New-York tribune., 1921-02-06
America S Military Duty
General Wood Points Out the Lessons To Be
p. Learned From the Way

AMy1ERIGK,s y17I DUTY oAs SHOWN by OUR
I FrALLACIES. BY Leonard Wood, Major
General, U. 8. A. svo. PIP. 252. Pub
ashed by the Reilly. & Lee Company,
Chicago.
EN 1916 General Leonard Wood pub
lished little volume entitled Our
-A- Military History: Its Facts and
Fallacies. 1t was an appeal to the pub
lie and the government to take to
heart the costly lessons of national
unpreparedness in all the wars which
the United States had fought up to
that time. General Upton had scath-
ingly exposed the results of unpre-
paredness and laundering war methods
in his unfinished work, The Military
Policy of the United States-a work
which slumbered in manuscript for
years in the War Department archives
snti! Secretary Root rediscovered it
and issued it as public document.
Upton was the pioneer in attacking
the American militia and volunteer
tradition so barren in military
achievement and SO wasteful in money
and life. Leonard Wood was the first
American officer of prominence to try
to carry Upton's teachings into effect.
His arguments, even when war was
approaching, fell on deaf ears, 80 far
as the pacifst Administration, then in
power, was concerned. But as the COM
mander Of the Eastern Department he
had fortunately been able to establish
the Plattsburg training camp, through
which interest in military preparation
was kindled and a knowledge Of the
viciousness of existing military con-
dltions and conceptions was spread
General Wood was the chief agent in
the movement which converted the pub
lie from the old pacifst deIusions and
opened the way to a national acceptance
Of the principle of universal military
service. He educated the masses, in
spite of the Administration obstructive
tactics. The country owes him an i'm
menso debt for this patriotic service.
His faith in the gospel he preached and
the reasons for it were set forth in
the 1916 book.
The war signally indicated all these
theories and predictions. President Will
son refused to prepare. The consequence
was, as General Wood shows In a new
chapter in this revised edition, that we
drifted into war "unorganized, un-
equipped and unprepared." He puts the
case moderately when he says: "We
paid the price in blood and treasure for
our failure to do what for years had
been clearly necessary. We were strong
enough in men and resources to pay it,,
excessive though it was, for it can be
conservatively stated that our losses in
men we're from a third to a half greater
than they would have been had we had
time to train our troops properly. and
that the cost of the war was billions
greater than it would have been had we
made even reasonable preparation"
The bitter injustice to our troops of
the Administration negligence is sell
dom dwelt on in books about the war
But General Wood faces the unpleasant
facts.
These brave troops" he writes,
were never given sporting chance,
nor will our troops ever be given
sporting chance unless we look bit
ahead and unless we shape our policy
fer the future with some understanding
and appreciation of the LESSONS of the
past"
The war. in the authors opinion,
demonstrated "the murderous folly
of assuming that words, num-
bers and money can take the place of
organization and equipment"
We were lucky in 191T-'1s because
we had allies who had learned war
and were also capable Of supplying
US with artillery, fighting planes,
tanks and other necessities Of modern