SERVED FOR AMERICA

America needs the steadying influence derived from a democratic form of universal military training. In the present times of internal turmoil and disorder the advantages of such a policy are brought home to us with unusual force. What more effective way is there to inculcate in alien citizens the responsibilities of American citizenship than by giving them a period of service in a democratic army? General Pershing, appearing before the Joint Military Committee of Congress, said "Universal training is in a sense a school for citizenship. . . the necessity of this is evidenced by the fact that over thirty-two per cent of the drafted men were illiterate."

It is generally acknowledged that, were we adequately prepared before the recent war, our rights would never have been violated. In the future, we must have an army of sufficient strength to cope with any attack. The odium attached to a large standing army would prohibit the enlistment of any great number of soldiers. The ideal method is to have a small regular army as a nucleus with a well trained democratic citizen force as a reserve.

Some say that with the League of Nations we shall not need more than a small standing army. They see the world forever freed from wars, and arbitration steeling all disputes. But even if it was within the power of the League to bring us to such an Utopian state, we have never tried it out; we do not know that it will even help to end armed strife. As long as there is anything to be desired in the world men will fight for it, whether in the courts or on the battlefield. And how are we to tell whether some nations will abide by the awards of the League any more than some labor unions abide by the awards of arbitration boards. The future is no more assured now than it has been in the past, nor have we arrived at universal brotherhood, the land of the heart's desire. We must provide for all eventualities.

The problem is to provide for armed protection, and at the same time avoid the odium of militarism. One is as important as the other. It is our problem to provide for armed resistance, and at the same time to avoid the odium. Universal military training seems to promise both these objects. Let us rather trust in ourselves to avoid the extreme of militarism than rely completely on the untried security of universal confidence.