The Washington herald., 1920-04-02

Il
any need. 1t IL In substance: Intro
duce the plan Of the army within
the schools" and remove the great
est objection to schools within the
army" at the same time. The chief
| reason schools within the army"
must fail Is the element of status,
the ever-present knowledge on the
part of the enlisted man that as
long as he Is in the army he is the
| Inferior Of the man called the ON
cer.- This status 10 not 30 obnoxious
to the regular army man. who has
lost his individuality, but our ma
tfonal army was mads up civil
lians. Those civilians have no de-
sire to give up their freedom. again.
Hence few volunteers. In the army
school this does not change. Educa-
ton cannot be real unless there Is
freedom of thought and freedom of
speech. unless there Is an environ
ment which encourages the feeling
Of equality. liberty and individual
tty. The army instructor must be
an officer and the result is there can
never be the feeling of intimacy and
consciousness of individual worth
between the enlisted man. the infe-
rior. and The officer, the instructor
superior. This can be avoided and
yet the inducement of Offering an
education realized upon.
what In Proposed.
The proposal: II during the civil
! war Congress passed the land grant
I bill. giving to our State universI-
ties lands upon the conditions that
they teach agriculture and two
years military instruction to every
student. Practically every man who
had attended these schools and en-
tered the national army became an
omcer, a few OF them stopping At
noncommissioned officers. The men
VINO would not become a trained
military man under the plan propos-
ed ought to be drafted and remain
private throughout any war.
Put the money required for con-
scriptive training into education.
say to every citizen of the United
states the government will feed you,
and clothe you Gin respectable, semi
civilian uniformly, house you and
send you through school, be IL a
business. trade. vocational, grade.
colIesiate or professional institu-
tlon' and while you are In school
your development and education
shsll not be In anywise under the
ihnuence OF the military, except at
lhe specined times when you don
Sour service uniform" each day,
s,,, h, month or period, for active
itary training. In turn, you will
enlist Tor the necessary period Of
your schooling, and be trained in ~.
military as required, such trainin1
In no way interfering with your
school work or life or freedom err
cept when on actual military duty
ana you Will be subject to active
service whenever necessity requires.
Dut VIII be returned to your school
soon as any emergency has pass
ed. When you complete your train
ing or education, you agree to 20
INTO the army reserve for fve years
Five Years Development.
In five years after the plan is de-
Veloped fully, allowing $500 o0O 00o
annually or $1,000 per bow there
could be a reserve army of $500. 900
men. sl,O00 year would more than
train each boy, or $250. 200. 900 a year
would train 250.000 a year. What
would $1,000, ,O00.o 900 a year do?
Have Psychological experts and
economies experts. on board 3
throughout the land, to examine as
to the mental and physical uualifi-
cations of each applicant, and help
MIN to determine what he is fitted to
90 or be. Have those boards study
during leisure periods, economical
ana Industrial conditions, and be
able to tell the student when he has
completed his study or training
where the best openings are for the
particular student. This suggestion
mas far-reaching possibility in tn.
matter OF distribution of all labor
ana In the adjustment of all indus
trial problems dependent upon labor
| Our educational institutions need
the money and would spend IL hon
estly. Our boys need the education.
and would take 1t gladly. Our ma
ton needs a higher standard of Gull
ture and training. and needs IL now.
Let Europe continue her fights born
In feudal and military tenure and
land and nation grabbing; but let us
never stoop to become her
handmaiden. through any league
OF nations that could order
congress to declare war and
by means of an ever present con-
scription, such as universal military
training, force US to fall back thou
sands of years, and become the serfs
and vassals of grasping lords and
barons, worse than cave men. As
conscription and old army life have
shown that real ed-blooded Ameri-
| cans lose interest and will not vol.
UNFAIRLY enlist after one experience
by draft. SO new conscription. will
wipe out the regular and National
Guard-voluntarya armies.