Evening star., 1944-06-11
BY EDWARD A. HARRIS.

WHICH PdCAlSHA Woo d pOPulnI Wy
word a decade ago and isolationism
was beginning to build up to sud-
den letdown, the idea of compulsory
military training hit q new low in
public support. Still vivid in the
memory of many university alumni
are the days when student groups
mimicked and derided the harassed
members of the Reserve Ofiicers
Training Corps as they marched
self-consciously about the campus.
Still remembered. too, are the
countless campus peace polls" the
warnings of a military dictatorship
that compulsory training might
fashion, and the predictions that
military preparedness was a stupid
way OF looking for trouble.
Today public opinion appears
strongly committed to permanent
maintenance of a mighty navy in
peacetime. Generally indorsed is
the principle of international CO.
operation, entailing, as it must, ade-
quate military resources. To achieve
this measure of preparedness. one
prerequisite would seem to be peace
time compulsory military training
And yet it is precisely over this is
sue that storm Is brewing on Cap
itol Hill
The same issue has been fought
out in the halls of Congress be-
fore, and opponents of compulsory
training won. Bitter lessons have
been learned since then, yet the
same opposition arguments are
cropping up, uttered with the same
vehemence. II these oppositionists
once again prevail, If peacetime
training is tossed out the Capitol
windows, military leaders agree
that the whole program of prepar-
edness and international co-opera-
ton may be fatally undermined.
Need for Young Men.
Military men also point to the
present urgent demand for young
men for the armed forces, partic-
ularly for those under 26 years of
age, as further proof that a" long
range military training program
would be Of inestimable value in
wartime
Congress now has before 1t two
measures providing for compulsory
universal military training in peace
time. One, introduced by Senator
Gurney, Republican. South Dakota
and Representative Wadsworth. Re-
publican, New York, would draft
males as soon as they became 18
years old, or within three wears
thereafter, for one year of training
Upon completing his training, the
draftee would be placed on the
service reserves for four more
years, and would be subject to re-
fresher courses during that period
This program would 60 into effect
six months after the wars end.
The second bill, fathered by Rep
resentative May, Democrat, Ken
lucky, chairman Of the House Mill
tary Affairs Committee, would su-
persede the Selective Service and
Training Act of 1910 as soon as
inductions were halted under that
act. 1t would set the draft age at
II or upon completion of high
school, whichever came earliest, and
would extend the obligation for
service as a reservist to eight years
Would Improve Health.
Proponents Of peacetime conscrip-
ton invariably point out that it
would improve the level of the Ma
tion's health. They cite the fact
that of the first 5000 900 men be-
tween the ages of 81 and SO
examined for selective service, half
failed to meet the physical and men,
tai requirements for general mill
tary service, while about one fourth
could not qualify for even limited
service.
At least 20 per cent Of those re-
jected were refused because of easily
remediable defects. 1t Is argued
that compulsory service in peace
time would enable the Army to i'm
prove the physical tone of each
draftee and rehabilitate those with
minor physical defects. On the
other hand, it Is contender by con-
scription opponents that a national
health program should not be mere
ly a by-product Of military train
ing.
The controversy over the subject
appears to boil down to the truism
that program OF peacetime CON
scription, in itself, is neither a guar
arantee against aggression nor an
assurance Of an efIicient military
force. A fiaerant example ia France