The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-02-02
ITO j. Frank Davis OF The
Viuilantes.


1t was one of the largest military
camps in the United States, and
young private soldier was speaking
He has been in uniform since early
last summer, and he hopes, within
few weeks, to be doing his share OF
civilizations task in France.
He is a youth of twenty-five, with
a. high school education, perhaps q
bit above the average of our armies
in intelligence. He has had, from the
inside, the opportunity to see now
well we. as a nation, have done some
things and how i'll We have some
other things. To complete MS
description, might add that ne u
ALI American Of pure Irish descent
in the third generation, and that he
and his relatives have had little love
for the Great Britain his grand
parents knew. And that he is, by
trade. a clerk in a factory office.
az quess. from what I'VE heard,
Uncle Sam made a lot of plumbers IN
the Spanish American war; my
father was in it. But we aren't TO
blame If we didn't learn much OF
anything, / suppose; that war was
too easy. This war is something
different. This is a real war. Any
other war we get into IN the future
might be a real war, mtghtnt II! Az
least. we can't be sure IL wouldn :.
I'm not kicking at some OF the
things that have happened since We
new fellows got into the army. LhgS
inst had TO happen, because old Uncle
sam WASN'T ready. They'll be all
right. by and by-they're getting all
RIGHT fast, right now. At that,
don't suppose unpreparedness has
killed as many men as empalmed
beef and typhoid did in 1S9S-as I've
heard nv father tell 1t,
eve weren't ready for this war, OF
course. any more than England was.
Seams "a me as IL we ought to have
been-EnRland had about three days
notice and we had more than two
1ears-but that is all over now. no
sense CRYING over spilled milk. Inc
main thing, as it looks 10 me, ~
that we mustn't ever get caughLs ths
same way again. I'm not criticizing'
but I've earned right 20 my opln l.,.at
haven't i? I've been through what
We have had to 70 through because
nobody got the country ready and
xept il ready. I've got a right TO
say nobody else ever ought to nave
to 60 through it, haven't 1?
- ..46Ta,va been in the war most a
vear counting from the time Ger
,,ss1av emf loose her submarines, ana
1870 yot a lot done-a whole lot.
Nyohody outside the army realizes
how BIG a lot, some ways. But sup
nose we'd had to fight on a week
ar a months notice, with no otheI
armies standing between US ana an
enemy. like the French and Engllsn
armies are standing between us ana
rservnanv now. while we're geItlng
ready Where would We Ielloas a DS
now who enlisted last summer All
aosd like that first British army,
Wouldn't we? That would be KIND
af 4 raw deal to hand the fellows
who enlisted first, way It looks 70
me. when the country could nave
against It, .. =.
and ali the other fellows my age
etst ro1,ld mass the physical examina-
sirv mad been trained for a year
when we were nineteen, and then q
fortnipht a year for the next two
vaarE-4like 1t would be in this uni
versal training they talk about. we
would have had an army Of at least
million and a half, ready to be got
INTO shape within "a few weeks AFTER
the war Er0ke out ana SqulpAAaSAtt ~ ~ I
Eha whole of them. Maybe II we'd !
aad tfat kind OF training so we could |
saII ont an army like that Germany I
wouldn't have sunk the Lusitania or
done anything else to US; what do
you think?
Il saw in paper the other day /
hat Secretary Baker said maybe we /
wouldn't need this universal train- 1
nr. because maybe after this war
here would be universal peace. 1
Didn't everybody think. before this 1
war broke out--everybody but the 4
sermans-that we did have universal