terrific. persistent
moral disintegration that sets in during
the long periods of inactivity.
A crowd of men has tendency to set
tie down to the moral level Of the coars-
est In camp and barrack life the print
tive barbaric instincts crop out.
In the first place, "it is not good that
the man should be alone. now. any more
than it was before Eve arrived in the
garden; and any womanless place Of con-
gregation is apt TO slump Even the
history of the medieval monasteries is
not pretty reading. Penitentiares and
prison colonies of men develop a grim
and ferocious atmosphere Boys schools
have 10 be watched closely. and the av-
erage man club is not as a rule the place
where revivals Of religion are inaugu-
rated.
Women are somehow the custodians Of
the decency of the human race. When
you eliminate women the forces in men
are apt to illuminate destructively.
1t is stated that 10000 men in the
British concentration camps are already
incapacitated on account Of venereal dis
ease.
And not only this kind of perversion,
but other forms of ethical loosening
are liable to occur. Drunkenness is
soldiers vice. To prohibit the use Of
alcohol in any form 10 soldiers adds at
least ten per cent TO their efficiency
The question Of maintaining the
morals Of troops is of vital Importance.
1t means more TO keep a soldier from
getting sick than it does to keep him
from getting killed. For when he's sick
he's a burden; when hes killed he's
gone.
People. however are very fnicky about
interference with their morals. For
some reason soldier is perfectly willing
to undergo the most severe restrictions
as to his labors, his time. and his life,
but he resents il when he is not allowed
to poison himself hiariously.
The government, therefore, has given
it's official sanction TO the Y NJ c. A.,
recognizing the vast benefit of this or
ganization in maintaining the morale Of
the fighting men.
BY substituting clean games, motion
pictures, reading rooms, educational
classes, religious services, and athletic
championships in buildings equipped with
pools. gymnasiums, and audtoNums, the
Y. VI. c. A has gone long way toward
saving enlisted men from missteps that
generally occur because of a lack of some
thing to do to relieve the deadly monot-
ony Of their lives
American army officers have gone on
record with the statement that with the
coming of Y. NJ. c. a. to an army post
assertions We're cut in half and the
morale of the troops invariably raised
The war department recognizes the y. NJ
c. A. as one Of the most effective forces
in the upbuilding Of strong. clean. and
efficient manhood in the ranks Of enlist
ed men
In response to a call from the British
War Office-the first appeal Of the kind
thus far issued to America contingent
Of ninety-two Princeton and Northwest
ern University college men sailed few
days ago to engage in T. NJ C. A. work
at the front They will be followed in
the course Of the next two or three
months fby succession Of expeditions
that will number some eighteen hundred
men. Their expenses will be betrayed
by American voluntary contributions.
This is real religion. real service to
humanity.
II is the real thing.