MILITARY PREPAREDNESS 



3800 



MILITARY SCHOOLS 



Voluntary or Compulsory Service. There has 

 always been a difference of opinion among 

 statesmen as to the relative advantages and dis- 

 advantages of these systems. Those who advo- 

 cate the volunteer system claim that, except in 

 case of the country's extreme peril, men should 

 not be required to bear arms against their will; 

 that compulsory service tends towards mili- 

 tarism, which is contrary to the principles of a 

 democracy; and that the personnel of an army 

 obtained by this system is of a higher order 

 than that of an army obtained by compulsory 

 service. 



Those favoring the compulsory system claim 

 that the voluntary system always fails in times 

 of emergency; that it places the burden of de- 

 fense upon a few when it should be borne 

 equally by all male citizens of suitable age; 

 that the fear of militarism is unwarranted by 

 the history of the countries maintaining the 

 compulsory system. The advocates of the com- 

 pulsory system point to the military weakness 

 of Great Britain at the outbreak of the War of 

 the Nations in 1914, and to the condition of 

 the military forces of the United States when 

 they were called to mobilize on the Mexican 

 border in 1916, and to the further fact that be- 

 fore Great Britain was able to secure an ade- 

 quate army it was obliged to resort to con-' 

 scription. 



Conscription in the United States. During 

 the War of Secession the Federal government 

 was forced to resort to conscription, but the 

 term of service ended at the close of the war. 

 With the entry of the country into the War of 

 the Nations in 1917 the government was con- 

 fronted with the question of providing a large 

 army in the shortest possible time, and the 

 questions of voluntary and compulsory service 

 were thoroughly discussed in Congress and 

 throughout the country. While the voluntary 

 system had many eminent advocates, the press- 

 ing need for an army turned the balance in 

 favor of compulsory service, and in May a 

 conscription law passed both Houses of Con- 

 gress. The law provides: 



1. That all civilian male citizens between the 

 ages of twenty-one and thirty shall be registered 

 for military service. 



2. That the first draft of 500,000 shall be se- 

 lective, occupation to determine exemptions. 



3. That the total draft may call 1,000,000 men 

 to the colors. 



4. That each state shall supply its quota in 

 such proportion as the population of such state 

 bears to the population of the United States. 



5. That no substitutes shall be allowed. If a 

 man is drafted he must serve. 



6. That the regular army shall be increased to 

 293,000 and the National Guard to 330,000. 



7. That the total armed forces of the United 

 States may be increased to 1,900,000 men. 



8. That the pay of enlisted men be raised from 

 $15 a month to $30 a month. 



The exempted classes include the Vice-Presi- 

 dent, legislative, executive and judicial officers 

 of the United States and of the several states; 

 members of religious organizations whose creeds 

 oppose warfare, and ministers. Provisional ex- 

 emptions may be made by the President. 



Military Instruction in Schools. State uni- 

 versities and other educational institutions may 

 organize courses of military instruction, and 

 upon approval of these courses by the Secre- 

 tary of War they may have officers of the 

 regular army appointed as instructors; military 

 training is required in most state universities. 

 It has also been instituted in numerous other 

 schools of college grade, and has recently been 

 extended to the high schools. Th;s last work 

 was instituted by Captain Edgar Z. Steever in 

 the high school of Cheyenne, Wyo., in 1911, and 

 it has been adopted by a number of other 

 cities. The work is entirely voluntary and of 

 such nature as to be physically beneficial to the 

 boys. Those who advocate this line of training 

 maintain that it is better than ordinary ath- 

 letics. 



Some object to military training in the 

 schools on the ground that it will foster a war- 

 like spirit which in time may give the country 

 a large number of men inclined to lead the 

 nation into war, and also on the ground that 

 such training is contrary to the spirit and 

 purpose of the public school system, and that 

 boards of education have no right to use the 

 school funds for such a purpose. W.F.R. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 



Army 



Conscription 

 League to Enforce 

 Peace 



Navy 



War 



War of the Nations 



MILITARY SCHOOLS, academies and col- 

 leges where training in military science is added 

 to the regular course of study. In the United 

 States, in addition to the national academy at 

 West Point, there are a number of boys' schools 

 that offer military training. The students 

 usually wear uniforms, learn how to drill and 

 become in some degree acquainted with the 

 strategy and tactics of war. There is also 

 training in gymnastic and other body-building 

 exercises. It is believed that the military or- 

 ganization and morale tend to promote in the 



