Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1918-09-20

lead TO certain death
The demand for discipline as the first
requisite of soldier is rs old as
military tradition and is based on the
experience of all armies that have ever
fought There can be- no question of
It's necessity to any successful military
operation The old General who said
"'YOu may talk Of patriotism and all
that, but | know my men, and ]
know it's the discipline that holds
them, only expressed the faith Of
every leader Of troops in battle
Now while we are all more or less
practlced in obedience, the quality Of
'fdiscipline in the military sense Is some
thing not natural to us, Much Of our
training has been in an opposite direc
ton, We have been taught Ia think,
Ia consider, not 10 run hastily after
every word that may be shouted 10 rs,
hut TO ask the reasons 10 weigh them
carefully, TO estimate the results, and
10 act only on the basis of our own
DELIBERATE Judgment, This procedure is
necessary in many Of the relations Of
life and the habit Of careful considera
tion and thorough regard for conse.
|
in matters Of moral Judgment and GucS
tions Of personal policy and conduct
To ask us suddenly in another relation
to throw away the habit, which on the
whole has been so valuable TO us, and
to adopt the will of another as our nm
questioned law and guide, is TO require
something irksome and difficult, to
which we very naturally rebel,
suspect that discipline is especially
difficult for American youth, In most
families in this country obedience is
not required as among other peoples.
We started as a nation by declaring our
independence and American citizens
have been in the habit Of declaring il
frequently ever since. Our daily ac
tions are not hedged about by laws aud
restrictions as in many lands. Many
Of the laws we do have are not sup
posed to be strictly enforced. We are
all more OF less affected by this atmos
phere and by the spirit of free inquiry
and free opinion which prevails among
the American people,
To acquire the discipline of n soldier,
therefore, is to 60 contrarywise to our
native impulses as citizens of this free
and democratic country. II is n hard
and painful lesson According to all
accounts il was the lesson which our
soldiers still needed to learn when they
engaged in their first battles on tho
other side. They erred not from lack
Of courage or want Of skill. hut from
failure through excess of zeal to stand
by the discipline. They were disposed
10 90 hcvond their detectives. to try TO
hasten the action too fast. and thus the
hravcst and most eager units exposed
themselves to enfilading fire. To some
Of their first attacks they lost twice
rs many men as the French would have
done in accomplishing the same result
They showed magnificent courage. but
in war in which il is a question Of
the greatest manpower in the last
battle, it was had soldering. In a
military operation it is almost as bal
to 90 too far as not to 60 far enough,
10 do too much as to DO to little
The orders to the full but not more
than the orders. is the duty Of a
soldier.
If our colleges are to succeed in the
great work now required of us. we must
learn this hard. new lesson. II is some.
thing quite alien to our manner Of life
hitherto, and undoubtedly we shall find
the process more than little unplca.
SAINT. II will be strange if spirit of
hellion does not often rise within You.
The making Of a soldier is not an easy
process. But when il seems to YOU as
if the requirements were altogether too
! =. L.,
ard YOU are tempted to apply all sorts
Of adiectivcs to them and to those who
make them, and to write home for
sympathy, should advise that Won look
no poem by Kiplng entitled "The
'Fathen" and read it carefully.
But there is something moro than
discipline, and more than discipline
plus the technique of soldering and
physical training. The plan of t he
Students Army Training Corps in
cludes a course in the Aims Of the War,
the design of which is to make you in
telligent as to the causes which led to
the conflict and the issues which are
involved in it. AS I understand it,
the idea is not to make you the sub
iccts of an official propaganda, nor even
| 10 lnSlll lHlO you rs UOGiHd lne ulItI
ances of our great Statesman President,
who after your induction will be your
ommander,in.chief It is rather to
put YOU in possession Of facts, facts cap
able of proof in the events which led
to the war, facts concerning the systems
of government of the nations at war,
facts concerning the moral and intellec
ual ideals of the conflicting peoples.
You are to be invited to investigate, to
find out the truth, and to do your own
thinking and come to your own conclu
sions. All of this is part of the making
of a soldier.
Discipline, then, is not all. There is
to be a motive and a manhood behind
the discipline. You are challenged to
find the utmost truth why you fight in
the conviction that the more of the
truth you know the keener will be your
spirit to bear your utmost part in the
struggle 1t is a magnificent challenge
and the faith that is back of it is
abundantly justified The more you
learn of the causes of this war, the |
Continued on page five)