The Washington times., 1919-09-12

today interesting editorial entitled Soldier Discor
tent" We reprint it, in part:
The whole country has taken note of the fact that
nine service out of ten who back from over
seas are nursing crouch The condition is fact and
might well be faced as such.
But the cause of it is by no means serious The
Veteran optimistic in the belief that it will fade away
when exposed to the of time and that not vesge
Of it will remain year hence
Here is the reason the service man is Hewent
blithely away with great enthusiasm for the cause
Instead of being thrilling adventure he had
pected he found that going to was continuous
grind of hard work Instead of finding himself in a
position where personal thrill and glory filed up his
entire horizon he found that he was but an obscure cog
in a stupendous machine and that he played very
monotonous part
Even this he bore with fortitude as long as the
great thing to be accomplished was ahead The job was
worth any amount of drudgery. But when, on Novem
Der II of last year. Germany caved In his incentive for
enduring his burdens gone. He regarded his mis-
sion as being performed. He began to think, not of
bending every effort upon supreme effort ahead but
of getting back home-back to his family back to his
job, back to the career he had left.
But he found that he could not get away. There
why military strength be maintained
Germany had not yet signed the treaty. Activity
might be resumed. The existence of force was neces
be used So the In the service must stick around
They continue the monotony and the drudgery of
their lives must be held away from those Eysan shores
back of the Statue of Liberty The tedium of it. the
fret of it, the seeming useessness of it, got the nerve
of every Months of waiting soured most of those
dashing Yanks. They became quarrelsome, sore blue
disguised, fautfnding. They home with a
crouch. It was but natural Nobody who understands
blames them for it.
But nobody who understands the processes of the
quality of the memory that experiences that are pleas
ant remain and that those that have been dsagreeabe
gradually fade away. So it is safe say that year
hence every mothers of them will be as happy as
cricket and that half century to come will be filled
with rectals of experiences in which there naught
but qualification
The Veteran is right but does not consider the who'll
problem of soldier discomfort Soldier emotion stirred b.
many minor incidents tending soldier ire will die
Emotion and memory are not closely associated in th
brain Speakers who arouse emotion without appealing t.
analytical thought fail make lasting impressions Opin
On the basis of determination of policy founded not
emotion, but on thought.
The soldiers crouch is emotion and will not last Bu
The soldiers opinion is thought, and will last
Three millions of men, lifted unceremoniousIy from
heir normal lives and transplanted into abnormal lives
have time and reason for thinking.
Each Of the three millions has virtually the same ex
oeence Each of them is likely to see the same things anG
form about the opinion of these things These men
representing large part OF the voting population of Amer
ca, united in opinion, which will ive although the
moions ngendered by the set of circumstances NAV
lie.
When Government mule kicks doughboy black
md blue spot is raised the soldiers hip After time
he bruse is gone but the soldiers opinion of the mule
remains The soldier gets being angry but doesn
orget. Thought does not die.
Soldiers will not forget the opinion they have of the
army and especially of the officer problem Every thinking
soldier in the American army realized the neciency result
ng from placing schoolboy officers over soldiers
Secretary Baker, before the House Military Affairs
COMMITTEE stated that military reform must come to this
the problem of eliminating autOcracy through
ank must be met The army must be made more demo
;ratic he said.
Secretary Daniels finds the condition in the navy
trying to eliminate caste distinctions and to work toward
democratic organization of our sea forces.
49, Innl- I.