The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1918-01-11
cannot afford to enter into confidential
relations with an enlisted man.


relations with an enlisted man.
ITO cite an instance, you have the
privaet of the national guard, who is
on familiar terms with his captain
Say, there, joe says the private adj
dressing the captain, they put me on
kitchen police and I've got an impor,
tant engagement in town tonight Fix
it up for me- If Captain Joe does fig
it up, then the fellow who works in
his place is boiling mad. and the first
thing you know the entire company is
worked up.
at is true that in the trenches the
lineSbetween officer and enlisted man
is not so severely drawn. but the en-
listed man who reaches the trenches
has learned beforehand the respect
due an officer and the necessity oil
obeying on the instant his orders. To
relax discipline would demoralize the
entire army and make it unfit for ser
vice. / am conscious of the fact that
in our army today we may nave en-
listed men who were the employers
Of officers under whom they now serve
when | state that discipline must be
observed above everything. Intermin
Cling Of officers and men socially
upon an equal basis must necessarily
be restricted"
If in the trenches, why not outside
the trenches? 1t is a poor rule that
Will not work both ways
But in extending the common cour
tesies OF life in the army the same as
in private life why is it necessary fol
the officer to slobber over the private
or the private to slObber over the Off
GER and call him Joe. or Jack, or
John?
We are fighting to rid the world OF
the Prussian military system, and to
do so we must first pluck the beam
out of our own eye, and then we can
fight the battle of democracy with
some degree of consistency
Colonel. Allison of the signal corps,
stationed /at Monterey, Cal. speaking
Of Major Brady of the second hospital
corps, says of him:
When on duty, or in drills of any
character everything is business and
discipline; but when the days bust
ness is over. and hours of recreation
and amusement are in order. Major
Brady mingles among his men with all
the freedom of friend He visits
with members of his company. they
join together in music. in singing. and
the dance: and his men swear by him
and would die for him We have talk
ed with his men and inquired of them
if this infOrmality on the part of their
officer caused them to respect him any
less, or Ned to laXness in discipline.
Far from it,, was the reply, we es-
TEEN him all the more He places us
on our honor and treats US like gen.
tlemen and equals when not on duty.
and we know our places when in the
ranks. He permits no laXness in dis
cipline, and no man in the ranks
would presume on his kindness sim
ply because he is treated as a gentle
man when off duty We strive all the
harder to prove ourselves worthy OF
the confidence he places in us.
That is the true American. the gen
uine democratic method.
We repeat with emphasis that the
more the privates are attached to
their officers the easier will be the
discipline, and the more efficient the
army. but this attachment cannot be
made by making them perform me.
NAL services, and treated as if they
were mere machines, and not men
We must Americanize. not Prussian.
lZe, our army.