HOLIDAY CAMPS.
Arr experiment which proved a great success in the United States last summer looks like developing into an institution. Two "military camps of instruction for students of educational institutions" were provided by the Govern- ment during the summer vacation, and were so well attended and popular that this year the number is to be increased to four, or possibly five. The object of these camps is defined in a Bulletin issued from the office of the Chief of Staff, War Depart- ment, Washington, as intended "to give the young men of the country opportunity for a short course in military training, the better to fit them to discharge their military duty should their country ever stand in need of their services"; and in "military training" much is included which perhaps a layman would not expect to find. For the layman's benefit the possibilities of camp life are further set out in detail; and to the Bulletin is appended a selection of letters from those who attended the camps of last year, which Englishmen to whom the possi- bilities of life in camp are unfamiliar may find illuminating reading.
The camps are a benefit to the nation, first, in that "they foster a patriotic spirit, without which a nation soon loses its virility and falls into decay." But the foundation on which that spirit is to rest is very far removed from drum-banging and the waving of flags ; it begins practically enough with accurate information on matters of fact. The first need is that the citizen shall know what his country is and does, what it has done in the past, and what it may have to do in the future. Without that knowledge he cannot form a sound judgment as to what the country's military policy should be and what its military necessities must be; with it he comes to understand why wars have taken place in the past, and how and when they are likely to occur in the future. With the object of increasing and propagating such knowledge, the instruction to be given in these military camps is a little different from that which may fall to the lot of schoolchildren under a schoolmaster with his own ideas of "patriotism." The military history taught is to be, "not the illuminated school-book versions of our victories merely, but the true versions, as taken from the official records, of our failures and defeats, as well as our successes and victories, with reasons therefor." This instruction is to lead up to the understanding of the necessity for some sound, definite military policy, and of the organization of the land forces of the United States as prepared by the General Staff of the
Army and recommended by the War Department to Congress. But, of course, instruction in history is not all. The citizen is also to be a soldier. Physical drill, march- ing, camping, tent-pitching, making and breaking camp, field cooking, camp sanitation, first aid to the injured, and the care of troops in the field are to be taught in practice. Instruction in the handling of the rifle will be supplemented by firing on the range. There will be instruction for all in the principles of tactics, advance and rear guards, patrols, and outposts ; and in military map-making and road-sketching for all who wish for it. Field drill will be made the more effective by the co- operation of regular troops, and the schedule includes " a practice march of several days' duration, in which, as nearly as possible, such actual campaign conditions of march, bivouac, and combat as the assumed situation would exact will be followed." We come, finally, to the question of cost.. The Government provide gratis cots, blankets, tents, cooking outfits, rifle, bayonet, cartridge belt, haversack, knives, forks, de., and all that each man attending camp has to supply is his uniform, which may cost from five to ten dollars, various changes of clothing, toilet apparatus, de., and whatever sum of money is necessary to defray his camp expenses. This includes travelling expenses, catering (at the rate of three dollars fifty cents per week for the five weeks of camp), and incidental out-of-pocket payments, which would vary with individual tastes. At the conclusion of camp each man who completes the prescribed course will be given a certificate, and his name will be kept on a register in the War Depart- ment, with whatever notes may be made by the officers in charge as to his efficiency and capacity for command.
To the majority of the educated classes in the United States, unlike the majority of public-school boys and University men in England, the opportunities of military drill and life under canvas are a new experience, and it is interesting to see in what way the altered conditions of life and the possibilities of military discipline strike the different minds of those who attended camp last year for the first time. Some of them plainly went out to enjoy themselves. They were attracted, it may be, by such pieces of advice in the pro- spectus as those referring to bathing suite, tennis rackets, golf balls, baseball, evening clothes for dances, and the potentialities lying behind such cautions as, "Do not bring doge or hunting outfits, as the season is closed." But those who went out-looking for a goodtime first and foremost are quite candid. They bad a good time. " But I think I learned something as well," one writes. "We came to know the type of men that compose our Army, and we gained a respect for the United States uniform. We saw system and sanitation practised to an extent we never thought possible. We heard some worth- while lectures by prominent men." Another is business- like before everything else, but he finds himself with a new mental outlook. "My expenditure of time and money in the first military instruction camp was the beat investment I have ever made. At Gettysburg I met men from other parts of the country whom I am proud to call friends. Among these there were southerners who gave me some pointers that were valuable to me. As a northerner I got a point of view that was totally new." Others, so far from resenting the strictness of military discipline, found that discipline said freedom went band in hand. "What appealed to me was the fact that each afternoon you could do so nearly what you pleased without creating an uproar. But I notioed that most everybody chose as their optional work something along military lines. Many of us would have walked a mile to get an extra clip of shells during rifle practice." The atmosphere of personal liberty is appreciated by one of the University men. "We learned something of military discipline and tactics, and yet we had all afternoon and evening of each day in which to have • good time. A fellow was not constantly watched or put on guard duty for breaking some trifling rule." The discipline and routine of camp alternated with the enjoyment of a holiday: "there were sports of all kinds, including swimming, baseball, and soccer, a long march from Gettysburg to Mount Gretna, and a war game with a company of Regulars while on the march, which ended in our baggage train being captured . . . the evenings were passed pleasantly around the camp fire, witk an occasional dance at Gettysburg or Mount Gretna." In fact, besides the gain to the nation in the turning out of so many young men more or less efficient in drill and training, the camps provided a first-class holiday of five weeks at a cost which may have been as low as five pounds. A further consequence of the experiment is more far-reaching even than the effect upon the Universities and Colleges which took part in it. Mr. Lindley Garrison, the United States Secretary for War, finds that the camps have resulted in an increased interest in the military needs of the United States among educated people throughout the country. Is there not here a hint of some potential addition to Territorial and other camps in this country ? Under our existing military system the holiday enjoyment, mixed with the discipline and routine of camp, comes at the end of a long vista of barrack-square drill and hard work in plain clothes. Suppose that a Territorial or other engagement began with a camp and uniform instead of holding them out as a possibility of the future ? Would there be any difficulty in obtaining recruits for six weeks' combined drill and holiday under canvas ? And if recruits were obtained even at five or six pounds a head for six weeks' camp, would that be a high price to pay for what would be obtained in the end ? Arguments and objections begin to tumble over each other, and the work of the Spectator Experimental Company occurs at once as an example of what may be done with raw material. But the full possibilities of a camp as a recruiting agency, we believe, have still to be developed.
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