iberty in the civilian, must be waived for the
preservation of the nation. With shipwreck staring men in the face, the
choice lies between despotism and anarchy, trusting to the common sense
of those concerned, when the danger is over, to revert to the old
safeguards. It is precisely because democracy is an advanced stage in
human society, that war, which belongs to a less advanced stage, is
peculiarly inconsistent with its habits. Thus the undemocratic
character, so often lamented in West Point and Annapolis, is in reality
their strong point. Granted that they are no more appropriate to our
stage of society than are revolvers and bowie-knives, that is precisely
what makes them all serviceable in time of war. War being exceptional,
the institutions which train its officers must be exceptional likewise.

The first essential for military authority lies in the power of
command,--a power which it is useless to analyze, for it is felt
instinctively, and it is seen in its results. It is hardly too much to
say, that, in military service, if one has this power, all else becomes
secondary; and it is perfectly safe to say that without it all other
gifts are useless. Now for the exercise of power there is no preparation
like power, and nowhere is this preparation to be found, in this
community, except in regular army-training. Nothing but great personal
qualities can give a man by nature what is easily acquired by young men
of very average ability who are systematically trained to command.

The criticism habitually made upon our army by foreign observers at the
beginning of the war continues still to be made, though in a rather less
degree,--that the soldiers are relatively superior to the officers, so
that the officers lead, perhaps, but do not command them. The reason is
plain. Three years are not long enough to overcome the settled habits of
twenty years. The weak point of our volunteer service invariably lies
here, that the soldier, in nine cases out of ten, utterly detests being
commanded, while the officer, in his turn, equally shrinks from
commanding. War, to both, is an episode in life, not a profession, and
therefore military subordination, which needs for its efficiency to be
fixed and absolute, is, by common consent, reduced to a minimum. The
white American soldier, being, doubtless, the most intelligent in the
world, is more ready than any other to comply with a reasonable order,
but he does it because it is reasonable