Lexington dispatch-news. [volume] (Lexington, S.C.) 1917-1919, 1918-12-04
UNIVERSAL TRAIN.
ING WILL BE
CALAMITY.
DR.. Dreller Has Decided Opinion
as to Wisdom of Proposed Policy.

To the Editor of The State:
wish to add my emphatic indorse-
ment to the article by "Observer"
which appeared in your columns.No-
ventber Is. Now; above all times;
every man who has the welfare of his
country at heart should not be afraid
to speak out, one way or another,
upon a big standing army and uni
versal military training, as observer
has done This war will result in q
calamity, instead Of a blessing, should
it bring about such a gigantic misfor-
tune. A milestone like that about our
necks will mean nothing more nor less
than that all this propaganda against
German miltariSm was the rankest by
procrisy. This twaddle about such
undue preparedness being no menace
to a naturally peaceful nation is all
bosh. Germany was the best pre-
pared nation on earth, in a military
sense, and the Kaiser frequently boast
ed that it was only for defense again
st the attacks of her enemies. We all
know that she did the attacking and
is now utterly crushed and reduced
to the ranks Of the minor kingdoms.
The Kaiser and his militaristic crew
brought this terrible affliction upon
the world, for loot. and got what they
deserved. If we follow in her foot
steps. the day will come when we will
meet a. similar fate and, probably, get
what we deserve. We may pull the
robe Of selfrighteousness about our
shoulders and think that we are bet
ter than other people but human ma
ture is largely the same all over the
world.
Mr.. Roosevelt said some t. ne ago IN
a New York speech on Preparedness,
that the only effective preparedness
mus rest upon a system OF universal
military training for all our young
men; a training which is against war
for it will render most unlikely that
there will ever be war" ...
It is a pity that an eX-presldent
with a. considesabe following should
parade over the country preaching
such a pernicious doctrine as that and
advocating the Prussian system, which
he pretends to despise as a means OF
safetN4athis country. Preparedness
madxAAoody war, as every think
irg man knows then why should we
not avoid a danger which will likely
involve another generation in a war
more bloody. if possible, than this.
We have heard much, until recent
". about universal disarmament not
universal militarism; about world de-
mocracv against autocracy. Does any
sane man believe that there Will De
dem nocracy with America as an armed
camp? The most braZen and uncom-
promising foe to democracy and tree
dom is militarism. The rank and file
in it's cIucthes will be helpless. There
is good reason for America having q
strong navy but, situated as 1t ls' d
large standing army will be its deVlls
workshop. Not even England, IN a
n-foId more dangerous position, has
it in times Of peace. We may argue
that universal military training Goes
not necessarily mean that but IT does
in nine cases out Of ten.
NV experience as a, member OF tne
local exemption board conVinces me
that the young men who fight our
wars would never drift into mllltarlsm
# left to their own inclinatons. Ihe
war spirit and the killing spirit
strange to say, is rife mainly among
the older set who never shoulder d
gun and who, as a rule, Would clllirn
q barbed wire fence 20 feet hlsh 20
escape a whizzing bullet. I also found
that il. was utterly impossible to get
tho same ratio Of soldiers from the cias
who claimed a monopoly of patriotism
and shrieked the loudest for war and
best able to go, as compared to the
Moor man who knew little or nothing
about the intricate questions 1nVolEee
and did not want the war. Inc Sc
lective draft is a great thing but IL
was not equal to the emergency IN all
700 many cases with pull money anu
oericrlture as levers. Those OF Us
who read know that the present con-
eress voted one beautiful Gay TO
waive their official exemption ana SUD
iect themselves to the draft but got
cold feet over night and rescinded
thcr action without q record vote. L
think The congressional hSNOlu ~-'
proves that not a, single Dcmocrauc
congressman resigned and went to the
front in this war. I mention these
facts merely TO prove that there IS a
world Of hypocrisy abroad which IS
liable to bcfuddic our minds at thls
critical time and induce us to take
stcrs on q, basis Of a false sentiment
Of PATRIOTISM Every blind IDIOT
knows that there will be no more war
for At least a generation to come.Ihcn
what is the reason for this insidlous
oroDa C2nda for universal mltNarS
training at this time? After A1nerl-
ca entered the war an effort was mace
in tho United States senate to Jam
this resolution through while the Kill
ling spiri was rife in the land but was
debated by an unpleasantly small mar
Gin. On that occasion John SharP
Williams made a special against unlVe
sal military training which ! ~ls2
could DC published in every American
newspaper. And John Sharp was an
, ,,,rrnesive and rabid advocate or the