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1. Om^m^^^^^^^ g0tMjion ia column; il^cor? of The Battalion; 4, The Battalion i in Line. Dome ia tarntet far Boy? ?n Ol Countty. __ _Y?n Ago Prow?aecats Becauee Iii Datialtta tt fhJlrr-* Md to Individual* -Superiaten Bitaaada Potato oat Some of Practica? Results of Ork in School e? flUf* following article wan prepared by Superintendent & of the Sumter city eneT hi reproduced from that Tie cute were mado by The end are used through uppermost in the Amor ?iked today Is that expressed by W*|rd preparedness. The name fe? %ftd>ft prominent ploce lagt No Hiber. It was for this reason thst ?rileie on military training In the high school In The Review of l*W tor November' evoked so eomfosnf. It Is for this reason I am still getting letters from int sections relative to the sys h- of military training In our ???. Since November I have re letters of Inquiry from every of America. training since that time Introduced Into th? public Systems of some of our largest and the question Is a very live everywhere. Those who have Inquiries read the article In The of Reviews; but the author of article In that magaslne was nat? urally very much limited In space and could not. therefore, go Into the Its that the seekers after infor? ms request. About lb years ago. before military > pa redness was an Issue, some of boys rams to me with a request W* organise a military company request was granted und a com of nineteen boys was organised, that company In memory's ilrror now?awkward, ill at ease, Ineffl lent, but eager to learn, in to excel. It happened that W. Manning, a son of the present ftov >r, now engaged In newspaper In Washington, was at tbut time the last year of the high school wss a member >f the Sumter t Infantry- He was chosen as the captain of the military organiza for a year <?r two we minted to oh wMh"ut a commandant, but company had grown into several ipanles and *e needed expert an To this end Ms.!. Eppe, a prominent attorney at the tar and at present seuatoi from this county, was elected as com? mandant of cadets. Ms. JSpps was graduated from the Citadel, the Mili? tary College of South Carolina, ths West Point of the South. This insti? tution has furnished the command? ants for our school. The company of It had then become a battalion of three companies. Now there are four companies, with about 175 cadets. Mr. Epps was succeeded by W. M. Scott, at present the acceptable su? perintendent of the public schools of Blahopville. Mr. Scott was sr ed by A. B. Merrimon, whose very promising life was cut short, and he, by 8. A. Woods, the present com? mandant. The school has been ex? ceedingly fortunate in the men that it has had as commandants and the State of South Carolina is fortunate in having a military school that fur? nishes to the schools of the State graduates who are trained to do this kind of work with such marked effi? ciency. The most difficult task was procur? ing the rifles. The school bus to thank, and it does make its cheerful and grateful acknowledgements to. Senator B. H. Tlllmun, who handled a very difficult problem for us in a highly satisfactory manner. The school ts now equipped with the old Spring? field rifles. We have m?do frequent efforts to obtain the modern rifles, but there is a most stringent regula? tion of the war department against It and we have been unalde to succeed. It Is l>cllcvcd that all of the agitation for military preparedness will cause congress to modify this provision. Several school* that have tried this military system have fulled, been use they have Insisted upon the purchase of expensive uniforms and because they have endeavored to convert a pu?>|to school into a military camp. O* uniforms, which are worn only on dress occasions, consist of a pair of wblte trousers, a blue coat and n j white cap. The whole outfit neod I not cost more than $5 and will las' 'for several years. Tbe coat Is use. .every day, thus reducing the cost of I the uniform to almost nothing. Tin development of the military fcatUII is the public school is a plero o' progressive evolution and can not be fastened- open an institution by a (efcig^Set educational legislation, this ?hase of training must grow into a system of schools, it refuses to be tacked on. Some schools have flailoo^ecausp .they were not willing fco^wkltfor development. As has been mentioned above, our boys wear their uniforms only upon dress occasions. Our drill period is 15 minutes a day. Immediately af? ter this drill there is a recess l??rlod of 1* minutes. The class organisa? tions are not dependent upon the military organization. One* may be a private in his class and an officer in his company, and vice versa. Be thus learns how to obey and to com? mand almost simultaneously. The school penalties do not conflict with those for breaches of military regulation. After the student has finished his duties in the class room and has made up any time due there, he serves his time in walking post on the school campus with the stipu? lation that no student is required to walk extra duty longer than 45 min? utes after the regular hour for dis? missal. His time that may still be due is carried over by the officer of the day. A medal is offered for proficiency in the manual of arms. The whole battalion on a fixed day Is reduced to nine men. These nine men com? pete on the day of-the dress parade and they are reduced to three. These competo for a medal on the first night of the closing exercises of the school. An annual battalion dress parade is held, which attracts the people of the city in large numbers. Military organization In the high school appeals to the adolescent in? stinct of grogarlousness. The organization of military com? panies in the school Is, therefore, a simultaneous appeal to an Interest and an instinct and the result, if sano methods are used, is naturally grati? fying. The students are very fond of the drill and In our own schools they are just as enthusiastic about It as they were 15 years ago and the condition of the battalion is at pres? ent better than it has ever been be? fore, on account of the natural de? velopment and because tho traditions have with age become more firmly fixed. We have found that it gives to the boys' school the atmosphere of masculinity that Is desirable and that appeals very strongly to the boys themselves. We believe In the segregation Of the sexes. We believe that the atmosphere oT a boy's schorl mould be Vibrant with vigorous viril? ity. This does not Imply brutilltv, for "the bravest are the tenderest, the loving are the daring" end "tenderness is as divine as strength,' but there Is an atmosphere <?f un obstruslve Strength, Of latent force ,of masculine masterfulness, and it is this atmosphere that should pervade a school for boys of the adolescent age. We have found that military organ? ization adds materially to the quali? fies of the kind of environment that we seek. The adolescent loves order, system -~-1 mm W'?' ' 1 ? ? and orga^gfcaHlon. It certainly Is a distinct advantage to the school to have it in;'an organization that makes the machinery of the school run with precision and smoothness. It is an advantage???for a principal of one school -to.\$g3*ble. to request tho com? mandant of the boys' high school' to ?< nd over 50 or 77> boys iii military 'formation and to know th.it it will oe dene without trouble or incon? venience to any one. We have, found that thje military I discipline stimulates some of the [great and stern and fundamental vir? tues bf strong character. To learn to obey by obeying; to learn that to command one must first learn to obey; to learn.in a practical way to have consideration for the rights and feelings bf others; to learn the value of truth by a necessary adherence to details, to learn the absolute need of concentration cf mind, if one would excel in the drill; to have the sugges? tion of moral uprightness by the hab? itual erect carriage of the military cadet?all of these are lessons that one may learn from the daily drill and these lessons are taught so unob? trusively that the student does not feel the oppressiveness of the direct moral lesson. It has been definitely charged that military training in the public high school leads to bruitality and mili? tarism. (This is no man of straw set? up simply for the pleasure of com? plete demolition; but it is an actual reason urged by a prominent educa? tor in a large city not far from' Chi? cago. The chairman of the board of education of that city wrote me that there were nine members of the board, that five were in favor of mili? tary training in the public high school and tour opposed. That the superintendent had given as his ex cathedra opinion that it would surely lead to bruitality and militarism. This is a question that can not be argued in an academic way. There are those, who would maintain tho affirmative of this question with such convincing cogency as to create an element of doubt in the mind of the seeker after truth* until he should have become fortified by the more logical reasoning of those, who could point out the fallacy of such specious reasoning. Fortunately academic dis? cussion is not necessary. If, after fifteen years of continuous tiialv we can show that military training in the public school does not result in mili? tarism or bruitality, a very great bur? den of proof will rest on our oppon? ents to demonstrate without question that our experience is an exception to the general rule. To this end I have written to some gentlemen, who are in a position to know our students and their testimony Is given below. May we not ask that these letters 1?e read with care by those who are really looking for the truth of this question thut means so much to the educa? tional world in America today? The excerpts from the letters fol? low : flov. It. T. Manning says: "Nine of my own sons hove attended the bii;h MsjtyoOt. 1 have had niun dant opportunity to observe other boys, who have been under that same influence. I wish to express the opin? ion that the military training that the boys have received has been a dis? tinct benefit to them. The objections raised that such training will lead to militarism or brutality are absolutely without foundation in fnef. Experi? ence has shown that uniier military [training the boys have shown marked improvement in their carriage and manner; that such training cultivates prompt obedience, alertness, precision, neatness, while at the same time it encourages manliness in deportment and improves the general tone of the student body. I have never seen the first symptom of development of bru? tality or undue militarism. I have no hesitancy In advising the high schools of the State to adopt military training wherever practicable." J. E. Swearingen, State superinten? dent of education, writes as follows: "Their military training has given them that fine touch of politeness and consideration characterizing the inter? course of gentlemen of the highest type. The effects of this training nn the school, the boys, and the com? munity have been admirable." Dr. W. S. Currell, president of the University of South Carolina, says: "The University of South Carolina has had pupils from the Sumter high school for a number of years and they are amongst the very best train? ed and prepared students that we have at our Institution. The young men from this hi^h school who have been students at the University of South Carolina give no, evidence what? ever of brutality nor do they evince the spirit of militarism falsely said to be characteristic of graduates of military institutions." Dr. II. N. Snyder, president of Wof ford college, writes: "It. gives me great pleasure to say thdt we find the students trained in the Sumter high school to be well trained not only in scholarship but in conduct and in character. They show none of the qualities which those who oppose military training in schools fear." Many of our students after grad-^ nation go to college. Some do not, and, in addition to this, there Is a long period in which the students who are receiving this mlltary training are in Sumter. I have, therefore, re quested a letter from L, 1). Jennings, who has been mayor of the city for quite a number ol* years?a genle man who, as it is well known, does not hesitate to express his opinion honestly and fearlessly. The mayor says: "My observation leads me to the belief that military training in the Sumter high school has not cul? tivated a spirit of mlltarlsm or bru? tality; on the contrary, it seems to have had the effect ot keeping the boys In school until graduation, while Utting them to be soldiers should the (necessity arise. I have not seen a single instance among the many boys trained in military tactics in the high school, where such training had the ?dichtest tendency toward brutality or the inculcation of a spirit of mili? tarism." How is it at school? Are the boys there militaristic or brutal? I may ? say that even what the boys call a. I "scrap" is an exceedingly rare occur? rence and they do not tolerate an act of imposition. Only a few weeks ago we had a boy to say to us that his father was a traveling man and he had t<? anve from town to town and from State o State, rind that he was very sorry to leave us, for a^hougo he was a new boy, Uic boya h.-d treat ad him like a brother. I mention this only to make the circuit of evidence complete. But we are told by a writer In one of the leading magazines of America that military training in the public high school results eifher in mili? tarism or in failure. To answer this I have asked for an expression from three men greatly interested in mili? tary affairs of our city. Their letter la given below. Capt. Robt. T. Brown, Capt. Geo. C. Warren and Maj. James W. Bradford have made the following report: "In compliance with your request for information in regard to the mili? tary efficiency of men who enlist in the Sumter Light Infantry, company L, Second infantry, X. G., S. C, from the Sumter high school battalion, We submit the following statements: "1. Since tho beginning of military instruction at the Sumter high school practically all the officers and the non-commissioned officers of the Sumter Light Iqjpantry have been men whose fundamental military training was received during the formative period of life while at the Sumter high school. "2. In comparing recruits coming to us from tbe Sumter hi:5h school with those who have not had previous military training our experience has been that tbe former can be placed immediately anywhere in raaks, while the latter have to be trained for a considerable length of time in awk? ward squad before they can be used at all, anywhere. "We, the Undersigned, have each enjoyed the privilege of commanding the Sumter Light Infantry and take pleasure In stating that, with prac? tically no exceptions, those who en? list in that organization from the Sumter high school make manly sol? diers and tbe company has always had just reason to feel proud of them." Let me say that, when our military department was organized we did not have military preparedness anywhere in our system of thinking. We or ganlaed it for the reasons given above and many of the advantages that had not then occurred to us have become apparent since the system' was intro? duced. We believe in peace. Wo preach it and try to practice it. But we have long believed that only the strong con be gracefully magnant moui and our country needs at this time more than at any other period In its history tho graceful magnanimity that comes from strength. Certainly it would not detract from this strength if from every high school