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Show ftODAy TOMORROW J ll FRANK PARKER ' DRAFT . . Cominon.sens To me the most interesing thing about the drawing of numbers of young men to whom will be given military training is that the procedure proce-dure completely failed to have the effect which many politicians feared and predicted it would have. Instead of an enormous public pub-lic protest, the draft demonstrated the innate commonsense of the American people, who have accepted ac-cepted compulsory military training train-ing as if it were a long-established regular routine. As nearly as I can figure out, all of the outcry oRalnxt the draft originated with a very small group of pacifists, perhaps mora or less consciously con-sciously egged on by Com-' nmnists. politicians usually are, by something that was now in their experience. There is notUng which resembles re-sembles a scared rabbit quite so much as the average politician poli-tician in nn election year. I've talked with a lot of the boys whose numbers came up. ' Without exception, they're all tickled pink at the prospect. And the wives of the ones who are married seem to be just as happy. WOMEN .... courage The ridiculous and sentimental notion that women are the less courageous sex, if not the weaker, seems to have a strong hold on the political mind. Until now, the United Suites has not faced a possible pos-sible war situation with the opinions opin-ions of women voters to consider. There weren't any women voters the last time we went to war, but womanhood's sentiments were supposed to be expressed in the i popular song: "I didn't raise my ! boy to be a soldier." The politicians who opposed oppos-ed the draft for fear of the women's vote should be Teas i sured by now. The mothers j of the first boys drafted ore proud to have their sons taken. One of them, Mrs. 1 Honry S. Bell, was in the hall in Washington when the first number, 158, was drawn from the bowl, and it was her own son's number. She could hardly restrain her pride. The proudest woman I know is a "Gold Star Mother" whose three sons all died in France in 1918. Don't tell me that women are against war, if and when it seems the right and only course to take. I know better. PIONEERS . . . grit There stands in Washington a sculptured memorial to the pioneer pion-eer women of America. One has only to look at it, and think of the courage and endurance which the women displayed who made 1 this country what it is, to get over the idea that there's anything soft about American women. When it comes down to real grit, tough- 1 ness of moral fiber and clear judgement between right and . wrong, I'll pick women rather than men any time. i I often think back to the tales I heard in my boyhood, of men and women of my own family who had gone pioneering pioneer-ing into the wilderness of the American West. One of my great - great - grandmothers was sixteen when she and her young husband of eighteen started for the Vandadia Territory Ter-ritory in, a covered wagon. Her granddaughter, m y grandmother, told me how her grandmother had had to shoot five Indians before the redskins quit trying to burn the log cabin she and my great - great - grandfather had built with their own bands. The women of today don't have to show their courage in the same way, but I'm satisfied they have just as much of it and are very far from being the parlor pets which sentimental songwriters depict them. HOSTESSES . . important Add to the list of women's functions func-tions in military service, the newly-created posts of hostesses and librarians in the Army training camps. There will be a senior hostess and two junior hostesses at every Army Service Club. Their job will be to supervise recreational recrea-tional features and social affairs, looking out for women and children child-ren visiting the camp, supervising service club cafeterias which are to be maintained for visitors, and in general to help make life happier hap-pier for the boys in training. There are going to be plenty of books and reading matter for the trainees' spare time, and recreation facilities of every kind. The life of a modern soldier is not removed remov-ed from feminine influence. Women's part in war has always been important. Florence Nightingale Night-ingale paved the way for women nurses in the Crimean war between be-tween Britain and Russia. The Red Crocc came into existence in our own Civil War. And who does not remember the devoted women of the Salvation Army, the "Y" and the rest of the relief organizations organ-izations who risked their lives in France to bring succor and comfort com-fort to our soldiers? REALISM . . . attack While I'm all for the idea of giving every young man some intensive in-tensive military training, I get more and more doubtful as to whether we're going to be compelled com-pelled to go to war at any time in the near future, unless our politicians poli-ticians do something to provoke a fight. It will be a long time before be-fore any of the aggressor nations can get around to attacking the United States. I haven't any doubt one or more of them will try it if we don't prepare our resistance. resist-ance. But I'm beginning to believe that if we go ahead with a big program of defense by land, sea and air, we'll have plenty of time to defy all comers before anybody is prepared to pick a fight with us. It's easy to get all stirred up over the outlook for war. I've shared some of the apprehensions of attack from overseas myself. But when I try to take a realistic view of our position and that of the rest of the world, I confess that I can't see how the attacking forces are going to get to us before be-fore we can stop them, from anj direction. We're likely to get intc war only if we go overseas ourselves our-selves to fight. |