Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-04-06

and Marine Corps of good strength
| It is equally clear to all that there IL a
strong sentiment in the country against
compulsory military service and compul-
| sorry military training. The alternative
is voluntary enlistment. II is notorious
| fact that men are not voluntarily enlist
ing in any branch Of the service in ade-
| quate numbers The Marine Corps has
about two-thirds of its authorized strength,
but both the army and navy are IN worse
condition.
1t is not remarkable, from civilian
viewpoint, that young men do not rush
into the service. Most Of them have had
all tho military service they want in the
past few years. And peace-time service
in q standing army, rs it was before the
war, offered very little inducement to a
man OF any ambition or energy. few
hours of drill every day, and for the rest
'bunk duty"--that is to say, loafing under
especially monotonous conditions. There
is nothing in that To attract high type OF
man, or to attract men In any numbers,
and il is well-known fact hat our pro-
fessional army never has attracted either.
If, therefore, we are to haveAa volun-
teer standing army strong enough to make
lls safe in very troubled and unsettled
world, something has got to be done to
make the service really worth good
mans time, and that something has got
TO be widely advertised.
This seems TO be the logic back OF Ma
rine Institute, and the officers at Quantico
appear to be making most earnest effort
to live up to- that logic. As sample of
what they have to offer, take their course
in automobile engineering The facilities
which the school offers come under three
h., vxIn,r ybo,y have N
great number of motor vehicles OF every
type from motor cycle to multi-ton
truck, and they have all sorts of repair
shops and machinery. These are not
limited TO the tools and supplies which
would be found in a first-class auto repair
shop. but include also machine shops
with welding Quits and lathes. A man
can learn there not only how TO fix an
engine that is out of order, but how to
make and repair structural parts, He
could, in fact, learn how to build an
In the second place, at the head of this |
school is mechanical engineer who rs |
graduate of one of the leading American |
engineering schools, and who gives regular |
lessons to the men.
In the third place, each man is given /
the textbooks and instructions of one |
OF the great correspondence schools on /
this subject 10 study When he finishes /
his course he can take the examination |
and obtain the diploma of this school, as /
well as that the NJ rinc Institute.
UNIVERSITY ATMOSPHERE.
All of this together certainly seems 30 |
constitute n thorough and honest course /
in instruction, with perhaps more In the
way of practical experience and demon
stration than most other schools offer.
A man might enter the Marine Instl-
tute iliterate, learn TO read and write, get |
q grammar school and high school edu-
cation. and then learn n business. This,
Of course, would take him years several |
his education would not |
be interrupted unless by war, or by his |
own bad conduct.
The effort, according 10 Lieutenant |
Craige. is TO give the establishment as /
much the atmosphere of university and |
MS little that OF a military camp as pos |
sible. Punishment has almost been done |
away with The brig, rs he military |
prison is called, is nearly always empty. |
A man who does not want to study, and |
who refuses 10 conduct himself as a
gentleman. may be transferred to some
other organization.
Lack of space makes it impossible To
describe in detail the other courses offere d