FOREST AND STREAM 
111 
THE BACKBONE OF DEFENSE 
LET US ENLARGE OUR ARMY OF SPORTSMEN 
INTO A CITIZENRY TRAINED TO SHOOT 
Must Americans learn from developments in the po¬ 
litical chaos of Europe, the stern necessity for prepar¬ 
ing to defend with arms their soil and their traditions ? 
Or is the necessity only for a revival and bringing 
back to life of qualities they possess, dormant but po¬ 
tent? 
In either event, the striking lesson they can find in 
the conduct of the war itself, is the domination of man 
as an individual over all his inventions for killing. 
For no machine or contrivance or arrangement of me¬ 
chanical forces has survived the test of standing against 
a man or a horde of men crawling from hole to hole in 
the ground and eliminating piecemeal the directing 
minds of complicated guns or defense works. 
With a rifle slung on his back, gripped in the bayo- 
neter’s grasp, or clutched to his shoulder, an infantry¬ 
man can “go over.” It has been proved time and time 
again. And he can defy every contrivance for stop¬ 
ping him that he or his enemy has yet conceived. 
And so the outstanding need perhaps in all good ef¬ 
forts toward preparation for defense, is to develop that 
“citizenry, trained and accustomed to arms,”—small 
arms, the rifle and the revolver—upon which the.Presi¬ 
dent declares we must depend in every time of national 
peril. 
Luckily America has already such a citizenry: citi¬ 
zens of the hills and fields, the forests and streams, the 
wild places and the unviolated expanses that are closer 
to home perhaps to Americans than to any other civi¬ 
lized people on the earth. And Forest and Stream, 
America’s outdoor journal, can recognize with pride 
and affection the confidence with which this brawny 
throng looks to it for leadership in how they could 
“mobilize”—in the true sense—their strength for de¬ 
mands that may eventually be made upon them. 
Huntsmen—those who depend upon their keen minds 
and ready senses to wrest them a living from the wilds, 
and those as well who hunt because of the relief it af¬ 
fords their office-chained instincts—are of the breed 
who first offer that last full measure of devotion for 
a cause they love. Familiarity with God’s own world, 
gleaned from contact with it unfurbished and unalloyed, 
seems always to adjust a man’s values and keep his 
conscience squared with his instinct. And in fostering 
the growth of this clan, Forest and Stream has been 
a factor. 
And so it is appropriate that through these pages 
there should be recognized and proclaimed the ideal 
nucleus for America’s ideal citizenry—a potential army 
already “trained and accustomed to arms.” Theirs and 
their journal’s is largely the responsibility for increas¬ 
ing the public interest in and respect for arms and 
their use. Theirs jointly is chiefly the duty of incul¬ 
cating a pride for marksmanship in the average Ameri¬ 
can who may have drifted away from thoughts so 
wholesome, and in the average newcomer to American 
soil who may have had his instinct for personal depend¬ 
ability discouraged for centuries. 
The showing America has made in past wars—fre¬ 
quently against odds—has been due to the average 
American’s knowing how to shoot. That knowledge 
was a necessity in the early days when the republic 
was being reclaimed from the savage and the forces 
of wild nature. The pioneer’s or the settler’s gun was 
his protection, and frequently his daily bread. 
To preserve this widespread familiarity with fire¬ 
arms—which is a step toward creating respect for them 
—or to reinstate it, if it has lost its footing among to¬ 
day’s potential defenders of the United States, Con¬ 
gress has authorized and provided funds for maintain¬ 
ing rifle ranges for practise by civilians, under the 
supervision of the War Department. 
The words of the National Defense Act providing 
these facilities are: 
“The Secretary of War shall annually submit to Con¬ 
gress recommendations and estimates for the estab¬ 
lishment and maintenance of indoor and outdoor rifle 
ranges, under such a comprehensive plan as will ulti¬ 
mately result in providing adequate facilities for rifle 
practise in all sections of the country. And that all 
ranges so established and all ranges which may have 
already been constructed, in whole or in part with funds 
provided by Congress, shall be open for use by those in 
any branch of the military or naval service of the 
United States and by all able-bodied males capable of 
bearing arms, under reasonable regulations to be pre¬ 
scribed by the controlling authorities and approved by 
the Secretary of War. That the President may detail 
capable officers and non-commissioned officers of the 
Regular Army and National Guard to duty at such 
ranges as instructors for the purpose of training the 
citizenry in the use of the military arm. Where rifle 
ranges shall have been so established and instructors 
assigned to duty thereat, the Secretary of War shall 
be authorized to provide for the issue of a reasonable 
number of standard military rifles and such quantities 
of ammunition as may be available for use in conduct¬ 
ing such rifle practise.” 
The section of the general Army appropriation bill 
providing expenses incurred in opening the ranges to 
civilians is as follows: 
“To establish and maintain indoor and outdoor rifle 
ranges for the use of all able-bodied males capable of 
bearing arms, under reasonable regulations to be pre¬ 
scribed by the National Board for Promotion of Rifle 
Practise and approved by the Secretary of War; to 
provide standard military arms and ammunition, indoor 
gallery rifles and ammunition; for the establishment of 
outdoor and indoor rifle ranges, including labor in oper¬ 
ating targets; for the employment of instructors; for 
clerical services; for prizes, trophies, badges, and other 
insignia; for the transportation of employes, instruct¬ 
ors, and civilians to engage in practise; for the pur¬ 
chase of materials, supplies, and services, and for ex¬ 
penses incidental to instruction of citizens of the United 
States in marksmanship, to be expended under the di¬ 
rection of the Secretary of War and to remain avail¬ 
able until expended, $300,000: Provided, That the Pres¬ 
ident be, and he is hereby, authorized, in his discretion, 
to appoint as Director of Civilian Marksmanship, under 
the direction of the Secretary of War, an officer of the 
Army or of the Marine Corps. 
“For the payment of transportation of teams author¬ 
ized by the Secretary of War to participate in the na¬ 
tional matches, $60,000: Provided, That this amount 
shall be proportioned among the several States, Terri¬ 
tories, and the District of Columbia, according to the 
distance from the seat of government to the places 
where the national matches are to be held: And pro¬ 
vided further, that the Governors of the States and 
Territories or the Board of Commissioners of the Dis¬ 
trict of Columbia may designate which team or teams 
shall attend from their respective States, Territories, or 
District of Columbia.” 
In compliance with the provisions of the bill creating 
the office of Director of . Civilian Marksmanship, Presi¬ 
dent Wilson has named for that position Col. Samuel 
W. Miller. During his service with the Army, Colonel 
Miller had occasion to make extensive and detailed 
studies of methods of training for marksmanship in 
England and on the Continent, and was specially im¬ 
pressed with the effectiveness of the Swiss system. 
His appointment assures competent and enthusiastic ad¬ 
ministration of the work of training civilians to shoot 
straight. 
