The Benson signal., 1917-09-29
BY HEYWooD BRoUN.

BY HEYWooD BRoUN.
(Accredited to the Pershing Army in
France by the New York Tribune and
Syndicate.)
American Expedidonary Army
"The most important factor in the
American army will be discipline" said
kn officer shortly after the troops came
Dut to the training camps. "1f 1t has
good discipline it will be good army;
lf it has bad discipline, 1t will be
bad army. I can watch regiment
stand at attention and tell you wheth-
, er or not it can fight effectively"
= The question remains as to what sort
Of discipline the American army Will
have. Some observers say that there
are two kinds of good discipline
French discipline and English disci-
pline. Under the French system there
are let-down periods. Off duty an Of
6cer may fraternize with enlisted men
TO an extent which would scandalize
the English army. This is due, In part,
to the fact that the armies are COM
posed differently. The English army
Is much more stratified than the
French. 1t has, as the American army
had before the war, distinct officers
class. An Englishman Of certain edu-
cation receives a commission as mat
ter of course. Under the volunteer
system, which prevailed at the begin
ming of the war, the English volunteer
of the upper or upper middle class
did not offer his services until he was
/ prepared to fulfill the duties Of an
officer. The French draft, on the other
hand, thrust many distinguished cit1-
zen into the ranks. A sergeant In
the instruction division here was one
of the most popular playwrights in
France before the war, and the other
day a grimy little man climbed from
q coal cart to tell me in perfect
English that he had been an assistant
professor Of Romance languages in
one of the great American universi-
ties-Cornell, I think.-before the call
came.
Of course, when the word English
discipline is used it falls short Of the
and English discipline are vastly diff
ferent There is popular story about
an Anzac colonel in Egypt who drew
up his men and told them:
can English general is coming here
today to inspect the regiment, and re-
member, d you, don't call me Bill
until he goes"
Canadians Well Disciplined.
~ An instructor at a British training
camp told me that the Canadians were
now among the best disciplined troops
I'm the army, but that the Australians
still gave occasional trouble. every
now and then," he said, ''a couple Of
them will sneak down to the woods
and camp out alone for couple Of
days."
British officers will tell you that, al
though the Australians fight WE'LL their
losses are much higher than they
would be with better discipline. If
there is such a possibility as an alb
solutely democratic army, it has been
much impaired by the poor work of
the Russian republican army. The
scheme of submitting each plan Of at
tack to the soldiers before it is or
dered cannot be said to have proved
effective.
The question of discipline in the
American army is complicated by many
factors. Before the war there was a
gulf between officers and men fully as
wide as that in the English army. 1t
was not due to lack of democracy. 1t
was q gulf founded on fundamental
differences of character and education.
On one hand, there was the officer
class, carefully selected and carefully
trained, and on the other hand, the en-
listed men, haphazardly accepted from
the floating population. Professional
armies the world over are recruited
largely from the industrially inefficient
during times of peace.
An American regular of no great
promise was bewailing the fact that an
officer had hoped him because he
executed a command imperfectly.
"Well," his companion answered.
"wouldn't the farmer bawl you out if
he told you to feed the horses and you
didn't give them as much as he told
your" 1t was the typical point Of view
of the old type of professional SOL
der. He was drawn from the "bawled
OUT class and he could be governed
only by "bawl cut" methods.
Things are largely changed now
More than half the American army in
France is made up of men who Joined
after the declaration Of war. They
were not jobless or inefficient. Multi
tudes of reasons sent them into the
ranks. A few wanted to make the
world safe for democracy. Many. more
desired adventure, an ocean voyage
and a trip to Paris and perhaps Ber-
lin.
SI was marching nv men along the