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Show THE NEEDS OF OUR ARMY j' I (Letter from General Leonard Wood on Military Preparedness.) "Wo do not want to establish militarism mili-tarism in this country in the sense of creating a privileged military class, dominating the civil element, receiving receiv-ing especial recognition, and exercising exercis-ing perhaps an undue influence upon the administration of national affairs, but wo do want to build up in every boy a realization of tho fact that he is an integral part of the nation, and that he has a military as well as a civic responsibility. All this can bo done without creating a spirit of militarism mili-tarism or of aggressiveness. Take Switzerland as an example. Here we have a country where every hoy nnd young man who Is physically sound receives, largely as a part of his school work, military training to the extent necessary to make him an efficient ef-ficient soldier. This is a policy which ought to be followed with our youth. It is not enough that a man should be willing to be a soldier. He Bhould also be so prepared as to be an efficient one. This can only be accomplished through training. Switzerland and Australia have shown that this can be done through tho public school sj's-tcm, sj's-tcm, and. with a resulting vast improvement im-provement in public morals and the quality of citizenship. The criminal rate in Switzerland is only a small fraction of oura. Respect for tho law and constituted authorities, the flag of the country and a high sense of patriotism pa-triotism aro evident on all sides, and yet there is practically no standing army. "We have here a patriotic people, living n'ot with arms in their hands, I or with n large standing army, but H I trained, equipped and ready to effi- H ciently and promptly defend the rights H of their country. This, I believe, is H the ideal we should strive for. We H need a standing army big enough for H the peace work of the day, i. e., tho I H garrisoning of our foreign possessions, H the Philippines, the Hawaiian islands,, H Panama, the little garrisons in Porto H Rico and Alaska, and a force in the H continental United adequate for the H pence needs of the nation. H "We must never again trust our- IH selves to the emergencies of a great H war witnoui proper preparation, u h we do we shall meet with an over- H whelming disaster. Preparedness is H really an insurance for peace, and not- H an influence for war. H "To send our men untrained Into H war to meet equally good men, well H trained and disciplined, was once de- H scribed by Light Horse Harry Lee of H Revolutionary fame, as murder. Per- H haps this is too strong, but it certain- JM ly is a gross disregard of human life." H oo H In one typical British munition fac- H tory it is "estimated that 2,500 hours H per week are saved by prompt atten- H tion to slight accidents and illnesses, jH while another factory, which has in H creased its output by 10 per cent, re- M ports that a substantial proportion of H this increase is directly traceable to H the lessening of fatigue by the Intro- H duction of chairs in the women's m shops. H |