Evening star., 1919-03-23

, them the best kind of preparation TO
make good and useful citizens OF
them. and incidentally it makes them
better fitted for military duty In case
Of necessity. No sane American is
militarist; no sane person would will
ingly give a large army to be used at
the whim of a statesman or to further
an ambitious project for national or
even international development. No
one who takes the trouble to investl-
gate the facts will believe that 1t was
the military training of the German
youth that brought about the Euro
pean war. 1t was German milttarlsm
that led to the war, and it was French
military training that fought mill
ia rism to a standstill and preserved
democracy on eartn.
1t is, therefore. well to ascertain
some of the things that French ana
Germans gained from this system OF
general training that has come SO
much under discussion. French sta :
tistics are not available. but it Is
known that the German conclusion
was that the two years spent In tram
ing by young man added nve years
to his life. Thus. IL nothing else were
gained, he has given up two years III
exchange for fve-which is driving
good business bargain-and in addition n
ne gained health. In the French ana
in the German training camps were AS
fine physical directors as the Two ma
tions could produce. 1t was not tneir +
duty to bring an INDIVIDUAL 70 the
starting post fit to run or fight or
row for life. but to bring the average
men. the delicate and the undevei.
oped. to a condition where they could
do their share of the worlds iaoof'
Corrective medicine and surgery re-
lieved the many who through iGno.
rance or poverty did not or could not
Parents and guardians who recall
with horror the conditions that pre-
vailed in the early days OF the war
in camps and cantonments. ana SO oe-
mur to sending more boys to miiitaIy
life. on second thought see that the
real reason OF those uouoiss . r,,~
lack of foresight that left the Army
wholly unprepared up to the last pos
sible moment. Ample care Will pre-.
vent a recurrence of such cases OIL
sickness and neglect.
Under the pressure OF, getting
troops ready for the Army. command :
ers then used training methods that
brought many recruits to an early
stage of fitness and broke down many
more who were not sufficiently robust
to stand the rigors OF extremeIn-
tensive. was the word IN vogue
training. With younger men enter
ing camps made ready for their re-
ception to take up the same training
extended over ten or eleven months
instead Of six. these boys will come
out of camp young men At by reason
of their strength to make theif bat
tie of life. Humanitarfans are ufE-
ing the government to do anything
and everything to help the down
trodden and the foreign element COM
inK to the United States. And the
nor unreasonable whether anything
better for them can be done than to
assure to them sound bodies And
chance for lifelong health. and the
knowledge that America is not an
eleemosynary institution.
This war has developed the fact
that few relatively Of the men in the
Army do the fighting. Nearly two
thirds OF the men are engaged be-
hind the lines in vocational occupa-
tions that tend to supply ana keep
the men in the front. Good electrf-
clans are in demand, good 1inemen,
radio experts. shoemakers, harness.
makers, gardeners, accountants.
chauffeurs. painters. watchmakefs.
In fact. nearly every vocational oc-
cupation in civil life lends itself to
military organization; 1t is q neces-
sity to it.
In the military training life there
is An opportunity for every man to
learn something useful for after life.
The aftermath OF this war already
shows that many OF the men who
have been through it have = nav
vision of the possibilities Of their
civil life and of their own attitude to
the society Of the nation. Recent re-
turns show that the vast Army re-
turning to their business life are al
most unanimously in favor Of uni
versal training. Perhaps they view