Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1918-02-05
SELECTIVE SOLDIER AT CAMP DODGE IS
OF OPINION THAT TRAINING CAMP MORE
LIKELY TO BETTER THAN HARM MORALS

above all others in point OF good in
fence in the army, and he may go to
the "Y" buildings and find proper in
fiuences and entertainment. II the SOL
der is a churchgoer Of any den0mina-
ton, his church awaits with open
doors for his coming. If he has ne
elected to become affiliated with the
church, or any other of a score of or
CARNATIONS now working among the
soldiers, they welcome him and are
interested in him just the same.
Then there are games for the or
duty hours such as baseball, foot
ball, boxing matches and other con-
tests. In fact. unless the soldier is
weakminded and a moral imbecile,
there is no reason why he should not
improve morally, spiritually. mentally
and physically during his stay in the
training camp.
While much has been said herein to
defend the morality Of the army train
ing camps and the army it is not de-
sired to leave the impression that the
soldier is never subject to temptation,
or that he never goes wrong. He has
perhaps as many temptations as he
had in civilian life, if he is of that
type who seeks temptation. He GER
tainly can find it just as we'll in uni
form as in civilian clothes. But he
does not find it in the camp; he finds
it in the cities to which he may go on
pass or furlough. In camp he must
attend strictly to his duties and when
this is done there is little time for the
other. And then, in the camp, there
are all the influences for good, and the
places of wholesome entertainment to
which he goes instead of to places OF
bad influences; for there are no places
Of bad influence permitted in the
camp.
Here, then, are the men who have
ben called from the homes of the land
going out to fight for democracy and
the principles which their country has
sworn to defend. They are the men
upon whom will rest the responsible.
ity for the future welfare of the coun-
try. Let them feel that the interest OF
those still at hme in them is keen. II
means more to young man than Car
be expressed in cold print, whether
he be in the army or elsewhere, tt
know that someone takes an interest
in him.
And though the soldier may be
sometimes surrounded by admirinf
| crowds and even kissed by pretty
girls land where is the young chal
who does not enjoy it?) yet he does
not lose sight of the fact that it is thu
spirit of the sacrifice he is making
and the cause in which he is enlisted
that brings these circumstances tina
J do notcome in ordinary life. The sol
der realizes that he is in a game thai
| is not only to call for the best that i!
in him, but to call, perhaps, for tina
supreme sacrifice--his life And HI
! realizes that after all the best sol
, der. as the best maR, is the clean one
! Indeed, the strain of war will cal
/ upon all tobear to the very last ounc,
of strength, and the American soldie
/ as he may be found in the trainin,
: camps and in the army today. will no
+ only uphold the fair name of his coun
( try, hit viii sustain the good reputa
ition Of American manhood.
Therefore, anxious fathers ant
mothers, your soldier boys calling i
the highest that can be. and you ma,
rest assured that all that can be don
for him. not only by the country whicl
called upon him, but by the score O
organizations interested in his wei
fare. is being done-done on a seal
never before equaled in the histor,
of any nations preparation for war.
If he returns to the home iron
whence he came any less a man thai
when he left. it will not be because o
peculiar temptations" in the army
but rather because of improper mora
training in early life, or because h
was of that class of human being
who seek temptations and would b
immoral and unmanly wherever h
may be-
There need be little fear but tina
those men who had proper mora
training up to the time of enlistmen
will return to their homes the sam
clean men and with the same qualit
of manhood as when they left. In
deed, there is every reason to believ
that after the war American manhoo
will have reacher a height that ante
bellum America never dreamed of.