Trinity College School Record, Vol 32 May 15th, 1929 Classic Reprint

Excerpt from Trinity College School Record, Vol. 32: May 15th, 1929

Once, when the young men of Sparta were over clamourous for war their old king had to remind them that they were shouting for something which they knew nothing about and that if they knew anything about it they wouldn't shout for it. It is the ignorant who think a war would be a wonderful thing, not the trained soldiers, or the half-trained.

But we can make stronger claims for cadet corps than that they merely show up the hardships of actual war. Military discipline for the young is becoming an unpopular idea, mainly through a complete misconcep tion of its aims and effects. Its opponents represent it as a method of pounding people into a shapeless and lifeless mass, stamping out originality and fostering deceit. People who think there is anything lifeless about a well drilled body of men have either never seen one or else are very lacking in perception. If we were asked to express in a sentence the effect of military discipline on young minds we would say that it was a rigorous and not too unpleasant process of showing them while still young that there is no room in any society for men who are content to remain childish and incapable. Com mon sense is not easily learned, nor is the feeling that you are responsible for all your equipment under all circumstances. Still less easy is it to realize that in any society we don't succeed or fail alone. Civic conscious ness is simply another name for esprit-de-corps, the feeling that the success of a whole system depends up on your pulling yourself together and not making a fool of yourself by dropping your rifle or scratching the back of your neck, when everyone else is standing still. Anyone who has seen over a hundred boys all doing their best to make the parade a success must realize the value of such training. There is no individual glory to be won in the ranks of a parade. For that short time the individual has got to think beyond himself. Cynics will say that in schools it is the fear of punishment that makes the boy in the ranks do his best, but we who know better can afford to disregard them. Of course there is an element of fear and compulsion, but what man doesn't teach himself by fear and compulsion. Nature is apt to teach him even more sternly. It is an undisputable fact that boys who are willing to break every rule in the school, generally work as well as any one in a cadet corps inspection.

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