Evening star., 1945-01-16
tawmaker, Educator
In Forum Debate on
Universal Traininq

UHIvCISul IIuIIIIIIy
"A strong America will go far II
securing world peace, Representative,
James w. Wadsworth, Republican
Of New York declared last night ir
advocating universal military train.
Ing in peacetime at forum on the
subject, in which his views were op.
posed by DR.. Charles A. Ellwood
sociologist and emeritus professor al
Duke University.
Universal military training is not
heacetime. eonscription, but woulo
only be compulsory in national
emergency, Representative Wads-
torth, member of the House Post
war Military Policy Committee, as
Serted at the forum in Central High
School auditorium.
"A longtime proponent of COM
pulsory military service, he spoke or
the Importance of such postwar
training, which is asked in bills be-
fore Congress. I'VE are all hoping
the United States will take a lead
Ing part in the establishment and
maintenance of an international or
ganization designed to preserve
peace" he continued.
.-. Cites Wilson's Disapproval.
DIR. Ellwood said: I'VE are discus
ei,,o oo,,cor; Il, ,,o ,.f i,,,a r,,a,, ~
Is conceded to be necessity. But
President Wilson was careful to en-
phasize his disapproval of such an
idea as peacetime policy. Bills be-
fore Congress proposed that this
training shall be wholly in the mill
tary camps under Army and Navy
control, and the Army and Navy say
frankly the sole purpose of such
training is military defense.
5A"Such policy in Europe has al
ways produced war. 1t builds up
totalitarian government, govern
l11ent by the Army and Navy. People
must learn from the lessons Of his
tory that militarism always destroys
democratic government" he said.
When people are taught the use
of armed force, he continued, they
resort to it as a political method" 4"
In Europe, the went on, people
with arms always have been the
successful revolutionists." He de-
clared that military training in
peacetime lowers youths evaluation
of peace and queried: IF the Ger
mans and Japanese are disarmed
at the conclusion of the war, then
against whom are we arming?"
Representative Wadsworth said
that universal training would make
young men better citizens, provide
them with an education in me-
chanics and improve their health
by spending year in service which
would not be wasted" DR.. Ellwood
countered that the first objective
of the training program would de-
feat such purposes by making our
young men obey as though ma
chimes"
Panel Discussions.
Discussions by panel forum
followed the speeches, with DR..
Robert A. Maurer, vice president of
the District Board of Education, as
moderator The first panel speaker
was DR.. Charles Sager Collier, pro-
fessor of law at George Washington
University School of Law, who
stated that universal training might
be a disturbing political factor. par
ticularly in relation to Latirf1Ameri-
can affairs.
Mrs. R. w. McClenahan, presi-
dent of Women's Work of the
Episcopal Church, Washington Dio-
cese, then declared she was en-
phatically in favor of the plan. II
want my son to live in world peace,
and we should maintain it by force
If necessary" she said.
Universal training was opposed by
DR.. Francis E. Lucy, S. j., regent of
the law school of Georgetown Uni
who declared: ''The legisla-
tion is unnecessary at this time.
The time to decide is Immediately
after the war or year or two
thereafter. The proposed legislation
would be notice to the world we are
going to keep on preparing for war"
Mrs. Ruth w. Tryon, editor of the
Journal of the American Association
of University Women, explained that
she, took no stand on the issue at
present, because there was not
enough information
The next panel speaker was Brig.
Gen Albert w. Cox of the District
National Guard. Il am in favor of
universal training within IL months
after hostilities cease" he said.
WARS are not won by unframed
men"
The last opinion was offered by
DR.. Ralph E. Himstead, executive
secretary of the American Associa-
ton of University Professors, who
was opposed to universal training.
st fear, even in the United States,
1t would be difficult to escape inevi-
table militarism."
The forum was arranged jointly
by 10 high school and Junior high
school Parent-Teacher and Home
and School Associations