Evening star., 1944-10-17
Forced Training
Wins Approval
OF Trade Board
Military Program
Deemed Wise for
Peace Preservation

The Executive Committee of the
Washington Board of Trade today
unanimously approved the principle
of universal military training in
peacetime.
The policy was adopted by the
committee through approval of a
report by its Committee on Military
and Naval Affairs, of which E. G,
Bliss is chairman. The report in
dorsed the proposed declarations of
policy presented in referendum by
the Chamber of Commerce of the
United States, of which the local
board Is member.
Agreeing to the stand of the
chamber, the Board of Trade an
swered in the affirmative three ques-
tions propounded in, the referendum,
as follows:
Il. Should the United States adopt
a policy of universal military train
ing for young men in peace time?
%. Should the schedule of military
training be flexible enough to assure
minimum dislocation in the educa-
tional and business life of young
men?
"3. Shall trainees who do not en-
list in the regular military organiza-
tions, upon the completion of the
required military training, be en-
rolled in the reserve military COM
ponents?"
First Discussed at Length.
Discussing the first question at
some length, the board concluded:
That 1.-The most effective means Of
providing for the security of the Ma
ton is by universal military service
of young men in time of peace"
The second question was answered
briefly in the affirmative.
On the third question. the board
declared that "if universal military
training is adopted as national
policy, trainees, who on completion
of their training do not become part
of the regular military organization
of the country, should be required
| to become part of reserve organ
ization obligated to serve in case Of
national emergency"
Reviewing the whole problem, the
board concluded:
"All this Is an expression of policy
based on future world conditions as
they row can be foreseen through
the cloud of war. While it is pure
conjecture that anything more sat-
isfactory and secure in the way Of
international relations will develop
from this war than has developed
from preceding war;, our views
might change if some system of
world order we're to be established
which would provide reasonable
guarantees of security and make i'm
possible future situations of total
war such as we have known since
1888.
Timely Expression
IF. as q result of the world re-
adjustment following this war, such
a new order of world conditions
does materialize, we feel that this
expression of policy should be re-
viewed in the light of those con-
ditions.
For the present, however, world
conditions being what they are, the
probabilities of the future being In
all likelihood a mirror of the past,
and basic vices of human nature,
greed and jealousy being more OF
less inherent in the contacts q
nation with nation, we feel that it
is timely to express this as a state
ment of national policy.
1T may be that such an express
sion of policy, made now, by this
fundamentally peace-loving and
antimilitaristic nation, at present
constituting the most powerful ssin-
gle military force in the world, might
go far toward influencing the world
to adopt the new order of inter-
national relations based on national
security, law and peace which the
peoples of all countries so crave
today"