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By Mrs. ROBERT M. LAFOLLETTE y Mrs. LoF ollette said in yart: . A Nation in Arms . the churches for their ition to the Reorganization preted the Reorganization Act to mean, ‘Each citizen of mili- Act. Oppos Army tary age a potential soldier! ‘The Regular Army, the Na- ‘ tional! Guard, the Reserves—component parts of One Force “We accept the challenge. And we refuse to be included , among that inconsistent group who condemn ‘niggardly’ othe Army Of the West States. He recom ey dou tae appropriation for armaments and demand that the United he said, ‘our . ‘nitial : , plans for complete defense provide for an initia} Stares 0 tO er ere awe) Turks. ent tragedy of the Near mobilization of a force of approximately two miller men! Eanras a terrible object lesson to the world of the futility won report was fellowes oxion address in wee ad mant- of war asa method of settling quarrels among nations. And ecks adv obi 7 th Oey! future war we protest that the awful sacrifice of human life to the com- factures under a conser’ b law Chi m7 oF Staff to ean TA mercial ambitions of France and Great Britain should, under Nation * Arms? y stated by the disguise of a Holy War, be made the occasion of propa- . . . ganda for preparedness and for the announcement of our Expansion of National Guard and Organized Reserves Secretary of qhe Navy that the scrapping. of ships 25re “Under pressure of public opinion, Congress reduced the upon & 4 e disarmament conierence Regular Army in spite of the protests of President Harding, PorCeneral Pershing has drawn a dark picture of the the Secreta of War, the Chief of Staff, and other spe on Aer ° : ° of the militarists. e expansion in national mit arization engaged since Colonial times—all because of our stupid United States Army wee are less Guard PWote eer in- neglect to adopt a policy of preparedness such as the Army Sidious growth. . Reorganization Act of 1920 now affords. “The present number of students in the Officers’ Reserve “Alas, for Ge eran are preparedness philosophy Cor xf is 14.0% The appropriation for oot Ti raiding 8, Ls ne ershin . mit of an increase to ove 000. It breaks down when tested in the light of hard cold facts. camps were given $250,000. Next. year they will have ten Surely Samny, cannot attribute her Fee fate to the stupid times that amount to expend. pias dhe Tear 12) the atte. ix ack of preparedness. An rmany @vas not han- ard was. siv? 5,815 + for , $20.814.149._ Last No- Brapped by any A that insufferable ‘political tinkering’ of vember the given fo imabered 163,000 men, an increase of 46,000. which General Pershing complains in this country. during the year. It is expected to reach 490,000 by the first “War is only a method—one method—of settling quarrels. of next July. The new appropriation will allow the enroll- Today war is not only the most terrible, it is the most futile ment to reach 215,000. It is estimated that altogether more — of all grethods. ee chaos of Europe radiographs this truth than 300,000 men will receive training in military camps this around the world. ear. “Nations are settling differences al the while by other 7 Wisconsin Women Doing Good Work methods that war e friendly A. B. C. mediations 1¢ “The National Guard offers the W. I. L. of every state a settled our differences with Mexico when we were in danger fine field for combatting the growth of ‘militarism under the of going to war over the salute of a flag is a most happy illustration of how much better the jury method of settling a controversy than the war method. “It is not ‘stupidity’ that General Pershing is up against in carrying out the huge program of the Army Reorganization Act. It is the plain common sense of the plain people who have learned from the world war experience that ‘prepared- ness’ makes not for ‘defense, but for aggression. imperialism: and more war. e everyday people insist that hereafter ‘ar Department W a t Land differences shall be settled by other methods than slaughter a w De . ent ould Educate Youth of Our of men. We refuse to sacrifice our youth and spend billions At recruiting stations and elsewhere the Army and Navy in taxation to keep an Army and Navy ready to fight for are being sold to our boys by alluring posters that represent” foreign investments in oi and mines, or for any other kind military service as a jolly adventure in sport and travel, wit of trade supremacy. i Reorganization Act. I recommend careful study of the report which follows on the work recently done under women’s leadership to secure legislation against militarism in Wis- consin. Irma Hochstein, who makes that report, is one of our ablest young women. She is not only a recognized authority in research— he is an effective worker in our women’s organizations for civic and social progress. opportunity for an education thrown in. “Secretary of War Weeks last November called a confer- Universal Compulsory Military Training and Conscription ence whose evident purpose was to enlist educators and prom- “Jn order to keep in mind the far-reaching purpose of the inent citizens in 2 far-reaching plan of having military train- Reorganization Act, we must place emphasis on the fact that ing adopted in all the schools of the nation attended by boys both the Chamberlain Bill and the Wadsworth Bill, which of the right age. Correction of defects—physical, mental, and were the basis of the Reorganization Act, contemplated uni- moral—disclosed by the Draft Act is set forth as the object. versal compulsory military training. “It is deplored in this report that the plans of the War “And it was very largely through the efforts of women that Department for educating our youth have thus far reached universal compulsory military training, which seemed headed only one-sixth of the total college student enroliment and to pass both Houses of Congress and to be approved at the less than one-eleventh of the secondary school enrollment. White House, really never got through either House of Con- “J have always thought it was a sad reflection on our na- gress. But the military men have taken this decision as only tional ideals that we should make so much of our Army and a temporary one and are now trying to convince us that not Navy Departments and tuck away the Educational Bureau in only is compulsory military training necessary to our safety an obscure corner of the Interior Department. But I had but that it is enormously beneficial to the health of both the never expected to see the time when it would be seriously individual and the Nation. This, in spite of the fact that the proposed that we should turn over the education of the youth _ enlightened educators of the Nation generally agree that for of our land to the War Department. the maintenance of health, stamina, bodily and mental tone, : a military training is the poorest kind of physical education. Reorganize for a Better Purpose - “The issue of universal compulsory training is not dead. “The Draft Act revealed that nearly one-half our youth In all the official reports, public addresses, magazine articles, are physically or, mentally below standard: that one-fourth you can read between the lines the ominous threat that if cannot read or write intelligently. voluntary training fails the only alternative for the militarists “These conditions indeed call for reorganization and re- is forced training. construction—state and national. But this work in my judg- It may be timely right here to suggest that we work for 3 ment cannot safely be entrusted to the War Department. constitutional amendment abolishing conscription which was Some of our great women should have a share in the under- declared lawful by the Supreme Court. To be forehanded taking. And a part, at least, of that great stream of appro- and for once get an advantage of the militarists, we might priation now pouring into the war hopper should be used to make such an amendment cover compulsory training. prepare our youth to live.” NOTE: This discussion was presented at the Annual Conference of the W. I. L., Washington, D. C., March 1923, lowing the Analysis of the Act made by Miss Amy Weed:, National Secretary. v 973. ,