Omaha daily bee., 1920-03-14
UNFRAMED Boys
SPECTERS HAUNT.
HOUSE CHAMBER
Many instances Of Martyrdom
To Nations Unprepared-
ness Cited in Debate
On Army Bill.
BY ARTHUR SEARS HENNING

-Specters Of the American boys sen
into battle unframed and martyret
to nations unpreparedness hav,
haunted the house of representa-
tives during the debate on the arm,
bill from which all provisions fol
universal military training have beer
eliminated.
Again and again during the debat,
these concrete instances OF the
tragic cost of unpreparedness to the
folks at home have arisen to plague
those congressman who have de.
tended their opposition to universa
training on the ground that Their
constituents are against it and
would retire Nhem if they should
vote for it.
Here is a sample, Representative
Caldwell of New York, democrat
, speaking,
Caldwell Is Eloquent. I
After the greatest war OF all
times, when America sent her young
manhood over there to fight for the
cause of humanity. how did she send
taem? Some Of my democratic
friends over there who are against
universal training will tell you. MIR.
Bryan told us that 100000 men
would spring to arms over night.
and they did. Yes, and they sent
these poor boys across to the other
side, great many OF them without
ever haying told them how TO load
a gun, When | was over there 4
captain who had seen service in the
strenches told me of cases where
men in the trenches, ready to go
over the top in few minutes before
the zero hour, said: Captain, | do
not mind going over, but will you
not please show me how to load
the gun so that | can shoot when |
get over there?'
.In my district there was a boy
who was drafted and was sent to
fhree camps and then shipped
across and was buried in the
trenches in France within five weeks
from the time he was drafted, and he
never before he was called by the
draft had gun in his hands.
"Figures from Fort Slocum, N.
r., show that out of 10amen taken
in the ordinary enlistment seven of
them never had gun in their hands
before in their Ewes. Yet here at
this time, when this country is still
technically at war, when all the
world is a seething volcano, when
no man knows when the next out
break will be, when no man knows
what hour the clock will strike and
the men Of America will be sent
again to defend the flag of our coun-
try, you, under the tutelage of men
who are against training and were
against the war, come in here and
destroy the. military bill designed
before the war, paying no attention
to the great lesson taught by this
great holocaust. Shame on you
men sent here to defend and protect
the country, who will destroy the
only means of defense we have and
give us nothing in its place, SO to
speak"
"The gentleman from New York
will undoubtedly admit that ii the
case he cited is true that there was
a boy from his district who did not
know how to load his gun; that
such an incident was absolutely in
excusable in this last war, and that
the officer who was called upon to
furnish troops for replacement and
sent this young man. should have
been court-martialed," interposed
Representative Mckenzie Of Hi
nois.
Blame on March.
Then yop will have to court-mar-
tial your republican friend, Peyton
C. March, for he issued the order
that kept the units here. and re-
quired unframed men to be sent
over as replacements to the other
side," responded MIR. Caldwell. 1T
did not happen in one case, but in
hundreds Of, cases, and any officer
who served in the trenches in
France will be able to point out re-
pcated instances.
II want to say that in nearly
every instance when they found it
out the boys were sent to the rear,
but in many instances the poor boy
who had never been given an op-
portunity to train himself was sent
to his death because of the neglect
cf legislation Of this country"
z Mr.. Caldwell poo-poohed the
.bugaboo OF militarism" and con
tinued:
.@What else? because. it costs
money? 1t costs $50 for every man
who enlisted under the voluntary
enlistment before the war. Under
this bill you will have ten times the
overhead charge, $50 month for
the cheapest men, and under this bill
the private soldier in many instances
will draw more than $l00 month.
Add up the expenses total it all, and
you have an army of, t25,00O men
costing you $50O,0O0,000 a year,
and then on the other side fg-
ire the cost of equipment and
clothes on the average to the man
that you would get under universal
training. Five dollars is his pay, end
he will be we'll paid because of train
ing that he gets. Added together,
sWiiNH yOu w 81, yOu Will uiiu tIidt
your universal training proposition
will cost you less than any kind Of
4 decent regular army will cost. I
want to tell you something, as a
man who has studied some politics
in his life, and that is that poll
ticians think, they make the issue,
politicians struggle to make the is
sue, but there has not been CAM
paign for the national selection in
my time in which any issue made by
politician was ever voted on by
the people. The people make the
issue, and marx my words, between
now and election day the people will
make an issue in the selection and
there will be the biggest surprised
bunch of people ON both sides of
this house you ever saw in your life.
I would not be surprised but that
>..A~,. .x~or daynr~rak aud renfyhG-