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PHHS grounds have long since ceased to tremble to the snappy steps of a cadet corps in training. In fact the very early 30's felt the last tremour of marching feet. But across the narrowed ocean, a tremour too great indeed has produced a faint echo in our school which has become audible and reverberates as the sound of commands and marching feet echo along its walls. As one of the results of the preaching of the doctrine of pacifism, cadet corps in high schools had been almost entirely abolished as an inconvenient expense. I believe that this pacific doctrine, abandoned at the eleventh hour, will issue forth from this chaotic struggle which we are undergoing, drastically reformed into one advocating perpetual preparedness. High Schools having cadet corps will not become filled with the spirit of rampant militarism. Look at it in this light. The very organization of a cadet corps is planned to foster leadership and initiative. The cadets themselves are chosen as the officers and non-commissioned officers of the company, and the chain of command continues right down through the company. The cadet learns how to assume command, to organize, and give intelligent orders; but he learns first how to accept an order and carry it out promptly and without question. There is firmness and insistence on one degree of work alone, the best possible under any circumstances. Hence the cadets, citizens of a not too distant day, are educated in the two requisites of an effective national leadership, which are not only an ability to lead on the part of the leaders but, of equal importance, a willingness to be lead intelligently on the part of the people. B Smith |