The daily morning oasis., 1918-01-19

OF the country IN men and material drawn
upon to build up great machine and make it ef
ective in the shortest time possible That is the
dition in these United States A great army must
modified, armed equipped and put the water
it be too ate To aid in the vast and supendous
.rtaking there are called to the aid Of the war making
rstrument thousands of young and efficient who
lave made their mark in industry, transportation or
mining in the face Of highly organized competition and
been trained in exercising all the arts of initiative
md prompt action Every of these has advance
nent by readiness to assume responsibility and IN
achieving results He has been the lookout always
methods and new means OF expeCltlng tranSac-
ons enlargng production, extending distribution. II
goes wrong he knows that his discredit will appear on
e wrong side of the annual balance sheet He is ready
ways to hear suggestions to take the short cut to de-
red end without going through the circumlocuton Of
ce and he has gathered about himself corps Of sub
)rinates who trained and governed by the same ideas
attained the highest type of proficiency He has
been trained to produce results to attain desirable ends
be inquistive and troublesome to accept responsibility
lot only for his own work but for what may happen Of
he does not like obsnacy nsubordnation yet
has not beeen trained to follow orders bindy, or to
xact urquestionng obedience. Such habits in going
siness would be dangerous; in growing they would
ave led to disaster. f1
And in the face Of the dire need Of the nation of
hat kind are traspanted from fields Of efficiency where
heir activities have been trained and developed de-
cribed field where there is the greatest need for all
IL the speed and pep they command, yet which is
onCucted on the old method outlined earlier in this
rtce governed by routine and complete reliance upon
uperor authority tied and bound with red tape, added
which is long line of congressional enactments in
ended and calculated to make the war machine noccuous
md without avail Their activities called into use
where the bleeding nations of Allies demand action
yet action and again still action and they are
ampered and retarded at every turn by the complicated
machine that military discipline and congressional
Enactment have been building since the close of the
ivl War; wherein the paths Of prefernent have been
closed to originality and real talent and only those who
COULD pass the buck successfully got along the best
During the Civil War the country had the same kind
experience 1t took two years of disaster to get
id of incompetence in high command, red tape and the
disposition to pass the buck And it was observable that
hose commanders who most successful while they
lad been trained in the old army had been out of it and in
vi life sufficient length of time to get out from the
uts and grooves in which rigid discipline confines the
average military mind
Taking this article together with the former en-
titled Congressional Post Mortenls, and making all al
owances there arises an irresistible conclusion which
hat the need Of the army is combination of that
gidity of discipline which makes for effectiveness upon
he battlefield with that ebity of operation in war
preparation which is typical of big business in the every
lay world. How to get it is a problem. It has to be
wrought out it wrought out in Civil War; and is
)eing wrought out now 3s