New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-02-18
By SYDNEY BROOKS

XIV > DlNEI DINOOEN1
r America enters the war how should
-, about the business with the least
...,psion and the greatest efficiency? A
..,.rsblv complete answer TO that question
n,,n;shed by British experience. 1t IS
=, absolutely complete, because the condi-
IS Of the two countries are not abso-
.,.lv identical; because America will
...,,elv under any circumstances be fight
as Great Britain has been during the
-, thirty months, a fight for existence,
"A because the remoteness of the United
~..ss from the scene of the main conflict
..absr comparative immunity from direct
..,.,k make many precautions unneces-
- that we in England were obliged 70
.a.rt and enforce at once. But In their
s.,sS outlines the problems that will con-
;,,rt Americans if and when war is
aired upon them will be essentially the
,,r. as those that we have had to tackle
,ir.s August, 1914. And apprehend that
,lits in what we did we'll and in what we
A badly, in our failures no less than in
=, ,uccesses. there is more for Americans
:, barn from British experience than from
4. s,perience of any other of the belliger-
~. In this article l propose to present
=. tsbulated form some of the chief les
ms of that experience.
First, in regard to raising armies. We
rsds two fundamental mistakes which
Americans, I hope, will avoid. To begin
With. we accepted every physically fit man
II military age who chose to offer himself.
The consequence was that the military au-
,borities we're quickly swamped with re-
,ruits whom they had neither the officers
,sr the camps nor the organization to
tsndle. Another consequence was that
y had TO increase the standards for re-
fruits in order TO lessen the flow to give
he military machine time to catch up.
The result of this was dampening Of
as national ardor, general assumption
MT no more men we're needed, and, after
sni. titanic campaign of education and
svDeal to convince the country that that
assumption was unfounded.
How can Americans avoid this error?
They can avoid it by adopting the expe-
dent which in Great Britain is associated
Nth Lord Derby's name. The essence OF
he Derby scheme was to square the num-
Ter Of recruits TO the capacity of the war
Office 10 drill and train them. This was
accomplished by enrolling all volunteers
Sho had passed the medical examination.
Once enrolled, however, they were not all
dispatched 10 the nearest training camps.
The great majority were told TO go home,
any on their normal businesses and wait
uutl the military authority of the district
rotifed them they were needed. In this
vsy the disturbance to trade and social
lie was reduced 20 a minimum and the
Var Office knew exactly how many men
co1N count upon and was able to sum-
un them 10 camp at the moment that
1 rest suited its convenience.
Another excellent feature of the Derby
Ian was the group system. By this the
rrnteers we're divided into forty-six
Ecup5, twenty-three Of them representing
u bachelors between the ages of eighteen
itt forty-one. and the other twenty-three
''Presenting the married men. When the
Aetsr was complete the War Office was
a0s IN position to call up the single men
NJ and in rotation and 10 leave the bene-
acs alone.