The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1918-06-06
Universal Military Training

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right to the bottom of the military tain-r
ing question in the following aricle,t
which is well worth the attention of
every father, mother and boy in the
country:
The world we knew in 1914 has passed
away. Germany has taught us the folly
and the danger of being unprepared.
There can be no security in our national
life except as we insure it by our own
methods of defence.
Our isolation is gone. We are in the
midst of the irresistible world-stream of
National forces. Our armies are in Eu-
rope. When will they be recalled? No
one knows. q
There is but one Just, democratic meth
cd of making war, and that is by univer-
sal draft wherein every citizen is called
upon to serve according to his powers.
There must be no Sinking, no shifting of
pain and sorrow to others. We must all
do our share. and to do our share we must
marching and shooting but IN all the
manifold departments of modern military
service First of all we must be eft"
This training should start in the schools.
! should like to see the drill-the "set-
ting up drill, - in use on every playground.
Girls as well as boys should be taught to
stand erect, to walk strongly and grace
fully and to move in unison. A mighty
force for regeneration lies IN tins drill.
AS a nation we have been for twenty
years on the down grade. Tenement life,
apartment hotel luxury, office and shop
work, poor food and foolish forms of
amusement have so Slapped the vitality
of our young men that an appalling num-
Der of them fail to pass the tests of the
Examining Boards-and at the same time
our women present an even worse condl-
ton. Hobble-skirts, high-heeled shoes,
bad air, the use of tea and pastries and
movie theaters have made them sad
procession in our city streets
Tho high heeled shoes which women
wear, and the machine-made pointed shoe
of the men of civil life are in themselves
destructive of easy, graceful and vigor-
Gus action They are of enormous sig
nificance in the problem of universal
training. Working girls who are on their
feet all day endure these torturing con-
trivances. Men who walk many miles
each day do so upon sick, distorted feet.
To correct these habits is one of the first
rules of military discipline.
Many of these weakening tendencies
can be sharply counteracted by training
in the schools, by drill which starts
with design to make the most of the STU
dents physical endowment and leads on
to the incubation of habits of dress and
exercise which tend to build up and
maintain an efficient body
We can not all be soldiers in this line.
We can not all fly in the battle plane, but
we can at least all walk like soldiers and
be ready and able to serve in some ca
pacity in our country's cause.
Training of this sort because it is uni
versal and democratic will not breed a
tyranny, We need have no fear of mill
tarism. We shall all remain citizen SOL
diers. The spirit of such training should
be with US as it is in Switzerland, defen-
sive and not aggressive, patriotic and
friendly not tyrannicai.
Where all pay no one is impoverished.
Where all serve no one is exploited
Where all are soldiers no stigma attaches
to the private's uniform. Already we
see a new regard for the man in khaki.
The men who have served in the trenches
are now coming back to US hallowed by
their sacrifice and pain. No one desc
crates the flag these days.
Our army is even now citizen army
let US keep it so by universal military
training in the schools, from the primary
grade up to the great university. Only
in this way, by building up vigorous
and powerful reserve force of trained
and competent men and women can we
safeguard the republican form of gov
eminent which we have SO toilsomely
achieved