To Cuba 49 



that American "militarism," at least of the volun- 

 teer sort, has points of difference from the militarism 

 of Continental Europe. The battalion chief of a 

 newly raised American regiment, when striving to 

 get into a war which the American people have un- 

 dertaken with buoyant and light-hearted indifference 

 to detail, has positively unlimited opportunity for 

 the display of "individual initiative," and is in no 

 danger whatever either of suffering from unhealthy 

 suppression of personal will, or of finding his facul- 

 ties of self-help numbed by becoming a cog in a 

 gigantic and smooth-running machine. If such a 

 battalion chief wants to get anything or go any- 

 where he must do it by exercising every pound of 

 resource, inventiveness, and audacity he possesses. 

 The help, advice, and superintendence he gets from 

 outside will be of the most general, not to say super- 

 ficial, character. If he is a cavalry officer, he has 

 got to hurry and push the purchase of his horses, 

 plunging into and out of the meshes of red-tape 

 as best he can. He will have to fight for his rifles 

 and his tents and his clothes. He will have to keep 

 his men healthy largely by the light that nature has 

 given him. When he wishes to embark his regi- 

 ment, he will have to fight for his railway-cars ex- 

 actly as he fights for his transport when it comes to 

 going across the sea; and on his journey his men 

 will or will not have food, and his horses will or will 



VOL. XL C 



