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Show tT New York Law for Compulsory Training j Likely to Be Model J Ey AXEL LINDQUIST Among the enaetmciils of the recent session of the New York legis-lalure legis-lalure is one that may be termed a piece of pioneering worthy of more than passing notice. It established compulsory military training for schoolboys between the ages of sixteen and nineleeu years. Liberal exemptions exemp-tions are provided for boys compelled to work and for those physically incapacitated. The. measure breathes the spirit of America's traditional theory that the counlry's best security lies in a patriotic citizenry trained to the use of arms. This New York law is likely lo serve as a model for acts to be passed by many other states. There is no threat or peril of militarism in the proposal, but merely a decent acknowledgment of the fact that if the nalio". is to be able in an emergency to defend itself against the aggres-- aggres-- - mons of another people trained in the horrors of modern warfare, it must possess a body of citizens who have at least some elementary conception of the exactions of military service. Compulsory military training to some may sound harsher than it is in reality. The normal American boy is certain to enjoy it and get physical phys-ical and mental advantage from it. Neither their parents nor the state have anything to fear. |