M

R. Chairman, I rise to oppose the amendment. If I had my way I would turn the amendment the other way around, so as to prohibit the enlistment of men over 21 years of age and would encourage their enlistment under 21. What is needed most is a law to induce men over the age of 21 years to go out and produce. Grown-up men ought to be usefully employed in producing things necessary for the country and not be engaged in boys' play. War is a boys' game. Why, during the Civil War the bulk of the armies were composed of mere boys. In the Federal Army alone there were 2,159,798 soldiers under 21 years of age. The boys have done and always will do the fighting. They are at the age of romance; they are fired with enthusiasm; they have read the lives of Washington, Napoleon, Alexander, and other great heroes, and, being in the proper mental attitude, that is just the time for them to receive military training. I have absolutely no sympathy with this whining about the service of boys in the Army. I have had hundreds of whining letters such as that which the gentleman from Texas read and almost shed tears over. Of course, they all think their boys are led astray by some other bad boys and the parents of the "bad" boys think their sons are the ones who have been misled.

Speech of Hon. Anthony J. Griffin, of New York, in the House of Representatives, on March 26th, 1924, during discussion on amendment to Army Appropriation Bill which would prohibit enlistment of men under 21 years of age.

which resulted in the capture of Fort Necessity.

Under the leave to extend accorded me, I will run through a merely casual list of great men in history who began their military careers at ages which, in the present effete and decadent period which we seem to be entering, would never have had the opportunity for great service and would probably have died in obscurity. If they were living today they would not be able to join the American Army or Navy. Their mammas would not let them!

Best Canvassers in Corps Areas

War, who when his ship, badly battered, was sinking under him, was asked by the captain of the Seraphis to surrender, returned the sturdy reply, "Not by a damned sight; I've only begun to fight -well, this hero was apprenticed on board a merchantman at the age of 12. At 17 he was made, second mate, at 18 first mate, and at 21 was in command of his own ship.

Admiral Horatio Nelson, the hero of the Battle of Trafalgar, entered the British Navy at 12, accompanied Captain Phipps on his Arctic expedition at 15, fought in battles in the West Indies at 17, became a lieutenant at 19, and a captain at 21.

Commodore Edward Preble embarked as a seaman on an American fighting privateer in 1777 at the age of 16. At 19 he was made a midshipman.

NAME

STATION Pittsburgh, Pa. New York City

CORPS AREA

ENLISTED

Third

61

Second

56

La Vengeance.

wounded in a battle

with the pirates on the

Chicago, Ill.

Boston, Mass.

14

and took part in the

But what I object most to is that they all think that the American Army and the American Navy are not good enough for their sons. In that case their boys ought to be spanked and kicked out of the service instead of amending the law in a way which practically concedes their unfounded aspersions to be true.

Many of the ablest men who have distinguished themselves in our Army and Navy, you will find, joined the Service when they were under 21 years of age. I could name a hundred famous men in history who went into the Service under 21 years of age. Take the case of Washington, the Father of His Country, who, after three years' service as a public surveyor, was made adjutant general of the Colony of Virginia at the age of 19. At 21 he led a dangerous expedition to explore the source of the Ohio River and took part in an arduous military reconnaissance. At 22 he led the expedition

Commodore Stephen B. Decatur entered the Navy in 1778 at the age of 18 years; served on the United States frigate Constellation and participated in the naval combats resulting in the capture of the French frigates, L'Insurgente and La Vengeance.

Capt. James Lawrence, who, mortally wounded, gave utterance to the Spartan exclamation, "Don't give up the ship," entered the Navy in 1798 at the age of 18.

Capt. Oliver Hazard Perry, who sent the imperishable and terse report of the victory over the British fleet on Lake Erie, "We have met the enemy and they are ours," went to sea at the age of 14 and entered the United States Navy at 17.

Commodore John Barry, the first commander of the United States Navy, went to sea at 14 and commanded his own ship at 20.

Capt. John Paul Jones, the hero of many naval battles in the Revolutionary

war with the Barbary pirates while only 21.

Gen. Richard Montgomery, who died in the assault on Quebec during our Revolutionary War, had received, like General Gates, his training in the English Army, which he entered at the age of 18.

Gen. Daniel Morgan, the hero of the Battle of Cowpens, one of the greatest victories of the Revolutionary War, in which he defeated the redoubtable British Cavalry leader, General Tarleton. joined General Braddock's unfortunate expedition as a wagoner when only 19.

Gen. Andrew Jackson (Old Hickory), seventh President of the United States. joined the Revolutionary Army in 1780 at the age of 13 and fought with General Gates at Camden.

Gen. William Henry Harrison (0) Tippecanoe), ninth President of the United States, entered the Army at the age of 18 and fought under Gen. Anthony Wayne against the Indians when only 19

Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, the hero of the naval battle at New Orleans, who, in the battle at the entrance to Mo(Continued on Page Twelve)

T

HE United States Army, in its treatment of prisoners, as in everything else, is progressive. Nothing that can be done for the regeneration of an erring soldier is left undone; every effort possible is made, if he prove at all worthy, to make his confinement productive of good for him-to help him maintain or re-establish his self-respect, to educate him, if he is illiterate, and, above all, to instill in him the idea of the dignity and honor of being a well-trained, capable soldier of his country.

Every general court-martial sentence carries with it, when it entails imprisonment for more than six months, a dishonorable discharge. If the conviction is for a felony-a serious crime involving a depraved mind-the man so sentenced is not considered fit for further service in the Army and is transferred promptly from the Disciplinary Barracks to one of the Federal penitentiaries. The reason for this is obvious; the majority of men in the military service are law-abiding, self-respecting citizens and it would be unfair to force them to associate with one who is mentally capable of committing a crime of a serious nature. But the great bulk of soldiers who are in confinement in Army penal institutions are there for infractions of Army Regulations - desertion, principally, which, while

from the military view-point the most serious of offenses, very seldom carries with it great moral turpitude. Nevertheless, conviction on that charge may entail a long term of imprisonment and invariably involves dishonorable discharge, the greatest punishment that can possibly be given to any man who has ever for a minute felt pride in his uniform or the Army spirit stirring in his breast.

To make possible the return to the Service of men worth while and to avoid sending them out into the world branded as being unfit even to die for their country merely because of their conviction, there have been established, at Fort Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks and its branches, psychiatric and sociological departments whose functions are to determine in the most complete and scientific way possible a convicted man's adaptability to the Service.

In the layman's vernacular offenders may be roughly divided into two classes, the habitual, those whose mental make-up foreordains that they will repeat the offense, inasmuch as it was this same make-up which caused them to commit the original transgression, and the impulsive, those who yield to the force of temporary circumstances, or who give in to real or imaginary grievances and break the military law. The greater number of prisoners in the Army's disciplinary barracks is of the latter class.

THE CASTLE

Obviously, where there is nothing psychopathic in a prisoner's mentality, when he is mentally and physically fit to finish his enlistment, the Army is preserving a good soldier and the State a good citizen by permitting him an opportunity to redeem himself. To determine just which of the prisoners are of this class is the task of the psychiatric and sociological departments of the Army's penal institutions.

For first-hand information and a visual working out of the system, resort was had to Castle Williams on Governors Island, New York Harbor, where the Atlantic Branch of the Disciplinary Barracks is located. Lieut. Col. John L. Bond, Commandant, and Major Paul M. Crawford, M. C., in active charge of the Psychiatric and Sociological Department, afforded the investigator every opportunity to find

out all about both the theory and the practice of the department, its tests and its classification.

Within forty-eight hours of a prisoner's arrival at the Barracks-commonly called the Castle-he is interviewed by Colonel Bond and told just what is expected of him and what he may expect. Precious few influences, particularly of the wrong sort, exist among the prisoners with which the Commandant is not perfectly familiar. It is against these that he warns the newcomer, who, in soldier vernacular, is "put hep" by the Colonel. Not more than a day later the preliminaries of the complete examination by the Psychiatric and Sociological Department commence. First, the prisoner is questioned on his personal

and family history, and his answers recorded. He is given a very thorough physical examination, including a Wasserman test. The next step is the verification of the answers made by the prisoner to questions regarding his history. Recourse is made to the various forms developed by the Department and inquiries are sent to parents, relatives or friends of the prisoner addressed to persons whose names he has furnished as being acquainted with his pre - military civilian activities or, in lieu of more intimate knowledge, to the chief of police of his home town. When answers are received the whole is co-ordinated and a pretty accurate history of the prisoner-especially since his Army record is included in the final reportis available. The next part of the process is the mental examination.

Armed with the prisoner's civil and military record, the psychiatrist, first putting the man at his ease as much as possible, questions him, the inquiries being based largely on his history. There is no stock set of questions. The prisoner's explanation. of his present offense and previous conflicts with authority in civil and military life, his general attitude towards the service and the degree of frankness with which he replies to the psychiatrist are the chief sources of material in estimating the mental (Continued on Page Eleven)

HE Royal Military College was founded in the year 1876, when Lord Dufferin was GovernorGeneral, and the Hon. Alexander MacKenzie was Premier of Canada.

Under the British North American Act, which gives to Canada and its Provinces their constitution, it is provided that educational matters are to be dealt with solely by the Provinces, and military matters by the Dominion. In order to carry out the military responsibility thereby assigned to the Federal Government, it was deemed necessary to have an institution where the higher development of military discipline, arts and sciences could be assured, and the Royal Military College was the solution. At this institution the youth of Canada were admitted, in limited numbers, and were offered instruction in all those scientific subjects essential to the educational equipment of a military officer. The science required in the practical processes of a campaign demand attention to such fundamental subjects as mathematics, mechanics, astronomy, engineering, physics, chemistry, etc., and numerous other subjects of a purely military nature, such as fortifications,

tactics,

strategy,, military history, law, etc.

These subjects are

equally useful in processes of a similar nature, carried out in civil life, and, inci

into civil life. The British Government offers annually seven commissions to graduating cadets.

During the great war just ended it may be safely said that 99 per cent of available graduates and ex-cadets went overseas and fought in the various theatres of operations.

The College is situated on Point Frederick, directly opposite the city of Kingston, on a peninsula formed by the confluence of the St. Lawrence and Cataraqui Rivers. The grounds proper consist of some 66 acres, divided by a wall across the peninsula, into an inner and outer inclosure. Lately the Militia Council has put under the control of the Col

torically, is quite interesting. The Hon. Alexander MacKenzie, to whom so much is due with regard to the foundation of the College, was mason and contractor when he first came to Canada from Scotland in 1842. He was employed by the Government in building various forts in the vicinity of Kingston, one of which was the present Fort Frederick, now used as a College museum and recruit reading room. While engaged on these different structures in the neighborhood he observed what a wonderful site for a public institution the old Navy Yard would make. He evidently made a mental note of this fact, and wher he became Premier, and the Military

College became a living idea, he at once picked out, as the most suitable location for it, its present unrivaled site.

The first Commandant was the late Lieut. General E. 0. Hewett, C. M. G., R. E., at that time a Colonel. He held the appointment for ten years and organized the College on the lines of the Royal Military College at Sandhurst and the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, so that the first two years of the course should be devoted principally to the subjects taught at the former, Cavalry and Infantry, and the last two years to Engineering and Artillery, the subjects specialized in at the latter. His able and wise administration largely contributed to the phenomenal success and reputation the College earned in subsequent years. The present Commandant, Major-General Sir A. C. Macdonell, K. C. B., C. M. G., D. S. 0. assumed the appointment in 1919 after a brilliant record of service in France. During his regime many improvements and innovations necessi tated by post-war conditions have been made both to the curriculum and the College grounds and buildings. General Macdonell is himself a graduate of the College.

dentally, the principles, so far as they are acquired for military reasons, may be used in civil operations in all their numerous and various applications. Thus the College course may be looked upon as one of a very general scientific nature.

The functions and aims of the College differ from those of any similar institution in the British Empire, for, in times of peace, the only military obligation called for from a graduate is that he must enter the Non-Permanent Canadian Militia for a period of three years on leaving the College. This does not interfere with his taking up a civil profession. In fact, the larger proportion of graduates go

lege some territory lying to the east and north of its present location, including Fort Henry and Navy Bay.

Kingston was selected as the position for the College for several reasons: The Government possessed the site of the old naval yard on which were several buildings which could be converted into barracks for the cadets; Kingston is centrally situated as regards three of the big cities, namely, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto, and, from its position at the entrance to the Great Lakes, with the St. Lawrence flowing on its south side and the Cataraqui on the east, it is an exceptionally healthy location. There is also another reason, which, his

The length of the Cadet course was originally four years, and the first batch, consisting of eighteen Cadets,

Foined in June, 1876. For some two or three years two batches were adnitted each year. This system not proving satisfactory, it was decided o admit only one batch each year, which is the present arrangement. In 897 the length of the course was reuced experimentally to three years, nd remained so until 1921, when it everted once more to the. four-year ourse. The number of Cadets atending the College has fluctuated a ood deal. At one time the number raduating reached the low level of ight and nine a year, but of late ears that has not been the case, and ne number in residence now is only mited by the accommodation availble. The examination for admission ad necessarily to become competitive, nd many schools have now special . M. C. classes for preparing candiates. The number of Cadets in resience at the time of writing is 166. The present establishment at the ollege includes the old Educational lock, now called the Administrative uilding, containing offices, mess oms, recreation rooms, library, ilor's shop, kitchens, etc.; the new ducational Building (first half), conining the assembly hall, science and gineering laboratories, lecture and ass rooms and offices; H. M. S. one Frigate ("A" Company dormiy), Fort Frederick Dormitory, to ich a new wing is now being added; B" Company), gymnasium; hospital 4 beds); gun shed, with basement - engineering supplies and models; ling school, with attached stables d quarters for personnel; power use; quarters for Commandant, mpany Commanders, Staff Adju

tant, ten members of the Staff and one Warrant Officer.

In the grounds there are four football fields, covered hockey rink, running track, racquet courts and riding fields. The College also possesses a motor boat, sailing boats, skiffs and canoes for the use of Cadets. In addition, each platoon has a war canoe holding sixteen paddlers.

as

For purpose of interior economy, organization and administration the Cadets are formed into a Battalion of two Companies, each of two Platoons, with a Lieutenant-Colonel in command of the Battalion and under him two Majors as Company Commanders. Under these Officers the Senior Cadet acts as Battalion Commander, with other Cadets Company Commanders, Platoon Commanders, Company Quartermaster Sergeants, etc. These Cadets perform the respective duties of their appointments, as in a military unit. When organized as a Squadron of Cavalry, a Battery of Artillery, etc., the same principle is applied. It may thus be seen that the responsibility of the Cadet is not merely theoretical, but eminently real and practical. In return for these responsible duties the Seniors enjoy a number of privileges.

The hours of study, lectures and practical work for all classes are: 8.00 a. m., 1.00 p. m. and 2.00 p. m.; 3.00 p. m., 5.00 p. m. and 7.00 p. m.

The College year extends from September to June, with short leaves at Christmas and Easter. The studies include Mathematics, Engineering in its various branches, Physics and Chemistry, French, English, Surveying and the purely military subjects,

Tactics, Artillery, Engineering, Cavalry and Infantry drill, with a thorough and exacting course in Gymnastics and Horsemanship.

The Universities have hitherto allowed an R. M. C. graduate to enter at once into his third year in the general engineering course. Now that the four-year course is in vogue, however, it is hoped that the other institutions will follow the lead of Queen's University and allow a graduate to enter his fourth year at any University in the Civil Engineering

course.

The training and education at the College are integral parts of the same process, namely, the "drawing out" of what is best in the student, and the development of broad and liberal lines of his knowledge and intelligence so that he may be able not only to do things for himself, but also know what things to do. It does not pretend to turn out a complete mathematician or engineer, nor one fully versed in the whole art and science of war, nor even a perfect rider or marksman, but it does turn out a man who has had a thorough grounding in all these subjects, in which, if he so wishes, he may proceed further at a university or as a staff officer in the Army. It does turn out a man who has worked hard for four years, knowing that he must be strictly accountable for every act and endure unsparing criticism. Further, it turns out a man who for four years has lived a life free from distractions, in the comradeship of his equals from all over the Dominion, a life impregnated with the loftiest ideals of integrity, service and military discipline and the great traditions handed down to him.