Free trader-journal. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1916-1920, 1917-10-03

"The most important factor in the
American army will be discipline" said
an officer shortly after the troops came
out TO the training camps. IF 1t has
good discipline 1t viii be good army :;
II 1t has bad discipline. ii will be a
bad army. l can watch regiment
stand at attention and tell you wheth-
er or not 1t 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 discip!f>e-
French discipline and English disei-
pine. Under the French system there
are let-down periods. on duty an Of
1cer may fraternize 9th enlisted men
10 an extent which would scandallze
the English army. This Is due. in part.
10 the fact that the armies are COM
posed differently. The English army
Is much more stratiiied than the
French. Ii has, as the American army
had before the war, distinct officers
class. An Englishman of certain edu-
cation receives 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 citi-
gen into the ranks. A sergeant In
the instruction division here was one
Of the most popular playwrlghts 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 universe
| think-befOre the call
came.
! OF course, when the word English
discipline Is used IT falls short Of the
British army. Australian discipline
and English discipline are vastly diff
ferent. There Is popular story about
an Amaze colonel In Egypt who drew
I'M his men and told them:
An English general Is coming here
today to inspect the regiment, and re-
D. you, don't call me BIZ
until he goes
Canadians Well Disciplined.
An instructor ut u British training
camp told me that the Canadians were
now among the best disciplined troops
In the army, but that the Australians
still gave occasional trouble. EVERY
now and then" he snid, "a couple Of
them will sneak down to the woods
and camp out alone for a couple OF
days"
British officers will tell you that, A.
though the Australians fight well, their
losses are much higher than they
would be with better discipline. If
there Is such a possibility as an abb
olutely democratic army, 1t 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 1t Is or
dered cannot be said TO have proved
effective.
The question ot discipline In the
American army ls complicated by many
factors Before the war there was a
gulf between officers and men fully rs
vide as that In the English army. 1t
was not due TO lack of democracy. 1t
was a 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 q 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 II 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 out" 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
tutes Of reasons sent them into the
ranks. few wanted to make the
world safe for democracy. Many more
desired adventure, an ocean voyage
and trip to Paris and perhaps Ber-
lin.
II was marching my men along the
other day" said young captain,
"when heard private give the cheer
of the University of Nebraska. ! ran
up to him and said You didn't do that
very We'll. I'm Il Nebraska man myself
Let's do II together.
All Sorts Of officers.
There are then men drawn from
many classes in the army and there
Will he more. Already there are all
sorts Of officers. There Is the regular
from West Point, the occasional regu
lar from civil life, the officer who came
through the Fort Leavenworth tralnIn
school, the reserve officers and nnu