Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1920-04-17

tai
Whoever unIoaded Brigadier Gener-
al John H. Sherburne Of Boston upon
the Senate Military Affairs Committee
did an unkind thing -unkkind, that is,
to the committee or at least to Messrs
Wadsworth. Chamberlain and com
pany. Seldom have the walls of that
historic committee room heard more
soldierly bluntness. more giving the
game dead away. or franker criti-
cism of the huge military establish
ment which the advocates of compul-
sorry military training are striving to
create.
After General Sherburne had. in re-
ply to questions, given his name, his
title and the record Of his service IN
France, Senator Wadsworth sought TO
draw his out upon the subject of uni-
versal military training. The transcript
of testimony reads as follows:
Gen. Sherburne: This Army pro-
gram. in my judgment, attempts to
bring into being centralized military
power which to my perhaps conserva-
tive New England judgment, is one of
the greatest potential dangers which
the institutions Of his country have to
face. | am against centralized compul-
sorry service.
Senator Chamberlain. You mean
military training, or do you mean COM
pulsory service? Do you differendate
between training and service2
Gen. Sherburne. Yes, differenti-
ate, bcause military training may be
many things; it may mean training in
a high school or it may mean taking
the men way and segregating them in
a camp. The latter, | think, is tn same
thing as compulsory service. As mat
ter of fact, Senator, the word train
ing" is used frequently as a camou-
flage to conceal the idea Of compul-
sorry service. The people who believe
IN the full extent Of compulsory mill
tary service feel that, as such, they
can not get it through and that short
ly thereafter it becomes compulsory
service.
1t seems to me that preparedness is
insurance, but over preparedness is
like overinsurance, and overinsurance
has two fundamental weaknessss-it
is an economic waste and it leads to
arson. We do not need anysuch stand
ing army as universal service would
give us.
Somewhat later the committee drew
the Massachusetts, general out on the
subject of the vast mental and moral
benefits which are claimed for peace
time conscription, but there again they
caught a Tartar.
Gen. Sherburne. So much has been
said about our training these men in
patriotism and all the other virtues.
Now there is a good deal to besaid for
military discipline in teaching men sub
ordination and perhaps teaching them
promptitude etcetera, but it has been
my experience-and think it will be
yours if you analyze the effect upon
the returned soldiers-that the mill
tary discipline which they have re-
ceived rather reacts upon them when
they get out of the Army and the av-
erage soldier today is a good deal of
a BolsheMst-in a pleasant sense. not
in a socialist sense. He is very impa-
tient of any harness, or Of any con-
troll whatever. and | think that is the
great weakness Of the Army discipline
of the Army system. have not hesita-
ted to express my feeling against uni
versal service, wherever could, in or
der to try it out, and think in no
place has my stand failed to meet
with an almost instantaneous accept
ance and applause. both among the
service men and among other citizens
in my community.
This developed into discussion of
whether compulsory military training
was popular or not among the men
who saw service in France. The dis
cussion went as follows:
Sen. Wadsworth: Several state con-
conventions of the American Legion
have indorsed military training.