Preparedness is not Militarism.

To the Editors of the CRIMSON:

Is not the CRIMSON making a mistake when it attacks the proposed summer camps as leading to militarism? Does it consider all those who contemplate going to these camps as dangerous to the peace of this country?

I do not believe that the men who will go are doing it from any fondness for jingoism or militarism, or that they will prove a menace to the anti-militaristic principles of this country. I think that they realize what the CRIMSON so evidently does not realize,--the fact that our country is pitifully unprepared to face an actual crisis of any sort, demanding a display of armed force. It is not, unfortunately, a question of mere physical bravery, or even of patriotism in actual warfare, but a question of officers who know their business, of efficient guns, of ammunition to meet the demand, and of an army of efficiently trained soldiers. Without these necessary requisites of a successful military machine, the best of our young men would have to be sacrificed in the early stages of a conflict, in order to teach such blind unbelievers as the CRIMSON that preparedness and militarism are as different as black and white, that efficiency depends upon previous training and experience, of the sort that men will gain at these very camps,--and that we must prepare for circumstances, unthought of now, which may arise at any time, and force us to act in defense of our principles. A MEMBER OF THE MILITTA.