Page:The German army. Department of military art, the Army service schools (IA germanarmydepart00bjorrich).pdf/28

 in war leave their scars for all time and are irretrievable.

Little more than a hundred years ago, Prussia was a wreck. Until then it had a paid army. Napoleon compelled her to reduce the army to 42,000. Furthermore, he stood by and saw to it that the limit was not exceeded. But Prussia threw th old army into the scrap heap and erected a military school with 40,000 students and 20,000 graduated reserved annually. Apparently Napoleon sat by and allowed himself to be circumvented. Seven years after Jena the Prussian army was larger than ever before and it delivered probably the first and certainly the second real blow against Napoleon. That was the beginning of Germany's modern army. Scharnhorst, Stein and Clausewitz erected it and put the breath of life into it when they surrounded the continuing instruction personnel with War College, General Staff, and above all, prestige and incentives to work.

Germany by no means enjoys exclusive possession of the military virtues. There is probably nothign that Germany has accomplished in the matter of making her fighting force efficient that cannot be accomplished by us; but it would require wise and unselfish legislation, coupled with wise and inflexible War Department policies. This legislation and these policies are such as the army, the militia and the public, in their present benighted state, probably would not listen to. In other words, w can have it if we want it, but there are other things, perhaps less creditable to us, individually and nationally, which we seem to want more.