Bisbee daily review., 1918-07-27
JUDGE LOCKWOOD HAS ANSWERED LETTER
 OF CAPT. GOOD
cocHIsE COUNTY JURIsT GOES INTO DETAIL IN DEFENSE OF HIS STATEMENT BEFORE Y. w.. c. A. WOMEN HERE TWO WEEKS AGO
Tombstone, Ariz.,

Tombstone, Ariz,
 July 26. 1918. Editor, The Bisbee Daily Review,
 Bisbee, Arizona.
 Dear Sir:
 l noticed in the Review of the 17th inst. an open letter from Capt. L. P. Good, of the Thirty-fifth infantry in which he takes exception to some remarks made by me to the ladies of the Y. W, C. A., at Bisbee, and asks for public reply.
 My delay in answering is due to the fact that I have been quite i'll for the past week, and this is the earliest op- portunity l have had for a proper re- ply.
 The particular phrase to which Cap tain Good seems to take exception is my implied statement that the old army was not the equal in it's per sonnel, of our present army. In the first place, it is hardly fair in criti- clzing any speech, to take an isolated statement or sentence therein, but the entire context should be taken for the real meaning of the speaker. In my remarks, l was discussing with the ladies of the Y. W. c. A. the best metn- ods of meeting some very real prob lens regarding the girls of Cochise county and the Warren district espe- cially. Under the law, I am charged with certain responsibility for the | young people of this county. and I am certainly desirous of doing everything l possible to assist in their moral better ment Among the influences which are not conducive to their good, is the un- restricted and unrestrained association | Of girls of twelve to sixteen years with young men of from four to ten years elder. l think that this statement will be endorsed by every mother in Co., chise county, and admitted even by \ Captain Good. The reason why I did not refer to the relations of Young i girls with men other than the men Tn uniform is that the records of the juvenile court show that, now as in l all history, young girls are particular ly attracted by the uniform, and for this reason their associations with the boys in khaki are apt to become moro dangerous than those with civilians Tn their own town who are known to the girls and their parents and consequent ly scrutinized more closely.
 If Captain Good took my remarks to be a reflection upon the moral char acter of the enlisted personnel or our present army, either regulars, guards or national army, he certainly gamed an impression which l am satisfied was not shared by any of the forty or fifty good ladies of the Y. w. c. 4. who heard them. If on the other hand, he took them to mean that our pres ent army averaged much higher in in- telligence, ability and character than our old professional army, l certainly did and do mean that to be a fact. have had a fairly intimate acquaint- l ance with the personnel of the old reg ular army from 1880 to the Spanish | American war and a somewhat less l acquaintance with that army after ] 1898 to the present time, and am sat i isfied that the average man who en- | listed in the line of that old army was | not apt to be the equal mentally and ! socially of the members of our present ] army. The very terms of the old en- l
  vice in the army was not a patriotic l duty, but a mere choice of employ | ment, as it was when our country was | at peace, the average young man who | was attracted by three year job and | SIS per month and found, with the | necessary discipline and restraint 1 which must be found in an army, was | not apt to be of as high a standard l as the man who now enters the army because he considers it his patriotic duty.
 My remarks could in no way be talk en as a reflection upon the bravery or integrity of the men of the old army. The word "derelict" used in con nectiOn with a man means one who has abandoned the sense of respOnsi- bility, and that is the very point 1 make of the old army. The man who enlisted in the line, with some Vefy notable exceptions, was apt to be man in whom the sense of respCnsibil- ity was not strong. Captain Good seems to infer that the word 'derelict' imputes a crime, but it has no such meaning, and l was very careful to avoid the use of any word which would be so considered, because know as well as any man that the United States army does not want and never has wanted criminals. In fact have repeatedly refused to allow men guilty of felOnies to apply for enlis'- ment in the army for this very reason. trust you will give this cOmmun- ication the same publicity you have to Captain Goods letter, and that he will h.. aa assuming that I implied any unjust criticism of the rank and file of the soldiers who wear our uniform.
 Very truly yours,
 ALFRED c. LOCKWOOD, Judge Superior Court of Cochise County.
 wam