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Show An Interesting Interview THE New York Times published a" twonpage interview with James J. Hill which is most interesting, the burden of the interview is a discussion dis-cussion of our national affairs and what should bo 4 H done In tho presence of the present upheaval In K the old world. Bj He does nojt want any largo standing army in H our country, as he expresses it, he "wants men j trained to work, not to fight." On this point he j is made to say: I"Europo now is in the throes of war ihecause she kept men out of industry, training them to fight, not to work; to destroy, not to construct. B; Having been magnificently trained for the bad B; job, they now are doing it with unprecedented fl thoroughness. B "They are learning over there, that if you Bj train your men to wreck your neighbor's property, flj your neighbor, watching you, is likely to have Bj trained -men ready to wreck yours. Destruction Bj is a game that 'two can play at. j "Europe prepared for war at vast expense of Bi time and money. Being prepared, she went to Bj war at vast expense of (blood and money." Hj Wo do not think that is quite fair, and Mr. B Hill forgets or ignores the difference which gov- K orn in Europe and which govern our country is Hi the difference -between hereditary monarchies and H their effects upon their subjects and our Republic Hj and its effects in creating our nation. Again he Hj forgets or ignores the fact that a defenseless na- Hj tlon presents a perpetual invitation to avaricious H; powers to assail us. Doubtless in Mr. Hill's pri- Hj: vate home the' doors are supplied with locks to H; guard against Iburglars, and he doubtless carries H a large insurance upon it to bring him a little m compensation in case of a fire. H Another difference (between the training of our B soldiers and those of the old world is that no H thought of conquest enters into the training on B this aide, while that thought is ever present be- H yond the sea. H . There is still another feature in considering H what may be the best training for our youth. H Very many people ibelieve that to train a. "boy to H work, the training should extend to the hands and H eyes as well as to the ibrain cells, and that the H preliminary training of a soldier should foe a part H of our school curriculum, to give him health, a B high bearing, confidence in himself and the knowl- H edge that he can always bring all his faculties of H brain, hand and eye to bear in his own defense, H in an emergency. Such a training too ministers H to his patriotism and his reverence for the flag. H But Mr. Hill believes in an army and a navy M board, and thinks that (both should have experts H in engineering and mechanical professions as well H as military and naval experts. Mr. Hill might have added that the experience1 H of Europe's war ought to impel our government H to have not only a board of electrical experts, but H ono of chemical experts and to offer premiums for any marked new achievement in every import- H ant direction. H Mr. Hill depricates the warfare that has ibeen M made without discrimination upon transportation m and other great industries, and thinks that there m ic danger that the time will soon come when the H transportation facilities of the country will be M unable to handle its products. In this connection fl wo wonder that he did not point out the need of H supplementing the railroads toy great merchant B fleets in the seas. He thinks there is too -much m litigation. On this theme he says: B "We, as a nation, have apparently reached a B frame of mind which leads us to the effort to H cure everything which may afflict us, by act of H legislature. 1 am almost inclined to ballbvu thai., B if things keep on as they are going, the time may H come when we shall be endeavoring to pull teeth B and set broken legs by statute. B "The whole tendency of our national ambition Hj seems to be to Invite legislative' remedies, which B usually prove to be obstacles of. progress. B "The first thing we must do, I think, before B we can make the best of our vast opportunity B isjto strike the shackles from business and give B it a cKance to' progress toward real constructive B work, ''unburdened toy many of the legislative B handicaps which at present weigh it down. B t "What, we need are laws which first will de- B fine, and then protect, sound business. If such B laws once could be passed and then let alone, H the country would be free to go ahead and act. "We could get along with very much less legislation municipal, state, and national than we have now; especially we could do very much 'better if the legislative tinkers would leave the laws unchanged for a sufficient length of time to permit us actually to conduct a sequence of constructive con-structive business efforts without changes in the regulations governing them." He thinks that possibly in the coming twenty-five twenty-five years Now York may ibecome the world's clearing house, but he should have added: "Not while we have no ships on the sea, no bank or trading centers in foreign countries, not until by our work we teach the outside world to lean upon us." He wants to draw men away from the cities to the country; but this is a vain hope so long as no new markets are created and so long as the country coun-try stands ready to appropriate any resource that the prospector may find. |