Page:Harris Dickson--The unpopular history of the United States.djvu/26

 untrained, the officers being popular fellows elected by their comrades and commissioned by the Government.

I am not saying a word against these volunteers, the finest youngsters that ever trod shoe leather, the best fighting material on earth. But no matter how brave and patriotic the individual lad may be, he needs long and skillful training.

This, my son, was the germ of our military policy. It has been tried for more than a hundred years, in assorted wars, foreign, domestic, Indian. Educated military men got their dose of it—by the painful method—and say it is the worst system ever devised. But some way or other we have always managed, by main strength and awkwardness, to scramble out on top, which has made folks think that as a nation we are invincible. My son, the very surest way to get life pummeled out of you is to feel that there’s no use exerting yourself. The other fellow exerts himself, and it is all over but the ambulance.

Did you ever sit out in front of a