Arizona republican., 1921-02-24

represented by Miss Phipps-is that in i advertising itself as an educational | opportunity, and thereby getting the l services of a lot of ambitious young | men of the most formative age. the army has assumed new and heavy responsibility. Those boys are going to be what the army makes them
 The commanding officers. while fully aware of this large, humanitarian view of the subject. are compelled to consider the practical phase of the matter first. They are primarily con- cerned with the effect of this hostess work on the morale of their com mands. and it is from this standpoint that they endorse it. Work of this kind both during the war and since has shown that if soldiers are pro vided with a normal social hfe--an opportunity to associate with girls at dances and other gatherings under proper supervision-two great military evils are markedly reduced. Those two great evils are venereal disease and absence without leave. The soi-9 dier who fails into feminine company of sort which endangers his health often does so because it is the only kind of feminine company he can find- And the soldier who runs away from camp without leave usually does so because he can no longer endure the monotony and funnaturalness of so- cial life in which a lot Of men are herded together without women.
 The hard-headed practical executives of the army therefore favor hostesses and dances and all that sort of thing
 because they save money in hospital costs and in time lost by men through incapacitation and absence The ar gument which has been made by some objectors. that our soldiers should not be coddled and that pink teas are not necessary for fighting men, seems to
 them irrelevant. They do not care
 whether you call it coddling or not as
 long as the result is a gain in practical efficiency.
 At Camp Dix, in addition to estab- ! fishing a hostess house and importing bevy of girls every Saturday from 1 Philadelphia, and smaller beyies on other days from neigbboring towns. the ! bureau has also arranged unique club I in Philadelphia for men from Camp Dix who are on leave In this they have been assisted by several women prominent in Philadelphia society. l Mrs. George ". Drexel has taken charge of the work and Mrs. Hapgood | has given a large residence to be the home of the club. This club is capa- | ble of taking care of from 60 to 100
 men, which is about all the enlisted f phia from Camp Dix at a given time. l These men certainly are coddled, if 1 you want to call it that, to judge by all reports Chartered in one of the fin- est residences of the city, they are taken to dances, movies and the the
 ater; they are introduced to pretty | girls: they are, in a word. treated as
 guests at house party
 One result is that they have good ] time and decide that being in the army
 has it's compensations, even if 1t is a ! life of much restraint Another result | is that they drink no wood alcohol. get
 into no fights and fall into the clutches 1 of no vampires.
 On the whole, the idea that soldier should not be shown a good time seems to fall to the ground Especially when you remember that soldier Of the new ! American army is a young chap, just up from the country, avid of life and knowledge, giving himself for three 1 years to his government and trusting ! it for everything.