Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1918-01-26

has led us into these troublous times
and conditions. We are wont to talk
| of the magnificent courage of our
| forefathcrs, but, 1t has often seemed
| TO me my friends that tire most I'M
| fortunate thing that ever happened IN
| this country was the fact that an un
| organ Zed militia at Bunker Hill was
| Hole TO defeat an organized army of
Great Britain. because there was
then established what was later to be
called the traditional policy Of the
| United States against the organiza.
t.on OF standing army, or. rather,
| OF trained army to be called into
service whenever the emergency re-
CURED
| ZANE OF TRADITIONAL POLICY"
"From that day TO this the histori-
| es or our country have talked about
the traditional policies of the U. S.
and have commended the valor of
the Revolutionary troops have no
disposition to critic'sc that statcmen.
| or to question the valor the indi-
vidual valor--of hhc splendid mem
who fought the battles of the Hevolu
| tlonary days. but the lack OF organi-
zation which was dccried by the com
inahdlng officers then and which has
heen dccricd by them since and has
been criticised my friends are the
troubles which confront us today and
II their recommended ons had been
followed we not only would have had
splendid army today, but that
| army would have been organized and
raised under a system Of universal
h1iNary training that would haNe
made zig absolutely uncomfortable.
washington called attention TO
IT, ana | have sometimes wondered
how that distinguished command
or OF the American forces with his
splendid aid, Alexander Hamilton.
ever had time to organize an army
because they devoted much Of their
time to appeals to a Continental Con
gress and TO the States to assist them
II organizing an army that might be
successful in accomplishment of Vic
,'fy. wish ] could go into these mat
ters and discuss the various battles
that were fought; but, incidentally
Jet me tel You, my friends, that Amcri
"a ana not owe the accomplishment
VI victory III 1888 to its own splendid
army organization. but she owed It
70 France and the splendid efforts
That France made.
with all the pacifists that mr.,
abroad in the land denouncinr Ampri
ca lor sending Il few hundred thous.
ana men, or Il million, to France IN
this day Of rapid transit. il is we'll
TO remember that when America, ON
account Of Washington's efforts m.
peaied to France for assistance tbov
sent to us under Rochambcau five or
SIN thousand troops across the wafer
ana instead of talk 'ng them five or TON
u"FS OF Two weeks to reach America
theE were seventy-seven DAYS from
inc time they left Il French port IN
.,i they landed at Newport, II. T., af
'hctea with disease, and chased
every foot Of the way by n British
lleet. My friends, if America, had
nothlhg else to fight for in this war
pul TO preserve the magnificent
french Republic. every drop of blood
anu every dollar OF the treasury
would be we'll spent for this splendid
people.
am going to skip through II all
because my time Is almost IN now
we nave got to get out of here at 3
o'clock. mind You.
Trad'tional policy? 1t seems TO
me that n war policy called for NV
washington and advocated by him
would sustain n policy now of training
young men to battle for their coun-
Try. We have departed from tradition
al policy. thank God, and In the last
TWO years we have enacted n law
mat, as your Chairman has said, com
pels Americans to know that the du
Ties or citizenship carry with them
the responsibility for service when
ever that service happens to be need
cd.
VICIOUS VOLUNTEER SYSTEM.
1.-THE selcctive draft law which has
been mentioned here put into service
every man between 81 and 30; and it
may be said to the credit Of these
young men who have been drafted
mat they are rendering just as eff
iectiVe and just as patriotic service
rs those who have volunteered. I
sometimes regret that volunteering
mas ever been permitted. for the reas
on that in the loss that we sustain
III the battles where there Is vol
unteer system. as there was in Great
br1taln, we have Il horizontal loss,
taking the young, redbloodcd people
mat volunteer for service and leaving
'''"oS "ho ouSllI 10 nave SnarGu the
late or Their colleagues at the first
. sound OF war. On the other hand, un-
der this system we take from the
walks OF industrial and commercial
any everyday life young men Of all
classes so that there is not this hort
2ontal loss that I speak Of. but rather
nerncndicuar loss. where the high
and the low, the rich and the poor,
the professional man and the art san
stand shoulder to shoulder and when
losses come, the loss fails on all,
every social stratum OF life.
let me tell you that we are going
10 extend that. We are going to conn.,
mcncc to train the Young men from
IS to q so that when they become 81
we will have an army Of young men
To draw from from every walk Of
, life.
"Eut say the pacifists it Is un--
necessary in the United States to