The citizen. [volume] (Berea, Ky.) 1899-1958, 1917-08-23
BY JOSePHuS DANIELS,
Secretary Of the Navy.

war work council:
BY JosePHUs DANIELS,
Secretary Of the Navy.
OF all the sacrifices that have been
made. that are being made or that will
be made for our country in this war.
there is no sacrifice so heroic, so I'M
selfish, so terrible, as the sacrifice of
the mother who sends her son. In his
strong, clean young manhood, from the
protecting influence of his home, with
no one near to guide or advise him save
his military superiors. No man can
fully realize what this sacrifice means.
Only a mothers heart can understand.
OF all the responsibilities. in these
hours Of heavy responsibilities. that
are laid upon the civilian heads Of the
army and the navy. there is, after all.
no responsibility more weighty, more
solemn, more fraught with terrible re-
suits II evaded, than this responsible
ity Of acting in a mothers place toward
these splendid youths on whom the ma
ton rests its hope of existence.
The young sailor or soldier of today
will form no small part of the nation s
very lifeblood in the times Of peace
following. To consider now their moral
as well as their physical well being is
not the narrow view; 1t is the broad
view, the big, farsighted view Of
things. / have no patience with those
who sneer at any attempt to keep our
young men as sound In mind as they
are In body, to send them back as wor-
thy to become the leaders of the nation
in times of peace as II they had not
had the horrible experience Of war, be-
cause there Is no view 80 utterly one
sided, SO utterly unmilitary In the big
gest sense of the word, SO ostrich-like,
80 entirely opportunistic, petty and
contemplate, as the attitude which
considers these boys as SO much can
non fodder" to be drilled with gun and
bayonet, to be taught to obey military
commands and then through neglect
OF their moral well being to be thrown
back upon their country after the war
debased In morals, broken In health.
like so many squeezed oranges, a poi
son IN our body polite. instead OF a
strong, invigorating new life. That is
the policy which those who are arguing
that we should ignore matters of mo-
rality would have us seriously consider.
What "MiIitary' Means
Those who pirate that interest In this
matter Is 'unmilitary" show a sad ig-
norance Of what military" means.
There Is nothing so important from a
military standpoint as the morale OF
the men, and morale and morals In the
long run are synonymous. Nature In
variably Furnishes the offender against
her laws by disease. A sailor or a sol
der to be efficient must be healthy; to
be healthy he must be clean living. A
man In the military service stricken by
any Of the diseases that follow excess
or unclean living is as dead for mill
tary purposes as IL he was stricken by
the enemy's fire.
Napoleon has said that ian army
travels on its belly" 1t is equally true
that 1t fights with its soul No army
Of degenerates could win In the Cruel
ing test Of endurance Of modern war
fare against an army Of clean. fresh
young manhood. with all their vigor
Of mind and body unimpaired. Such is
my belief, and such, know. is the be-
lief of the secretary Of war.
80 much for the theory. What have
we done In the navy and army to put
this theory into practice?
Newport a. an Example.
Perhaps the practical example of
Newport is the best answer-not that
Newport was In any way modern
Sodom. not that II was a crying scan
dal of the nation, but rather because II
represented I'm its viewpoint and its
morals the careless indifference Of so
many OF our cities toward those who
are strangers within their gates as to
what they did to occupy their time. SO
far, indeed, as the openness OF vice is
concerned Newport was somewhat
complacent. Into this careless, thought.
less summer resort were suddenly
placed some thousands Of young men,
fresh from their homes, free from all
restraints they had known.
When ! first took up this matter
with the state authorities 1t was re
ferred TO the Newport officials for a
report The reply was one Of mild
wonder at my questions and a frank
and ingenious admission that II was
true that there were gambling resorts
and houses Of Ill fame, easily aces
sible to any youth with money In his
pocket, but that on the whole condi-
lions were very satisfactory.
There are today many small towns
and cities far more dangerous 30 the
morals OF the youths who live therein
than is Newport. And as at Newport,
30 will II be everywhere our enlisted
youths are stationed II II lies In the
power Of this great government OF
ours 10 make II so.
What ! am doing In respect 10 the
navy the secretary OF war is doing
with equal yigor as regards the army