Milford chronicle., 1919-09-26
UNCLE TED'S
BED TIME STORIES
Current Events for the Children
and Grown Ups, Too!
JACK MERTS HERMAN SCHWARTZ

an awful noise. screaming ana yell-
ing and the patter of feet running down
the street As he turned around he
saw Jack running as hard as he could
and right in front OF him was a blond
haired boy running to keep just as far
away as possible. Both boys were yell
ing and both were very much out OF
breath
Jack. you little rascal" called IN
Gle Ted, what in the world is the
trouble this time You come right in
here and tell me all about it,"
Jack loved his uncle very much so
he stopped the chase and turned up
the front steps The blond haired boy
kept going.
You know who that boys is, dolt
your asked Jack, as though his Uncle
should know everything. He is Her
mann Schwartz and his father runs a
butcher shop on Main street. Well.
mother sent me down there for some
meat and the first thing he said was,
Your Uncle was soldier in the war
against Germany and he helped fight
to stop Germany from having such
a large army. Now that it's over
President Wilson wants to have an
army just about as large as Germany
had before she started fighting in 1914.
That's fine way TO do. Well, l Just
got mad and told him it was none of
his business and started after him and
he ran down the street"
Well, Jack" said his Uncle, as he
pulled up a big chair on the front
porch, Hermann was just about stat
ing the truth. You see, in order for
you to understand this matter | will
go back few years and tell you about
the way our army has been run and
what it means to have a large army all
the time. In 1916, before we entered
the war with Germany we had less
than 100000 men in our army and the
law at that time stated that the num-
Der OF men should not exceed that
total at any one time. The very next
year, on the 9th of April, 1917, the
United States declared war on Ger
many and We found ourselves under
new army law with less than 200 900
men in the army when we needed
many times that number. But what
happened? We were able by volun-
lary enlistments, men joining the army
OF their own accord, and by the draft
law that selected certain men. to raise
an army Of nearly 100000 by Novem- |
Der II, 1918, the day Germany quit.
AT that time 100000 of these men
were in France. The war was won |
and now everyone wants to get back |
to business as quickly as possible but |
President Wilson and Newton Baker. |
Secretary Of War, want Congress to |
vote for standing army OF 100000 4
men,"
What is standing army?" asked |
Ruth
"A standing army is sometimes call |
ed peace army because it means the |
army that remains scattered at the
many camps and forts in the country
at all times, when the United States
is not at war with any other country
AS l have said, the President and Sec
retary of War want a standing army
Of 100000, which would be only about
100000 less than the great German
army when they started fighting in
1914. And the funny part of it is that
President Wilson is sure the world
club plan will be formed with the
United States a member and he says
if that is so there will be no more wars
soldiers across the ocean,"
Then what does he want such a
big army fOr?" asked Jack.
We'll, Jack, that is what a lot of
people want to know. Major Leonard
Wood an old and tried soldier who
was a great friend of Theodore ROsoe-
welt, has said that we do not need
more than 250,000 men in our stand
inc =,
Since this is true and we are not try
ing to start another war the only an
swer ! can see is that President Will
son must feel down in his heart that
if we join the world club we will have
to send lots of men across the ocean
and help fight the battles Of other
countries"
Doesn't il cost lots of money to
have such a big army?" asked Ruth.
1T costs a great amount of money
and the larger the army the bigger
amount Congress must vote and thu
bigger taxes the people must pay. IL |
the end it is the people of the country |
who must give the money in one way |
or another to pay, feed, clothe and |
house the soldiers. During the war il |
was done by buying Liberty Bonds |
and paying taxes on everything. Ever |
now we are still paying for it,"
Il know it," said Ruth, Il have to
pay some pennies for taxes when / g0 |
to the movies and when l buy ice
cream Soda"
another reason" continued Uncle |
Ted, that it is bad thing to have
such a large standing army is that (.
would make our country something |
like Germany was-a. military country, |
and that is not the American way OF |
doing things. One Of President Will
sons own men, Senator Chamberlain.
who used to have charge of the com
mittee that took care of all army mat
ters, the Military Affairs Committee.
is against such a big standing army.
He says that under this plan the con-
troll over the army which has always
been held by Congress will be in the
hands OF one man, the President,
Chief Of STAFF Of the Army, but that
Congress will have to pay the bills just
The same as always. In other words.
the CHIEF of Staff OF the Army will say
what shall be done about the army in
all matters and all Congress can do
will be vote the money wanted and
ask no questions. That would be ali
wrong and very un-American. If such
a thing happened we might very soon
be ruled by a military leader in tits
country just as Germany used to Le."
do you think our big men in Con
gress will let such a thing happen?"
asked Jack
mo, Jack, don't believe these men
will let the President, the Secretary
of War or anyone else have their way.
This is a dangerous thing. It would
be better to have a small standing .
army and then send the boys to camps 4
for six months or so when they are |.